Chinese ophthalmologist Wang Feng (C), interpreter Jia Fengying (L) and Cameroonian doctor Chantal Ngoune Nanfack pose for a group photo in Yaounde, capital of Cameroon, Oct. 22, 2019. China started to dispatch medical teams to Cameroon in 1975. The 19th Chinese medical mission, during its one-year term, has treated more than 25,000 patients, performed over 500 surgeries, and has traveled nine times to provide free services and medicine in remote areas. (Photo by Jean Pierre Kepseu/Xinhua)
by Arison Tamfu, Qiao Benxiao
YAOUNDE, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- When Cameroonian musician Bienvenue Menyou injured his an eye during a stage performance, he thought he would never be able to see again.
"The shock was enormous. I almost lost my eye," said 27-year-old Menyou, who's better known as DJ Rally.
Menyou had to stop working, as he moved from one hospital to another in search of treatment. Every visit was in vain, however. He was fast losing his sight.
In February, Menyou went to the Yaounde Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital (HGOPY), a China-aided project inaugurated in 2002. There, he met with the 19th Chinese medical mission.
Shortly after, Menyou underwent a complex surgery performed by Chinese ophthalmologist Wang Feng and his Cameroonian collaborators, with Jia Fengying acting as interpreter. The operation was a great success.
After the surgery, Menyou was asked to see the Chinese doctor every day for about four months to ensure total recovery. During the postoperative care period, Wang admistered medical massages to relieve Menyou's eye strain, something which Wang would even do on his days off if necessary. Jia was also there to help Wang check on Menyou's condition.
"So I asked myself what I can offer as a gift to them ... With the kind of affection they showed me, it was absolutely necessary to immortalize and relate that in a song," Menyou said.
In June, Menyou invited Wang and Jia to his studio. He wanted them to take part in a song he'd written named "China and Cameroon Are One Family."
"By writing this song I want to send a message to our children, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, that the partnership between China and Cameroon is something that matters," Menyou said.
"We have everything to become an emerging country. We need to follow the good example of China," he added.
The mandate of the 19th mission ended in early December. Late October, Menyou visited the HGOPY to say goodbye to Wang and Jia. He brought with him a demo of the song -- a farewell gift to the Chinese doctors.
Menyou is certainly not the only one thankful for the mission. To Cameroonian doctors at the HGOPY, Wang has helped them understand difficult and complicated cases, while Jia has also played an important role in facilitating exchanges between Chinese and Cameroonian doctors.
"Our best time with Doctor Wang was in the surgical theater. That's where we really have all what we can have from him, where he gives everything. He really transfers his skill and knowledge to us," said Chantal Ngoune Nanfack, one of Wang's collaborators at the HGOPY.
"Our main objective here is to make patients happy and comfortable, and Chinese doctors are good at that," Nanfack said. "We are very grateful."
During a ceremony held Monday to bid farewell to the 19th mission and welcome the 20th, Cameroonian Health Minister Malachie Manaouda said that the Chinese medical mission, which continues to improve public health in Cameroon, is "a pledge of friendship" between the two countries.
Chinese doctors have made "significant contribution in the care of the Cameroonian populations and in the transfer of knowledge for the benefit of our health personnel," Manaouda said.
China started to dispatch medical teams to Cameroon in 1975. The 19th Chinese medical mission, during its one-year term, has treated more than 25,000 patients, performed over 500 surgeries, and has traveled nine times to provide free services and medicine in remote areas.
To Jia, who has spent many years in different African countries, working with the 19th mission gave her an "immeasurable feeling of accomplishment."
"I am always fulfilled when the patients are cured and when my Cameroonian colleagues learn new techniques," she said, adding that she has made up her mind to stay in Cameroon and work with the 20th.
For Menyou, Chinese doctors are now like his family.
"We are like a pair of shoes. It is a story of long-lasting love," he said.
