In the central city of Wau in the war-torn country of South Sudan, four faded Chinese characters -- Huayi Hospital -- are painted on a shipping container by the roadside in the city center. This small hospital with only four Chinese medical staff is not conspicuous, but locally it is not simple: in April this year, when there was a big unrest in South Sudan, the local police chief even sent someone specifically to protect this hospital.
The hospital was opened by Liu Guangchen and his wife Ma Mingzhi from Henan province. Liu Guangchen is 54 years old, before "going to sea" to open the hospital, he did 10 years in Henan township hospital director. Since 2007, Mr. and Mrs. Liu have opened hospitals in Darfur, Sudan, Khartoum and Juba and Wau, South Sudan.
Liu Guangchen came to Africa from a meeting where he heard a doctor from the Africa Aid Medical Team describe the situation in Sudan. "For one thing, the salary in the township hospital was not high, and the burden on my family was heavy at that time; and secondly, I liked to do business and did not want to be the director." This is how Liu Guangchen explained his original intention to come to Sudan and South Sudan to open a hospital.
The first hospital that Mr. and Mrs. Liu Guangchen worked with friends opened in Darfur, Sudan. "Basically, they poured out their family's fortune to invest in the hospital and borrowed money from friends." Ma Mingzhi said she was very supportive of her husband's decision, all the way to "husband and wife". She is in charge of the hospital's finances and doesn't speak much English, but she can communicate simply in the local language with patients who come to pay.
Abdullah, 40, was one of the patients that the reporter met during the interview at Huayi Hospital. He came straight to Liu Guangchen's consulting room, saying he had been hit by a car a few days earlier and was now suffering from severe thigh pain.
"It's not the car accident, it's typhoid fever, you have to get fluids." Liu Guangchen said after doing a checkup on Abdullah. South Sudan is poor and backward, with irregular diets and poor living conditions that make people here susceptible to diseases such as typhoid, malaria, stomach problems, liver disease and rheumatism.
Abdullah is visiting Huayi Hospital for the third time. He said, "The doctors here are good, the last time I came my body was very difficult, after the treatment it was much better, trustworthy."
"Wau's status in South Sudan is equivalent to China's Shanghai, and our place here is equivalent to the best hospital in Shanghai." Liu Guangchen said proudly. The simply decorated hospital with a couplet reading "Heaven and Earth Forever Spring" doesn't look like the best hospital in Shanghai, but patients who can't be treated at local hospitals in Wau are referred to Huayi Hospital, and some even travel long distances to see a doctor here.
Liu Guangchen has a Chinese-labeled map of the body's acupuncture points in his office. He said acupuncture and massagers are sometimes used to assist in treating pain such as rheumatism, and that locals are very receptive to such treatments. Chinese-made artemisinin is very effective in treating malaria, and local patients suffering from malaria who are infused with artemisinin and nutritional fluids are usually well in a few days.
Huayi Hospital's medical skills are widely praised by locals. Some patients call Liu Guangchen a "big shot" and greet him when he passes by the hospital, and send him mangoes when they are ripe at home. "There is no advertising here, the hospital's reputation relies on word-of-mouth from patients, some of whom walk from far away, and they are very close to the Chinese people." Ma Mingzhi said.
Huayi Hospital also has another "umbrella", that is, a few minutes away from Huayi Hospital, China's peacekeeping brigade of engineers and medical teams in South Sudan (Wau). "We often seek help from the peacekeeping troops for equipment maintenance and supplies. With them around, we feel at ease." Liu Guangchen said.
When the situation in South Sudan was particularly chaotic, it wasn't that Mr. and Mrs. Liu Guangchen didn't think about leaving the country. "In the past, every morning from the hall to the aisles were filled with patients. When the war started, people were poorer and there were fewer patients." Ma Mingzhi said.
But Mr. and Mrs. Liu Guangchen couldn't leave the local patients behind. One patient was in tears on the spot when he heard Liu Guangchen reveal his intention to withdraw. "'You left, who will come to us to see the doctor ah', he cried so, I was then all of a sudden made up my mind, not to go!" Liu Guangchen said.
With the decline in revenue, only Mr. and Mrs. Liu Guangchen, a lab technician and a pharmacist remain at Huayi Hospital, which used to have more than 20 Chinese health care workers. Liu Guangchen said the hospital now has only about 10 patients a day, and sometimes patients are exempted if they don't have money, basically losing money. But he still decided to hold on in Wawu.