TOUGH CONDITIONS: MSF doctors often face challenging situations and a lack of resources when working abroad (COURTESY PHOTO)

Medical assistance in Africa

Tough working environments and inadequate medical resources showed An and Zhou the reality of Africa.

When she arrived in Sierra Leone, the biggest problem for An was the hot weather. Since there was no air conditioning, the doctors sweat profusely while working. This was especially problematic when they had to tackle difficult obstetric operations. After surgeries, everyone on staff would be dripping with sweat. It looked like people had just come from the shower, An recalls. In the unbearable heat, the doctors had to drink a huge amount of water just to prevent dehydration.

In addition, there was also the issue of cultural differences. These not only existed between doctors and locals, but also between doctors as MSF's doctors hail from all over the world.

But these issues were trivial to An in comparison to her worries over the extreme inadequacy of medical resources in Sierra Leone. "There was no blood bank at the beginning," she says. "In many cases, we had everything ready – the doctors, the equipment, the operating room – everything except the blood. I had never experienced such powerlessness and despair before."

One time, she recalls, there was a patient who was in urgent need of a blood transfusion. "A doctor had to go out to the street and ask people on the road to donate blood," she says. "Among the seven or eight people we found on the street, there were a few with right blood type who donated their blood to save the life of the patient."

All these were done in desperation. Sierra Leoneans believe that blood is the essence of human body, and therefore blood donation is very harmful to a person's health. Even with this obstacle, the MSF doctors did not give up. They educated locals about the ABCs of blood donation over and over. Gradually, people began to accept the concept of blood donation and a local blood bank was finally established.

Medical cases in Sierra Leone differ greatly from those in China, says An. In China, if there is a medical issue with the fetus or mother, doctors may intervene at an early stage of the pregnancy, and generally, maternal and infant mortality rates are low in China.

The situation is totally different in Sierra Leone. Patients are often only sent to the hospital in emergencies, such as in cases of ruptured uteruses and hemorrhages, explains An. Some patients have to spend four or five hours traveling to the hospital, which put them at even more risk. Dealing with such cases every day was very challenging to both doctors' skills and their mental states.

Dr. Zhou also experienced situations that he had never encountered before in China. He led a mobile medical team on motorcycles through jungles in the DRC, fought against an outbreak of epidemic disease; provided first aid to those injured in a fight, went on foot to a medical station in a remote mountain village, and treated children with malnutrition.

Despite the high intensity and tough working conditions, many of Zhou's coworkers expressed their appreciation of Zhou's work. Because of safety considerations, most rescue personnel could only move between their campsite and the hospital. But Zhou spent at least five or six days a week outside the campsite, meeting all kinds of people and dealing with numerous emergencies. He traveled almost the half area of the city in which he stayed, even its surrounding remote mountain areas.

"When I came back after a day's hard work, dinner was always prepared," Zhou recalls of his life in the DRC. "In the dim light of the kerosene lamp, I could see mutton cooking in a pot, with roasted lamb chops and fried lamb liver on the side, plus rice and potatoes. I could even hear the crack of corn in the stove."

Doctor An Na with her African patients (COURTESY PHOTO)

Borderless love

An celebrated her 30th birthday in Sierra Leone in 2011. The experience meant a lot to her. "It was my first birthday I celebrated away from home," she says. "But I didn't feel lonely at all, because working with MSF here in Sierra Leone is like living with a big family."

Still, the milestone was sobering. "At 30, I had a decent job and a happy family," she says. "But for the local women, 30 means being a mother to at least four children, still facing the high risk of giving birth. They are starving all day and have to see their children die of many reasons at too early an age. I hope I can do more for them."

After his experience in the DRC, Zhou was sent to Africa again. This time he found himself in South Sudan, the youngest country in the world. Currently, many Chinese professionals like An and Zhou are working actively across the African continent. Borders, for them, are only incidental.