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Summary - December 2011 Rural Team The team provides assistance in two township hospitals and rural clinics in the LiaoNing and JiangSu provinces. They empower the local healthcare personnel by imparting knowledge in medicine, nursing and dentistry, to help improve the quality of care. They also offer assistance with pharmaceuticals, hospitals (building and equipment) and assist with healthcare costs for the poor. Urban Team The team assists with teaching, in pediatrics and mental health, in Suzhou and Xiamen teaching hospitals. They also teach—the certified Neonatal Resuscitation Programme, Basic Life Support, a community psychiatry workshop, dentistry and ESL. They provide spiritual support to Christians in the area by visiting homes, providing counselling and collaborating with local churches.

See Gifts of Hope Z4a & Z4b - China East for details
on donating to improve healthcare in China East.

November 2009

Urban  Team

Xiamen, Suzhou
The team visited Xiamen in Fujian Province and Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. A number of conferences were held with topics such as-Paediatrics, Mental Health, Dental Teaching and ESL. The teaching curriculum varied slightly, at each site, to accommodate specific needs. The staff at the Xian Yue Psychiatric Hospital and at the Suzhou Psychiatric Hospital also taught at the conference. These joint-ventures really encouraged mutual learning and should be continued in future.

50th Anniversary Celebration
  Suzhou Children's Hospital
It was an honour for our team to be invited to this event, where directors of Health Bureaus and children's hospitals from all over the country were gathered. These will be good connections for the future. The hospital recognized our 15-year relationship by publishing a memorable book with the history of our past activities at the hospital. Each team member was given a copy.

Yunnan Exploratory Trip
At the request of the China South Team, we travelled to Kunming, Yunnan to assess the mental health needs in this region. Two Mental Health Team members, a psychiatrist and a nurse from the China South Team visited Kunming. It was reported that assistance in this area is very much needed and welcomed. However, due to lack of personnel and time plus the distance between sites, the China East Mental Health Team cannot cover the Kunming area at this time. Instead, we plan to invite and support mental health workers from Kunming to attend and/or participate at our mental health conference in Xiamen. I hope that a separate Mental Health Team for Kunming will be formed in the future to actively serve this area.

Huangji New Inpatient Hospital
While the team was working in Suzhou, a small group joined the China East Dalian/ Huangji Team in order to inspect the construction of the new inpatient hospital, partially funded by our team. The building's exterior, as well as the plumbing and electrical are completed; but construction has stopped due to insufficient funds. The team agreed to amend the original "Payment on Completion" contract in order that construction may continue. Approval was given by EMAS and funds were sent in January 2010.

This year's itinerary was most difficult to organize but everything went well. H1N1 was a huge concern as the vaccine was unavailable. A pharmacist donated 35 doses of Tamiflu (the antiviral agent), enough for every team member if needed. However, no one contracted the illness. The unity was great among the team members, despite the large group.

Conclusion
As the Chinese economy continues to improve, funding to the referral hospitals has increased resulting in better diagnostic equipment and overall hospital environment. Unfortunately, the quality of care is still lagging. Education and training of hospital staff are still very much needed.

I am grateful for the privilege of serving in China. I have acquired, from the other team members, the courage to step out of my comfort zone, the zealousness to serve, and the strength to work endlessly.

 

November 2009

Rural  Team

Dalian
Our team served in Dalijar, Dalian. There are a lot of changes taking place in this region and in the surrounding villages. There are multi-story apartment complexes being built, on a hilltop, to accommodate the villagers. Dalijia hospital will also be re-located.

This year's medical program was quite organized. We held lectures, did teaching in different villages and conducted free clinics. We saw over 250 patients in total, and visited 20 poor families bringing them gifts. We also gave out 170 thermoses. The dental team was very busy working the teeth cleaning machine donated two years ago and teaching grade six students about dental hygiene. The hospital director utilized our education support to send a gynaecologist to a Dalian hospital for one year of training. She was grateful for this opportunity.

We will not be going back to Dalijia next year because they are moving towards modernization with sufficient leadership and resources. We are considering going further inland to reach the more impoverished communities.

Huangji Township
We were welcomed by the director of the Huangji Hospital and the director of the Hungji Children Hospital. This is a new site for a lot of us with the hospital a little bigger and more organized than Dalijia. We checked out the new hospital, being built at the back of their compound, which is 25% supported by EMAS. The new hospital's basic structure is completed but there are no windows, doors or toilets as yet.

In this region, the team saw patients, held lectures and taught ESL. We also saw patients in village clinics. They were quite enthusiastic about our lectures and we discovered some eager learners in our ESL classes.

We did dental teaching in two grade six classes which was very well received. Our Ped Pharmacist and Radiation Technologist also held a seminar at the Hungji Children Hospital. We gave out 30 thermoses to the patients and staff. We suggested going to Huangji, in the future, in conjunction with Dalian to provide primary prevention, dental care and ESL classes.

See Gifts of Hope Z4a & Z4b - China East for details
on donating to improve healthcare in China East.

I count it a tremendous privilege to serve on short-term missions with my team members. Many of you have dedicated a lot of time, energy and finances to this ministry. I know that God will reward you personally in his most wonderful ways. I look forward to serving with you again on our next trip.

 

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