She was one of the five successful candidates from over 1,000 applicants from across the country.

"The volunteer experience in Laos is an unforgettable sunshine memory in my life, I enjoyed the happiness gained helping those in need. Besides, the life there purified my spirit greatly," said Shen, a doctor in local Shuguang Hospital with a special smile, that reflects her beautiful Laotian name "Dorkhark" (flower lover).

In 2002, Laos received the first five Chinese volunteers including Shen, who was assigned to the Friendship Hospital in the capital.

Difficult beginning

Though volunteers expected all kinds of difficulties the language barrier broke all of Shen's expectations, despite having a good command of English.

"I was told that some medical staff could speak English, but in fact, only three can use some simple English," Shen said.

The only learning aid was an English-Laotian language book bought in the morning market. But with the help of her colleagues, Shen prepared a small notebook, on which she recorded Laotian words and medical terms learnt from her colleagues.

Shen also found it hard to adapt to Laotian cuisine. For the first two weeks she ate nothing but instant noodles.

"The food has no colour, no fragrance, no taste at all," said Shen. "They don't use chopsticks or other eating implements but only their hands, which is an absolutely impossible habit for a doctor."

Yet, to be a true volunteer means really getting involved and following local customs. So, eventually, Shen got used to Laotian food.

Although the five volunteers had some idea of the standard of life in Laos, they didn't expect it to be so hard.

"I was shocked when I entered the dormitory because there was nothing else in the room but beds," Shen said.

"Without tables in the kitchen, we squatted and cut vegetables on the ground," Shen said.

Besides medical service, Shen took on further responsibility, managing the living costs of the five Chinese volunteers as financial chief. Each were given 800 yuan (US$97) living cost but it was not enough.

Although Laos is not as developed as Shanghai, the price index in some areas was as high, due to the high ratio of foreigners.

"Vegetables are too expensive there. Tomatoes were charged at 10 yuan (US$1.2) per kilogram, which is several times more than in China," Shen recalled.

Busy schedule

Despite so many difficulties, Shen immediately threw herself in to the middle of things at the hospital where there was so much to do.

Every morning, she arrived half an hour earlier despite the dormitory being 8 kilometers away over poor roads, with bad transport. Shen made her schedule tight because she thought that being a volunteer, she should devote all. Besides daily work, discussing and checking patients' conditions, she also taught English for nurses on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. On Wednesday, she provided acupuncture treatment for outpatients.

"In the first month, I just focused on treating patients; then I realized that my efforts should also be targeted at improving the hospital which is equally valuable," Shen said.

In the inpatient ward, She found that all 30 beds were numberless. So she tried to remedy this during her spare time. "The ordinary material is everywhere in Shanghai, but here I spent one week finding it with the help of a local Chinese person," Shen said.

She also found the hospital was badly lacking some basic medical instruments such as plates and pliers. So she asked friends and parents in China to buy, and send them to her.

During her spare time, the careful doctor, documented all common diseases in English, and then issued it to every doctor at the hospital.

Teamwork

However, the most unforgettable experience for Shen was the mobile team. This was a group of doctors that drove to the countryside and provided medical service for poor villagers. Sometimes, roads were flooded and they drove in water up to a meter deep.

When Shen's mobile team arrived, there were several hundred people from babies to the elderly waiting for treatment in every village. "Their look of helplessness breaks my heart. Some of their illnesses had got worse solely as a result of their failure to get timely treatment," said Shen.

Shen had a record that her team received 3,309 patients in nine sessions. At one time, there were over 500 patients.

During one session, one doctor was so ill Shen should took on two jobs, although she herself also had a high fever. That day, she knelt on a slim mat to apply acupuncture to patients for a whole day (the temporary clinic was set in a temple without beds).

"Both of my knees were black and blue and it was very painful to climb the steps. How I wish my dormitory could have been on the ground floor at that time!" Shen recalled.

But Shen was content because she believed that "when you bring others happiness, you also take happiness back; when you treat others whole-heartedly, you also get whole-hearted treatment."

Shen was impressed by the people in Laos, because they are poor materially but rich spiritually.

"At night, they get together and play traditional instruments. Their happiness can't be enjoyed by city dwellers, busy earning money," Shen said.

Before she left Laos, all her colleagues had become her friends. Among the gifts they sent, one was an invitation for a wedding. "Although the ceremony was held after I left Laos, the friend insisted that I visit her home before," Shen said. "Without competition for material things, people treat each other heart to heart."

(Shanghai Star January 28, 2003)