Medical Clinics Project

October 24th, 2006 by Duis porttitor

Who are we representing? Why are we here?
GCAT (Global Concern Action Team)
We come from Li Po Chun United World College. Our school gathers students from all over the world with the objective of creating peace and a sustainable future. Among the LPC students, we form part of a group called Global Concerns Action Team.

As the name hints, this group tries to identify problem issues around the world, which can be improved through work from our part. Inside the GCAT there are several projects, and today we come representing and wanting to make you aware about the Medical Clinics in Guizhou.

Amity
* contributes to China’s social development and openness to the outside world,
* makes Christian involvement and participation in meeting the needs of society more widely known to the Chinese people
* serves as a channel for people-to-people contact and the ecumenical sharing of resources.

Majiang County Background

Majiang County is located in the middle of Guizhou province.129 villages all together consisting 220,000 people live in this ‘poverty county’. Majiang is famous for its mountainous surroundings and farms together with their rich culture and tradition. People in Majiang are considered to be of minority groups. The Miao group is the most populated among them.
Amongst the 129 villages, 21 villages are supported by the Amity foundation. With the supportive and hard working government and health bureau, 95% of the government’s target on health vaccinations has been fulfilled. This can be seen clearly through the health situation in the past five years, which had no serious epidemics and only a few vital diseases were found. Moreover, the health bureau has been paying special attention to pregnant women. The effective public health education campaign has raised the percentage of women giving birth in the hospitals from 2% to over 80% in only 5 years (i.e. 2002 to 2007)
However, there are still some significant needs regarding the quality of services. Amongst 129 villages, only six had clinics that met the standard by the end of 2007. Therefore the government and the Amity Foundation are aiming to build 100 new medical clinics as soon as they raise enough money. By the time of our visit, 44 clinics have been built. The criterion of deciding which clinic should be built first depends on: the condition of the old clinics, the distance from village to the county hospital and the density of the population.

Apart from the facilities, knowledge of the doctors or what they call ‘village health workers’ is also a major problem. With the training that the village health workers have gone through, and the equipment available, only some basic illness such as cold and stomach problems can be treated. Any more serious diseases need to be treated in the hospitals. There is one example of a village health worker who was asked how HIV/AIDS spread; she said that it depended on where you sat. If you sat downwind to the AIDS-infected person, you would get infected. Fortunately, HIV/AIDS has never been a serious problem in Majiang. Guizhou is ranked in the middle for the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China. Within that, Majiang is ranked the lowest in Guizhou. This clearly states that there is a need of further training in this region. For this reason, the government and the Amity Foundation are paying special attention in providing training for the village health workers.

SITUATION OF OLD CLINICS

During our trip to Majiang, Guizhou, we were fortunate enough to visit two of the ‘old clinics’ which are in desperate need for reparation.

The reason we use the terms ‘old’ when describing these clinics is that they are in fact very old, run-down, and insufficient in sustaining a healthy environment.
The general characteristics of these clinics are that they are built with only wood and bricks and are no more than 25 meters squared in total area. There is also a lack of supplies, because most of these clinics have only 1 bed, 1 cabinet of medicines, 2 rooms and no electricity.

Of the two old clinics that we’ve been two, one was in a Miao village and another was across the road from a primary school.

The one near the primary school was very well situated because we were told that the clinic was located in the centre of the entire village, however, the doctor who worked there; felt that the clinic was not good enough to ensure a healthy community.

She told us a very touching story about how a 14 year old girl had unfortunately died under her supervision because of her lack of surgical skill and medicinal supplies. The 14 year old girl had originally gone to the doctor with the symptoms of a cold, after being treated she continued with school for a couple of weeks before returning in the following summer. By this time, the girl had already been struck very severely and was obviously dying. Her parents, scared by the sudden bout of sickness, brought their daughter to the medical clinic because they believed that the doctor was capable of keeping the daughter alive because she was the one who originally gave the daughter treatment. However, because the doctor was unable to identify the sickness, she applied an IV drip in a last ditch effort to keep the girl alive. However, despite the doctor’s efforts, the daughter died in the clinic before the doctor and the parents. We were told that this memory was one that the doctor would never forget.

It is from this story that our whole group felt that it was necessary to help raise money to sponsor that specific clinic to improve the health of that community.

WORK BEING DONE BY AMITY AND GCAT
During the period 2005-2008, GCAT raised over $50,000 from a fundraising dinner to support the establishment of two medical clinics in Majiang, Guizhou Province. The construction of the first clinic was finished in late 2008.
Other funds were raised by the sales of sets of Postcards produced by GCAT and collecting donations from the parents therefore makes it possible to provide medical supply to one of the GCAT-built clinics.
In early November, a group of GCAT members went to Majiang to establish a better and deeper understanding of the situation in Majiang. The group helped with the construction work of one of the clinics, talked to the locals and the government officials. As a result, a more comprehensive picture of the needs there is obtained.
Along the way, the Amity Foundation has helped and assisted the GCAT members to implement their plans to improve the situation in Majiang.

DIFFERENCE OF HAVING NEW CLINIC
OLD Clinics:
The old ones are very old, run-down, and insufficient in sustaining a healthy environment.
They are built with only wood and bricks and are no more than 25 meters squared in total area.
There is also a lack of supplies, because most of these clinics have only 1 bed, 1 cabinet of medicines, 2 rooms and no electricity. Of the two old clinics that we’ve been two, one was in a Miao village and another was across the road from a primary school.
The one near the primary school was very well situated because we were told that the clinic was located in the centre of the entire village, however, the doctor who worked there; felt that the clinic was not good enough to ensure a healthy community. She told us a very touching story about how a 14 year old girl had unfortunately died under her supervision because of her lack of surgical skill and medicinal supplies.

Our whole group felt that it was necessary to help raise money to sponsor that specific clinic to improve the health of that community.
New Clinics:
They refer to the Amity foundation funded clinics which were newly built
They were made to be strong and had a very strong foundation, and the inside of the building would be painted and tiled. There would also be more rooms, approximately 4 rooms, each serving a different purpose. One room, where the patients would rest, would contain 4-5 beds. There would be consultative rooms and rooms which contained medicinal stores. These stores would commonly be kept in wardrobes.
These new clinics are far more efficient in providing health care and are usually more durable to provide long-lasting service.

WHAT WE DID TO HELP?
We did not only raise money for the constructions of the new clinics, but also raise the public awareness.
Last year, some of our students from GCAT organized a fundraising dinner in our school. They held an auction. With generous support from the public, we were able to raise enough money to support two new clinics, which were those we have visited this year.
This year what we have fund raised 10000RMB to buy medical tools and equipments for the new clinics built. We have set up fundraising counters in our school during the parent evening.  We sold GCAT postcards to fund raise. Some of the parents were so generous that they made direct donations to support our project.
During our school open days, we also set up counters to sell some GCAT products. All the profit we get will go to our fund and help the doctors in MaJiang.

We use our fund to support Amity Foundation which we have mentioned before to put our supports in action. They do not only help rebuilding old clinic and building new clinic, but also support the education of the potential doctors.
We have planned to go around Hong Kong and do presentation to all the local school we have connection with about the work that we have done in MaJiang. We want to spread the story of the doctor of the old clinic and message of insufficient health support in Mainland China.
The GCAT students of the coming year will continue our works. Our work will be passed on by generation to generation. However, we still need your support to have our work to be done. So put your support in action now, please donate to support our project.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
you could volunteer for Amity Foundation, or donate.
EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!
Your gift will transform the lives of more people in need than you know.