Author: Puge County Community Development Project Coordinator Rihai Megazuo

Everyone has a myriad of emotions. When we encounter something which touches us, our innermost feelings fluctuate. Maybe it's because of a person, one thing, or a smile that moves me to tears.

50 local children in distress were included in our project, including two“deaf-mutes”.  After knowing the facts, the caring employees of  Baxter (China) Investment Co., Ltd.decided to help them go to the hospital for examination and treatment.

At the end of April, with everything in place, I took the two parents and these kids to look for treatment with a heavy heart and great expectations. On the one hand I was afraid that the examination results would not be satisfactory, but on the other I sincerely hoped that they can recover and hear all the beautiful sounds in the world.

When arriving at the hospital, I found that many things were not as smooth as I thought. I didn't know the hospital service process and the parents didn't understand mandarin. So I had to stay with them and interpreted all the way. However, there still were a lot of things to be done, such as registration, payment, formalities and signature. Thanks to Zhang Ao, an employee of Baxter for accompanying us to the hospital and helping us solve a lot of difficulties. One of us was in charge of a child and took them to the hospital for examination. Finally, with a great effort, we got the examination results, which showed that one of the children needed to have an eardrum repair operation.

On hearing the news, I felt a little more certain. I was not afraid to face the problem, because we could find a way to solve it. What's more, whatwe need to help the child hear the sound wasjust a surgery.

Zhang Ao and I hurriedly registered in the hospital.  Unexpectedly, the hospital where we had had examination could not register. So we contacted the other hospitals in the county at once, but the result was still the same--we could not make appointment with a doctor, even the specialists were fully booked in this week. May Day is coming soon, so we all looked forward to registering in the hospital before the holiday, but we tried our best and failed.

If we failed, the child would not be able to perform the operation, and we would had no choice but to return with nothing, but I did not want that to happen. The songs of birds, the tinkling of brook, the sounds of the wind, and the voice of mom and dad talking..., all the melody in this world, which the children never had known of.

That night, I was thinking about how to register in the hospital so the kid could have surgery. After 1 a.m., just when wondering what to do, I received a message from Zhang Ao. He told me that he had registered through his friend, and we went to the hospital the next day.

After our arrival, the doctor directly suggested that we go to a professional hearing center and gave us the address and contact information of a hearing institution. Then we rushed there without a single halt.

It's not very large, but the service attitude of its staff is very good. In particular, Professor Chan not only gave a comprehensive examination for the two children free of charge, but also launched his love-fund program to sell us the hearing aids at the lowest price.

Eventually, one child was given hearing aids, and the other would receive them after further examination and treatment.

The minute when wearing the hearing aids and hearing the voice, the child showed exhilaration, mingled with joy, excitement and hope.

We taught him word by word, although he did not speak very clearly, but we could all feel that he was doing it very seriously.

When we gave him our thumbs up and said he was great, he smiled extremely brightly--the smile, was the most beautiful one I have ever seen. Under the influence of him, all of us in the room looked at each other and smiled spontaneously.

I saw very pure and sincere feeling in everyone's eyes. At that moment, I felt that all the efforts were worthwhile, and also, all the hardships and fatigues disappeared without a trace.

Once again, on behalf of the two children in trouble and their families, I would like to express my deep gratitude to caring people of Baxter and Professor Chan of the hearing institution. May all the kind-hearted people in the world always be treated with kindness!                                                    

Thank you to everyone who has made great efforts in aiding the two children!

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Project Introduction:

Tackling Childhood Malnutrition: Rural Development for Underserved Yi Community in China is funded by Baxter International Foundation. It aims to improve awareness of health, nutrition and hygiene in communities and schools, introduce new crops and animal species to increase children’s nutrition. Help parents to be aware of children’s nutrition, education and care needs, and educate children to foster good hygiene habits. In addition, provide a complete and comprehensive theoretical and empirical evidence to help build children’s hygiene habits, optimize local Civil Affairs Bureau’s child service quality, and assist the township healthcare center to develop a complete child medical care system.  

The project is funded by Baxter International Foundation.

The articleonly represents the views of the author and not the views or positions of the foundation.