Ankang NewsDreadful Condition in Africa
Gong Junjun, 36 years old, is a doctor from Ankang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, specializing in acupuncture and massage. On April 15, 2018, she traveled to Malawi, a landlocked African country, to start a one-year job in aiding Africa. Malawi is located in southeastern Africa and one of the poorest countries in the world announced by the United Nations. It heavily relies on foreign aid and is also the hardest hit area for infectious diseases such as AIDS and malaria in the world. Gong Junjun realized the condition how dreadful in Malawi as soon as she arrived there.
“On the third day we went there, the smoke came from nowhere had swallowed the corridor as one of my colleague stepped out of the room.” Gong recalled, “We realize it’s a fire.” Faced with such danger, under the command of captain, Gong and other doctors put out the fire immediately. However, Gong couldn’t cool down. Because in Africa, the voltage is very unstable, electric socket would crackle and spark from time to time. Although the next day counselor of the embassy came and changed the broken electric socket for a new one, so well as arranging some professional electricians repaired the circuit, unstable electric tension still made electric socket burnt now and then.
“I never thought about what would happen to me. And Africa is thousands miles away. But as I knew provincial government planned to convey a group of doctors to Malawi, I applied to join in this project at once.” Gong said.
In November 2007, national government appointed Shaanxi province to accomplish the task of assisting Malawi. Since 2008, the first batch of foreign aid medical team has been dispatched. Until now, Shaanxi Province has been always responsible for the assistance work in Malawi. What Gong Junjun applied for is the sixth batch of foreign aid medical team. “There are two ways to participate in this project. One is being recommended by hospital and the other is registering voluntarily. Then those candidates would be assessed by the layers of political review, professional technology, English ability and psychological quality, interviews and other comprehensive quality assessment.” She said.
“Why do you want to go to aid Africa?” the journalist once asked her. She explains: “When I was a postgraduate at Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I was influenced by my tutors. They supported Uganda, so from that time, I knew that foreign aid was a very holy job. If there will be a chance, I must go.”
In 2018, when the opportunity came, Gong Junjun did not hesitate. That year was also the first time in Shaanxi Province to recruit aid Africa doctors from prefecture-level hospitals. "I am major in Chinese medicine. Now Chinese medicine has been spreaded to the world along the Belt and Road. When many people heard that I had signed up to go to Africa, they felt that there was unrest, insecurity and lack of materials. But I think this kind of hard environment can temper one's willpower.
"The most common thing in the community we live in is bats, crows and snakes. Every morning, the crows run around on the roof, the noise made me can't sleep. The bats always squash into the room, hanging on the mosquito curtain. As for the snake, it can be seen everywhere in the community." Malawi's environment allows Gong Junjun to see the "wild" side of Africa.
What Gong Junjun sees in Africa is either similar or different to which is written by Hemmingway. They all see the magnificent nature and rich biological species of Africa. The difference is that Gong Junjun also experienced the suffering of the local people because of lacking medicine
Amazing “oriental magic”
As soon as she arrived in Africa, Gong Junjun and her teammates immediately plunged into the medical rescue work. At that time, severe flooding occurred in four countries: Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. In Malawi, 208,000 people were affected, and severe infectious diseases such as typhoid and cholera were raging in the area.
"On receiving the order, 17 members of our team assembled, rushed to the Mranki district, including our cook and translators." Although there was a previous aiding experience to the local people, it was a donation activity attended by Ambassador Wei. This time facing the harsh environment, Gong Junjun and his teammates were very nervous. " Typhoid fever and malaria usually have a half-month to one-month incubation period. Everyone was thinking about what to do if they were infected, and some team members even have prepared their last will. At that moment, the captain and several team committees tried to inspire the team and appease everyone's emotions."
During the three days of the charity clinic, they did not dare to drink local water or to eat local food. In order to ensure the safety of the medical team itself, the cook brought them enough bottled water even for three days, and the daily food was just pancakes.
