Translated by Vincent Hsu

 

 

I started my second international medical mission in October 2008. The original destination was India, but one month before the trip, Taiwan Root informed us that the destination had been changed to Myanmar. Considering how much damage the Cyclone Nargis had brought to the country last year, and government’s blockade to disaster relief effort by other countries, I thought going to Myanmar was not a bad idea afterward. As I remembered how bad my heart burned in desperation when I saw the media report of the disaster, I got really excited for all the help that I can bring to the people of Myanmar. Moreover, when I found out that this trip was planned to help out those Chinese who were forced to stay in the country due to war and political issues, I began to the look forward to this medical mission with great zeal. However, one week before the trip, I received an E-mail from the local contact recommending us to postpone the trip due to local instability and safety issues of the mission team. Since all the team members had already taken vacations out of their jobs and the were ready to go, we decided to contact Lions International, a organization we frequently worked with stationed in Sri Lanka, for possible medical mission trips to Sri Lanka. Though receiving such short notice, officials from Lions International welcomed our visit and hence, we decided to once again change the destination of our trip to Sri Lanka. These changes before the trip really caught me off guard; I would always spend good amount of time researching the area that we’re going to visit prior to the trip so I will be prepared in terms of what equipments to bring and diseases to cure. Nonetheless, I decided to bring everything with me so I will be prepared to face anything situation. Who knows if we’re going to make any changes again at when we arrive at the airport!

 

Experiences from the Medical Missions are Priceless

 

I arrived at the airport in the morning to meet up with my team there. Looking through the team member list which has 40 plus names, I can count those whom I know with my fingers. However, there is not anxiety or uneasiness at all, and this is what makes our Peace Corp special. We recognize each other by our uniforms and we form relationships and bonds with each other like those with classmates in primary and secondary school. Not surprisingly, we all got to know each other pretty well before we board the plane. The team first flew to Hong Kong then switched flight to Singapore, and from there, we flew straight to Sri Lanka. Throughout the plane ride, we had airplane meals every time we board and alight the plane; I had a total of three meals throughout the plane ride. When the impact of the plane landing woke me up, I had already arrived in Sri Lanka. Since I slept for most of the way, I had no idea how long I had spent on the plane, if you’d asked me how far is Sri Lanka from Taiwan, I would probably answer, “about three meals worth of distance.” As I exited the airport, I felt the heat wave that dominates the weather of a southern hemisphere country. We then drove to the hotel for some rest and at there we prepared for the upcoming medical mission activities that lasted for quite a number of days.

 

 

In the morning of the first day, we headed to the very first area of this mission. We received warm welcome from the local residents and we started our work right after we finished the refreshments we’d prepared. I’m the person in charge of all the laboratory medicine section for this trip. After our team leader appointed our positions, I jumped to my job and quickly pulled out all the equipments and medical devices. Suddenly, I realized that my portable bio-test machine failed to turn on. Also, from the other side of the room, the electrocardiogram failed to function properly due to disparity in voltage and other related issues. At this point, I cannot imagine a worse situation. Out of the two problems that no medical mission team would ever want to face, one of them is the problem of voltage and electricity, thus it is very important to get to know the electrical information of the visiting area before arrival. Otherwise, the consequences could be terminal damage to the device. The other problem is trying to fix the device manually. In Taiwan, we can always call in technicians to fix our medical devices, but in these visiting areas, which are mostly rural areas, there are no engineers to call. In a medical mission trip, you are not only a doctor/pharmacist, but also engineer and technician; you have to be able to fix minor issues in the machines, identify, and replace fuse, etc. In general, you need to know a little bit of everything in order to be efficient at a medical mission trip. Just like last year, I had to fix the machine under the strict stare from the team leader and that experience was not fun at all. Hence, I checked all the machines before our departure this year. But what happened now? Why is it not working again? To my relief, the cause for the malfunction was very minor and I was able to fix it quite easily. Some very helpful team members also went to look for appropriate plug convertors and ac adapters that can make the 220-volt electrocardiogram to work on a 110-volt electrical output. After fixing all the problems, the on-site mini laboratory medicine department was finally established and opened for business.

 

The public has this misconception about the department of laboratory medicine that it only does simple things like taking blood sample and carrying out urine test. This department actually does a lot more! In fact, it is made up of many smaller teams with different focuses in areas like blood, bio, serum, blood bank, and bacteria etc, just like being a doctor, one can be categorized into different focuses like internal, external, epidemic, pregnancy, optics, family etc; every team or position has its own specific area of focus. I’m not implying that I know everything within this department, in fact the trip does not require one to know that much more than three common tasks like microscopic examination, blood test, and bio test. Tasks that are too complicated or too complex are unable to carry out due to technical difficulties, constraints of the local areas, and pressing of time. Helping out in the medical mission trip is thus not as difficult as imagined, just review some basic techniques and think through the process and you’re ready to go. Unexpected issues/problems? Just try to deal with it while on the spot. Two of the biggest obstacles in medical mission trips to foreign countries are language barrier and identity matching. Placing a translator beside the medical check-up doctor is quite a waste of human resources, hence I always request not to have a translator because there are not many people who write lab report and the chances of mixing the reports are slim as well. Yet this can be quite an issue in rural and run-down areas. The people in those areas tend to not recognize words and they can rarely write well and legible. Thus it’s quite easy for patients to take the wrong report due my inaccurate pronunciation and their lack of patience. To avoid such mistake to occur, I brought with me numbered stickers that come in three. I put one on the lab report, one on the test sample, and one on the patient to expedite the process of matching and recording my lab report! Hence the very act of participating in medical mission trips can also be viewed not only as a way to test my professional skills, ability to adapt to different situations and team work capacity, but also a great mean to learn how to get along with different people and new things. There is an old Chinese saying that reading a million books is not as beneficial as walking a million miles; the experiences one had gone through is indeed priceless.

