Translated by Joanna Cheng

 

 

Burma was the original destination of this mission, and I was glad to put into practice the methods of assessments I had learnt during my studies in order to learn more about the local health system. However, due to certain factors, Taiwan Root had to change its mission location to another country, which disappointed me as I had already researched and gathered many reports and data about medical health in Burma, as well as prepared material regarding children’s dental care. Speaking of pre-mission preparations, I have to give my admiration and gratitude to all Taiwan Root employees and volunteers, who prepared all necessary items, equipment and documents with such patience and care. Images of everyone packing the boxes still appear in my head, each taking great care to not exceed the weight limit for each box. All these people are indispensible for the success of the medical missions. I often think where President Liu had gotten such fortune to have such enthusiastic volunteers? 3 October. After flight transfers in Hong Kong and Singapore, the team of 42 volunteers arrived in the small country south of India, Sri Lanka. The surface area of the country is 65,610 km2 (almost twice the area of Taiwan), with a population of approximate 19.2 million, which is close to the population of Taiwan. The probability of dying for children under the age of 5 for every 1,000 live births is 13. Sri Lanka’s total expenditure on health is 4.1% of its GDP (2005), which is higher in comparison to other developing southeast Asian countries (http://www.who.int/countries/lka/en/).

 

During the 8-day medical mission around the country, treating patients and traveling between places occupied most of our time. I joked that the volunteer group was like a battle troop, where our work was orientated by the main objective: serve the people in every way we could. However, it must be admitted that during medical missions abroad there are inevitably various limitations such as people, equipment, medicine, local medical service methodologies, and cultural differences. Taiwan Root has always aimed to reduce the inequality in access to health experienced by those who are impoverished and/or at an disadvantage through periodical medical missions, so that the disadvantaged population would also have the opportunity to attain healthy status. We often ponder why we have the opportunity to health, while the poor and the disadvantaged do not? This issue has always been a focus point of international NGOs, and Taiwan Root is no lesser concerned. The people of Taiwan are also citizens of the world, not to mention a part of Asia, so it is only appropriate for the Taiwanese to provide health assistance to the impoverished and disadvantaged people in other parts of Asia. During the Sumatra Tsunami disaster, Taiwan Root constantly provided health support in Sri Lanka, thereby paving the way for co-operation between NGOs between the 2 countries.

 

Sri Lanka is the health model of developing countries

 

　　Compared to other developing countries, Sri Lanka enjoyed immense advantages. Natural products such as rubies, Ceylon tea, spices, and other natural resources allow the annual GDP per capita to be US$4,595 (Human Development Report 2007/2008). According a report by the WHO, Sri Lanka is one of the wealthy countries in Southeast Asia. With education provided publicly and other existing fundamental constructions available, a different Sri Lanka is formed.

 

When passing by schools, I saw middle school students wearing white school uniform and shoes. I was glad because they at least had the chance to go to school, and what was more encouraging was that sight that they all wore shoes (a lot of children in developing countries do not have the luxury of wearing shoes.) Although whether the people have to shoes to wear or not is not a measurement of wealth, it does provide some indications that at least the people living in this particular area or country have the basic economic ability to buy shoes for the children so they do not get hurt.

 

　　I was also fascinated by the neat sewage system, which was in place also in remote areas, albeit in simpler forms. This was in contrast to many other developing countries where dug-up holes were used for waste dumping. The sewage system is an important indicator of the country’s health facilities. When we drove through various towns, notice boards specifically for health information were widely dotted the side of the roads, passing health education to everyone.

 

　　I was most impressed by the country’s capital, Colombo, where no-smoking signs could be widely seen in all public areas. In one of the shopping malls, although the dining area was set out in the open, it was nevertheless forbidden to smoke: a no-smoking sign was put on every single table. The promotion of the harmful effects of smoking and the prevention of the activity are so widespread in Sri Lanka that I feel the Health Department of Taiwan have a lot to catch up on. There was hardly any cigarette butts, sights of people smoking, and the smell of smoke in Sri Lanka. (According to a 2005 WHO report, the proportions of male and female smokers over the age of 15 were 30.2% and 2.6%, respectively.)

 

So reading all the above information, a lot of people (including myself) must be asking why we still went to Sri Lanka.

 

A joint strategy proposal report by the WHO and Sri Lanka indicates that over 23% of the country’s total population live under the poverty line set of the World Bank of US$ per day. In remote areas, the proportion exceeds 30%. Furthermore, the UNDP’s Human Development Report 2007/2008 shows that the human development index (HDI) is 0.743. This index considers factors such as life expectancy, level of literacy of adults older than 15 years, enrolment in education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, and purchasing power parity, or income. Out 177 countries, Sri Lanka ranks at 99, making it one of the rare developing countries where the GDP is low (although more than Vietnam, Indonesia and Mongolia), but the average life expectancy of its population is 71.6 years (considered long in developing countries.) These facts show that it is possible for opportunities for health to be available in developing countries, by the inequalities are still widespread nonetheless. As we traveled to mostly remote locations during this mission, most of the people we treated were those with little or no access to healthcare, due to factors such as the proximity of healthcare to the area and the availability of facilities. There were also a lot of people who, despite poor dental health conditions, have never even had fillings.

 

Reflections

It is not easy to do the right thing right, and to comply with the standards of international humanitarian relief assistance. After the mission, I saw in some photos that I had forgotten to take off my watch during 2 days of the mission. It was something that differentiated us from the local people, not to mention the advanced digital cameras brought along by volunteers during mission further accentuated our advantage – easy access to modern technology. However, this is something that is often not detected by the volunteers. It is essential for all those who are, or wishing to participate in international volunteering, to constantly remind each other to be aware of these differences. It is hard for a person to be an invisible support provider, but it is not desirable to become so conspicuous. The spirit of the volunteer team during the mission was gratifying. (end)