On the first day in an elementary school, the main patients were children and local women and the old. Gong Junjun and her teammates went deeply into a tribe that was seriously affected by the disaster. They also donated 16 boxes of medicines, including 8 boxes of antimalarial drugs.
In the process of free consultation, Gong Junjun and her teammates found that malaria and cholera were the most dominating diseases. There were also more patients suffering from eye diseases, so they prepared eye drops for the local people. The medical team made a brochure to teach local people how to prevent these diseases. In addition, they donated many daily necessities and foods such as soap, towels, and biscuits.
“We are very proud to serve the local people in Malawi, not only because we can relieve the pain of their disease, but more importantly, our medical assistance is the first international aid to the disaster area, which also established the image of our country in Africa and throughout the world.”
As the Chinese medicine doctor in the team, Gong Junjun felt the responsibility to spread and promot Chinese medicine culture in Malawi. The people she served there includes government officials and local Chinese employees and other Chinese, as well as the staff of the Chinese Embassy, together with their family members.
A Chinese businessman lived in Malawi for more than a decade has been tortured by refractory neurodermatitis. His arms, legs and back are itchy, and every time he scratches, it will be bleeding. He couldn’t cover the quilt at night. He had to return to China time to time to cure the disease, but the effects are less. When he heard there was a Chinese medicine doctor in the aiding team, he decided to try again.
Every Friday, the businessman drives from Blantel for 7 hours to the capital Lilongwe, Gong Junjun gives him acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, and then he drives back on Sunday. "The first time I finished the puncture, he could cover the quilt at night. After five times, he changed a lot, his skin slowly returned to normal, and he basically healed."
Another senior official of the Malawi government also felt the magic of Chinese medicine. The official's cerebral hemorrhage led to convulsions. When he walks, the legs would involuntarily "draw circles" and the arms could not be straightened. Gong Junjun used the Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment method to tie him one year's needle. In the end, the official moved freely and his hands slowly recovered. Gong Junjun took him to exercise every day and taught him how to maintain health. The technique of acupuncture has made Africans believe that traditional Chinese medicine’s "magic" in the East is really amazing.
Bats flying around house and extravagant hot pot
Hemingway only described the magnificent nature and special customs in The Snow of Kilimanjaro. He doesn’t describe the life in Africa too much. But Gong Junjun really felt the hardships of living conditions.
“At home, we are used to normal living conditions. In Africa, we need to race with ‘time’.” Power and water outages and would be for 6 to 8 hours a day, and the longest power outage had lasted for 48 hours. The first thing after every member of the team went home, was to collect water. Everyone had to collect two buckets of water in their house. When the day’s off, they need to go back, take a shower and wash clothes.
The Malawi Ministry of Health arranged a residential block for the medical team in the capital, which is next to a hospital, considered to be a good living condition. “The houses in Malawi are very interesting. Their roofs are spliced with plywood. If there is a little bit of pressure, the roof will break a crack.” Gong Junjun said if there is a crack, it means opening small doors for bat. There are many local bats, and even vampire bats. Gong Junjun and her teammates must install mosquito nets on the bed. Even so, every morning, it is inevitable to greet with a few bats hanging on the mosquito net.
When she was about to finish her work and return to China, Gong Junjun gave her mosquito net to the locals. On the last night, several bats sneaked into her room that night. Gong Junjun couldn’t sleep, she just watched the ceiling all night long. She opened the door the next morning and wanted the bat to fly out, but the bats flyed into the bathroom. Gong Junjun hurriedly closed the door of the bathroom. After a while, she quietly opened the door and saw that the bat fell into the bucket and was afraid that the bat would be drowned. Gong Junjun had to carry the bucket from the second floor to the garden, pour it on the ground.
She said there are many other severe risks in Africa, such as the risk of being infected with HIV. "Before we went, we cut our hair in China., but we didn't dare to cut our hair outside the barber shop even when it’s long, because the scissors may not be clean enough."