 

Throughout the days of the trip, I realized that although Sri Lanka is generally poor and has unequal distribution of medical resources, it values its people’s education. From primary to high school, the government covered all the education expenses and as a result, the people of Sri Lanka have quite a decent level of education. Unlike some under-developed countries, where the common diseases and illness are caused by unclean drinking water, malnutrition, bad hygiene, AIDS or other unknown diseases, the patients of Sri Lanka are dominantly plagued by metabolic illness like diabetes and metabolic arthritis. This had obviously proved the statement “knowledge is power”. Education had raised the general health awareness of the people, thus avoiding the formation of some infectious diseases and decreasing the medical expenses. From this it is quite apparent to see the importance of education to the general welfare of a country. Frankly put, the service we can provide is limited, I always think about doing something to help them more. But certain things are out of my power and not feasible through my power; there are too many layers of concern to consider and as long I as do my job well, help out at some local pharmacy while I’m free, and distribute some candies to the local kids and make them happy, they should be able to feel my sincerity.

 

 

The ten-day trip had quickly ended. Throughout the trip, even though each day was really busy, it was really enjoyable because of all the company from the amazing team members. Working was never as enjoyable when you learn to accept and tolerate through rubbing life with each other. The entire trip was filled with trust, laughter, and sharing. Though we all came from different places, with the same belief and faith about the work we do, we were able to finish this medical mission trip on a strong note. No matter how much effort we had put in, what we actually received were much more. I would like to thank all the team members from this trip and the timely assistant from the friends of Lions International. Without you guys such wonderful experience will never be possible!

 

　　Until now, I recalled something that my team leader once said, “if you’re always merely a witness to touching events, less and less things will move you eventually.” I totally agree with that. When my friends knew about what I’ve been doing, I could almost discerned their fervor and profound desire to do something similar. Yet what a shame it is that because of practical reasons, they were unable to do so. I was surprised to find out that I too can be someone who made others feel touched through my sharing. Regardless of your opinion, I know what I was doing and what I wanted.

 

 

The way they submitted their urine sample also impressed us, they would wrapped the container with their own handkerchief, and then pour away in the lavatory with their willingness. They treated the medical staff with great respect, too. The other thing I would like to mention is that we were perfectly protected by the security guards on our way. In Honduras, the two armed soldiers were kept our company from the beginning to the end.

 

The poverty gap is huge in the Central America, and we have heard that the daily expense of many households is under one US dollar. The local intellectual, once in a while, donate money or offer hands to help the poor. The first service we hold in Panama was cooperated with the Asociacion para el Desarrollo Sostenible de El Valle de Anton, also known as ADESVA , which was organised by the local intellectual. The native doctors and we cooperatively treated 2000 patients. The Taiwanese Guild also gave away 800 packed five kilograms rice to the people in need. After the work, the chief of ADESVA invited us to his residence to relax.

 

The secretary Wei from our embassy said Central Americans tend to be shy and conservative, the rich especially keep a distance to outsiders. It is very rare that people would allow strangers like us to walk and take pictures around in their house like the chief did, and it was the very first time to secretary Wei of his three-year stay in Panama. This showed the warmest response we got from our friends. At the end of our service, the organizer furthermore arranged the dance performance to express their gratitude.

 

Other than “being needed”, “being respected”, “experience the insufficiency” are the other important gain from this journey. The places we went are about the same altitude as the Philippines, and we got the same hot and humid rain season as well. After a long working day, we were eager to find a “wonderland” where we can enjoy some breeze. At those moments, we could not stop admiring Ms. Huang’s foresight, because she remembered to stock a paper fan into her luggage. What a smart idea! Being able to endure such heat, we became more cautious about turning on the air conditioner in Taiwan. Additionally, the salty smash red bean, tortilla（玉米餅）, chewy roasted chick and watery rice also redefine our demand toward food. After tasted the authentic flavor, the fried rice, or say watery rice fried by soy source, prepared by secretary Hsiao and the Technology Mission, became delicacies to us. The reality of nothing left in our lunch box obviously aspired Mr. Hsiao, on the second day, the lunch he brought to us were fried rice, fried noodles and one spring roll for each. We devoured all the rice to payoff Mr. Hsiao’s thoughtfulness. That day ENT doctor Wang shared his feeling by saying “what is rich? Being rich is you have more than need, and being poor is your need more than have, it is not much to do with one’s wealth. Need and desire decide one is rich or poor.” I agree with him. We have tasted great deal of delicious food, but why did the fried rice could still amuse us? I believe sequent “authentic gourme” in two days have played the magic.

 

Two weeks have been flew by quickly after coming back to Taiwan. While I sorted the photos taken in the trip, I suddenly realised how fruitful that two-week service was and so much memories it brought me, and I have started missing the partners from our group and North America Taiwanese Medical Association. In the end, I would like to thank the staff from embassy, Technology Mission, Taiwan Guild and overseas fellow people, and I wish we can someday get together to work for Taiwan’s medical diplomacy again.(end)