When duty calls, a Chinese doctor faces deprivation of rural Uganda
Print Edition
THOUSANDS of kilometers away from home, Li Canzhang, an orthopedic surgeon, endures the scorching sun in a remote fishing village on the shores of Lake Albert that is shared by Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Away from the operating theaters back in China and his duty station in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, Li’s mission is to offer treatment to the hundreds of patients in a remote village.
In an area of breathtaking scenery, especially the protective escarpment that is as high as 400 meters, the health services in Buhuka village located in the frontier district of Hoima are deplorable, with only one health center.
Accessing this village is either by boat or walking down the steep escarpment. The sick and pregnant mothers have to walk uphill to access better health services.
“I am very glad to be here to provide health service to the local people. We are happy for the kindness Ugandans have accorded us. We have never had this experience in Africa like here,” Li says.
Communicating through an interpreter, Li carefully listens to patients as others in a long queue for their turn.
Although it is fast approaching Li’s break time, the patients, who include children and the aged, are not ready to give up. They continue to queue. They come with all sorts of ailments ranging from tuberculosis to arthritis and malaria.
“Africa is very different from China. In this place, there are very few doctors, no medicine. So the Chinese government sent us here to provide medical and technical help,“ Li says.
“We are here to give them medical service and we are proud of it,” he adds. “The government sent us here to serve the Ugandans and it is our responsibility as doctors.”
Jane Makune, 53, could not hide her excitement about the medical camp. She argued that although it is a one-day event, it saved them from walking up the escarpment to seek health services.
“We are very happy that they have brought the medical camp here. We find it hard to climb the escarpment,“ she says while patiently waiting her turn to see Li. She has backache.
Li’s wife and daughter remain back in Yunnan Province in southwestern China. When duty called, he had to leave them and head for Africa.
“I miss my wife. I miss my daughter so much,“ Li says when asked about his family thousands of kilometers away.
China has for the last over 30 years been sending medical teams to Uganda. More than 15 Chinese medical teams with a total of 147 specialists have worked side by side with Ugandan doctors to treat patients.
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