The environment forced everyone become a generalist. Some team member returned home to visit relatives and brought two sets of hair cutting tools. Gradually, Gong Junjun learned to cut hair and helped the male members in the team to get a haircut.
Growing vegetables in the local area also became a feature of the medical team. Gong Junjun and his teammates opened up a vegetable plot in their residence, planted loofah, zucchini, cucumber, parsley, and Chinese cabbage. "I didn't know how to grow vegetables and vegetables. I won't face it before, but I have learned it in Africa."
Chinese New Year is the happiest holiday for the medical team. Everyone took out the ingredients brought from home, including hot pot materials, mushrooms, and dried goods. Watching the hot pot steaming, smelling the aroma floating in the air, it’s a luxury meal for their team.
In Malawi, Gong Junjun has a fourfold status: acupuncturist, team commissioner, team propagandist and accountant. No matter which part, she fulfilled wonderfully.
She is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of the Malawi government and the Chinese Embassy, as well as local Chinese and Chinese-funded institutions. As a team commissioner, she should assist the team leader and deputy leader in daily work, coordinating to ensure that each task can be completed perfectly. It is also an important task for Gong Junjun to publicize for the medical team. She has published more than 40 articles in the embassy and local newspapers, introducing the Chinese medical team, and let the local people know the importance of Chinese medicine. She has lectured on how to fight malaria to more than 500 embassy staff and local Chinese in the multifunctional hall of the embassy.
For Gong Junjun, the hardest job has been accounting. " I have never learned of this." She is responsible for all the expenses of the entire medical team for one year, and the budget will be made at the beginning of the year, then the final accounts should be completed by the end of the year. Delivering the information and data back to China is a test of patience. "Africa's network is extremely slow. A ticket data takes more than half an hour to pass, it's really a big deal."
During that year in Africa, Gong Junjun sleeps at 3 o'clock in the middle of the night and gets up at 6 in the morning. "I went back home and got my hair cut. The barber asked me, why is there, in your age, a large alopecia areata on the back? " Until then I realize I have been losing my hair.
Gong Junjun always has a full schedule. In the morning, she goes to the Malawi government to do Chinese medicine treatment for the local people. In the afternoon, she goes back to the Chinese Embassy to serve the staff. In the evening, she does acupuncture treatment for the staff in Chinese-funded institution. After all the work, Gong Junjun returned to where she lived to start the accounting and wrote a manuscript. By the end of the week, Gong Junjun needs to take turns to cook with the teammates.
In just one year of aid work, Gong Junjun won the National Outstanding Foreign Aid Team Member, the National Outstanding Foreign Aid Accountant and the Honorary Certificate issued by the Ministry of Health of Malawi. This kind of achievement also benefited from the strong support of the organization behind her. “The Chinese medicine hospital has strongly supported me. From leaders to department colleagues, without their encouragement and support, I will not achieve these honors.”
What moved her most was in March 2019, her father suddenly diagnosed cerebrovascular disease. After being sent to the hospital in time, all the leaders of the hospital paid great attention to her father, managing the bed, treating actively, and went to visit. "I feel like it’s a big family in the hospital, and I don't have any worries."
Now publicize of Chinese medicine hospital and the whole city has become an additional "mission" for Gong Junjun's normal work. During her return visit to China, she brought the publicity materials of the Municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and of Ankang city back to Malawi, introduced her hometown to the people around her in her daily work. The circle of friends on WeChat also became her "front". Her contribution was appreciated by the Chinese Ambassador in Malawi, and the staff of the Embassy also learned about Qinba Pearl - Ankang.
After a year of aid work, Gong Junjun returned to Ankang. "This is a rare and precious experience. Although the living and working conditions are relatively difficult with scarce materials, I have gained a lot of joy deep in my heart, witnessing the strength of our motherland and tempering myself from inside and out." She said.
"If there is a chance to be the next time, I will still register." Gong Junjun finally put it like this.
Source: Ankang Daily / Tian Pi
Intern：Cheng Linxin