Serving the needy
Medical experience
in Southeast Asia

By Candice Ma
     A meaningful vacation starts with helping others.
     Ms Veronica Leung, a student nurse, joined a medical trip to remote areas in Southeast Asian countries.
     The trip was organised by the Hong Kong Medical Mobilisation Corporation, a group of Christians in the field of medicine.

          Courtesy of Ms Veronica Leung
        Dental equipment includes electric torch.
     This is the first time Ms Leung had joined such a venture, and it opened another world.
     “There are many people living under extreme conditions. There is a lot for me to do to make these areas better places,” said Ms Leung. She would like to serve minorities in the interior of China, too.
     Said Phyllis Ho, director of the corporation: “We had doctors, nurses and physiotherapists.” She first joined the trip in 1990.
     “Every time I go, I feel like at home. I feel like knowing everything there,” Ms Ho said.
     The corporation set up temporary clinics at churches and schools with only tables and benches.
     “When it was dark, we had to work with candles and torches,” said Ms Leung.
     Ms Ho added, “There was neither medical equipment for further diagnosis, nor patients records to follow.”
     To the people, medical treatment was a luxury. Owing to the high price and the limited supply of medicine, villagers use medication very sparingly. They may not finish medicines left behind until the corporation’s next visit. Vitamins were also provided since there is not enough nutritious food.
     Besides curing residents’ diseases, curing their minds was also a consideration.
     “Local people drink underground water without boiling it. They do not wash their hands, either,” said Ms Ho.
     Mothers are not well-cared for after giving birth to their babies, and children do not have sufficient food for proper growth.
     The children look like 3 years smaller and weaker than they should be at their age, according to both interviewees.
          Courtesy of Ms Veronica Leung
        Queuing for free medical treatment.
     The locals do not even know how to take care of sick people. “When people have a cold, they wrap up the patients tightly and force them to eat rice,” said Ms Leung.
     The local government has little intention of improving the people’s living environment.
     “A villager told me that the government engaged in no relief work after a flood. The villagers could only rely on themselves,” said Ms Ho.
     Ms Leung said when the villagers knew the team of medical professionals charged nothing, they queued up in front of the clinic every morning for medicine and treatment, with their whole families to come later.
     On the other hand, the team had adaptation problems themselves.
     “Most of our teammates suffered from diarrhoea because of dirty drinking water and the hot weather,” said Ms Ho.
     But the efforts paid off.
     On a previous visit, the team once paid the medical expenses for a patient. When the corporation visited the village the next time, the patient’s whole family came to thank them. Ms Ho recalled that they were very happy and excited about that.



 Homosexual life       China art in foreign eyes




January 1998

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