Dedicated Child Health Workers in China
Many people think of female health workers when imagining a maternal care hospital, but Zhou is actually a big, tall man from northwest China. Zhou, Deputy Director of the Yangxian Mother’s & Children’s Hospital, has been in his job for nearly ten years. Though in a senior position, he is very hands on in his work with children.
When World Vision joined forces with the hospital to launch its Infant Care Initiative, a program to promote exclusive breastfeeding, Zhou was the hospital leader appointed to support the project. The Infant Care Initiative was intended to ensure optimal nutrition for babies in a population that did not always understand the benefits of breastfeeding, and where bottle-feeding was often the norm. When COVID-19 struck and World Vision deployed to tackle the emergency, Zhou volunteered to represent the hospital in promoting proper handwashing at a school for deaf children. He was full of love and joy when with vulnerable children with disabilities.
Later, when World Vision worked to build up a “core training team” to prevent childhood injuries, Zhou volunteered again to help with a train-the-trainer workshop. The two-day training held in December focused on three major causes of serious injuries: traffic accidents, drownings, and falls. Prof. Hu Guoqing, Dean of the School of Public Health of Central South University, led the training, beginning with case studies and imparting his exceptional knowledge on the topics. Special emphasis was made on teaching techniques to ensure people from all backgrounds would embrace the important learnings about child safety.
Zhou had deep feelings on the subject of childhood safety by the end of the training. He shares, “The work of injury prevention is critical in Yangxian, where we have many accidents and a long way to go in educating the public. Many child caregivers neglect steps that can easily be taken to ensure their safety. They don’t know how to handle accidents when they do occur. The training teaches us to help people broaden their horizons. I am confident it will make a difference in our community, and sincerely appreciate World Vision’s role in putting together this workshop. Thanks also to the trainers from Central South University, who have done a great job.”
