Changsha Evening News, Changsha, February 11 (Full **** reporter Fu Rongrong correspondent Qin Fanghua) "On Chinese New Year's Eve, our medical team made a large table of Hunan dishes at the station, using authentic Hunan screw chili peppers to stir-fry meat, feeling that they are not far from home!" "At a distance of 1 from Hunan, China60,000 kilometers from Sierra Leone, Africa, today, Chen Yongjun, the leader of the 24th batch of China (Hunan) medical team to Sierra Leone (hereinafter referred to as the Sierra Leone medical team), deputy secretary of the Party Committee and vice president of the South China Hospital affiliated to the University of South China, connected with reporters at the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital in the capital Freetown. Spending the Spring Festival in a foreign country for the first time, Chen Yongjun's tone was filled with the joy of the New Year.
There are a total of 21 medical staff in the medical team, which is the largest number of medical teams sent by Hunan in the history. In 1973, Hunan sent the first medical team to support Sierra Leone, the early batch of medical teams, each batch of only 8-9 people, in recent years, the Hunan medical team to Sierra Leone increased to about 20 people, China's medical aid to foreign countries has increased to 76, covering the vast Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin American countries and regions, Chen Yongjun feels that this is the embodiment of the motherland's growing strength.
In 2023, it will be the 50th anniversary of Hunan's medical dispatch to Cyprus. On February 28 of the same year, the medical team set off from Changsha, and in this historic year, Chen Yongjun said that he was the first to carry out the mission of aiding Africa, and he was fortunate to be a witness and participant in history.
At present, the medical team has completed a one-year term of medical assistance, and has completed a total of 20,000 outpatient and emergency patients, 1,200 inpatients, more than 1,000 overseas Chinese diagnoses and treatments, and more than 400 surgical operations. Overcoming various difficulties, many new technologies and projects have been carried out, and many critically ill patients have been rescued.
We hope that through the 'relay teaching' of our batch after batch of Chinese medical team members, 'it is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish', so that more local doctors can master medical skills, train more high-level local doctors, and leave a medical team that cannot be taken away, and our medical treatment will also go out of the hospital to benefit more local patients." Chen Yongjun introduced that while the medical team members are engaged in medical treatment, the medical team has also trained more than 200 local medical staff through clinical teaching, theoretical teaching, and local professionals to go to China for training. The medical team has organized more than 10 free clinics and health education activities, going deep into local communities, primary and secondary schools, orphanages, remote mining areas and Chinese-funded institutions and enterprises, providing them with medical security services, benefiting more than 1,000 people.
Now there is nearly one month before the triumph of the medical team, and it is the Lunar New Year, Chen Yongjun and the team members planned early, hoping to have an unforgettable Spring Festival in a foreign country. "We stocked up on New Year's goods in advance, and also bought Spring Festival couplets, red lanterns, window flowers, ......The atmosphere must be sufficient! "As Chinese-funded enterprises develop better and better in Africa, many Chinese have also set up shops in the local area, selling some goods with Chinese characteristics, including decorations such as Spring Festival couplets, and even Hunan screw chili peppers that have crossed the ocean. Every time he thinks of these, Chen Yongjun feels that the flavor of the New Year is stronger, and the "Hunan flavor" is closer.
On the evening of February 9, local time, on Chinese New Year's Eve, the medical team bought authentic Hunan cuisine ingredients, made a hot Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and invited local Chinese and medical staff to make dumplings and welcome the New Year.
When asked by the reporter about missing his family, Chen Yongjun smiled and said: "The Chinese are so powerful, the WeChat we invented is really good, in the past, there was only 'a thousand miles of sound' in mythological stories, and now the sound and smile can be seen in front of you." Hunan and Africa are thousands of miles apart, and I can communicate with my parents, wife and children at any time*** In 2023, Chen Yongjun's son happened to take the college entrance examination, and he couldn't accompany his son when he was "taking the big test in life", and Chen Yongjun, as a father, couldn't help but feel indebted. "Actually, my wife and son are very supportive of my aid to Africa. Before leaving, my son said to me: 'Dad, the college entrance examination is just an exam, and with you as an example, I will definitely be able to perform better!' ’”
With the advent of the New Year, talking about New Year's wishes, Chen Yongjun, as the captain, hoped that the medical team could successfully complete the foreign aid mission and return home safely. "The experience accumulated during the aid period is irreplaceable, the aid is not a year, no regrets for a lifetime, I believe that every team member will think that this life journey is extremely valuable, and will be remembered for a lifetime. ”