Trouble-Seeking Heroes
In spite of the fact that COVID-19 continues to dominate headlines, this year happens to be World Vision’s 70th Anniversary. To mark the occasion, we have launched ‘Hidden Hero’, a campaign that calls for ordinary people to unleash the hero hidden in each of us, and honor those who have come before us. In mid-October, World Vision China came together to celebrate our work in the last fiscal year. One of the highlights of the day was to hear from a few hidden heroes of the organization. Among those who shared was Dr. Christy Fong, who heads our Health technical program. Christy began with a scene taken from a famous Chinese novel. Lu Xiaofeng 陸小鳳, the protagonist of the story ask his friend “Some men seek fame, some seek fortune… What do I seek?” to which his friend answers at pointblank, “You seek trouble.” Here is a story shared by Christy, where she found herself some “trouble”:
During my early years of service with World Vision, we partnered with the Ningxia Public Health Department in a Maternal & Child Health Project to serve two of the poorest counties. Limited access to good maternal and child health services had put many mothers and their newborn babies at risk of childbirth complications. Therefore, promoting maternal health in rural China was a priority of the government at that time, especially in places such as Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
The area where we had our project bordered with Inner Mongolia and shared parts of the great Tengger Desert. Travelling to these villages were particularly challenging due to the long distance and unpredictable weather. One time, we got caught in a huge sandstorm which literally buried our opened-back jeep in sand within seconds!
But nerve-racking travels was, and still is, part of program implementation. In this project, we worked closely with village doctors, provincial and county Maternal & Child Health works. One of the “trouble” we found was that the delivery methods used by the village doctors and birth attendants needed to be improved in order to reduce childbirth complication rates. With the contribution of all the partners, we produced a step-by-step pictorial book and standard tools to train the village doctors and birth attendants. To strengthen the training, we set up regular meetings in 39 townships, each attended by 15 to 20 village doctors and birth attendants. We conducted trainings such as how to deliver babies or how to conduct health education for pregnant women and their mother-in-laws. Participants organized team building activities, shared with each other about their struggles, successes, good practices and lessons learned. The human touch and camaraderie formed in these meetings became a motivation, and also lifted the spirits of everyone present.
With the improvement of maternal and child health in the two counties, our project also approached its final stages. We organized a conclusion meeting to hear the village doctors and birth attendants’ thoughts about the project. During the meeting, a lady village doctor stood up and said: “before you came to our villages, many women here lived in dark corners. They did not know that having a trained person deliver their babies instead of using traditional delivery methods at home can save their lives and their child. You have come to us from such far place, and you have brought a light to these dark corners. There are still some dark corners in our villages that need light to shine on them…we live here, you have helped us, how can we not help our own women? We will carry on the work, we are stronger now…”
That was one of the most touching and revealing moments which I carry with me till today. By the sweat and tears of everyone who were part of this journey, we’ve found the solution to the “trouble”. The solution now belongs to the community, and only they can sustain it.
After listening to Christy and others share their stories, the analogy of “trouble” seeking heroes struck a chord with me. In some ways, World Vision China is harvesting from the labor poured by those who took the bold step into Mainland China looking for “troubles” nearly thirty years ago. We walk with each community over 10 to 15 years, to plan and carry out projects that would help build an environment where children can live life to the fullness. We ask tough questions to identify and acknowledge the “trouble”, in order to find the right solution. Every “trouble” is unique, and requires innovation, agility and above all, perseverance to keep trying until we see an effective outcome.
Today, we are powered by passionate humanitarians like Christy and her team, who remain dedicated to vulnerable children and families. We also have a generation of young minds, eager to begin their own pursuit of “trouble” and make it their mission to be part of the solution. As the saying goes, “an organization, no matter how well designed, is only as good as the people who live and work in it”. After two years of working in World Vision China, I’m glad and blessed to be in the company of these “trouble” seeking heroes.
Sharing hope and joy of all trouble seekers,
