Zhong entertains African children. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Zhong Risheng was determined to go to Africa regardless of his family's protests. The continent's pull was difficult to ignore as was the doctor's passion to help people.
Working as an anesthetist in the Second People's Hospital of Nannning, he joined a Chinese medical team sent to Niger in 2004 without hesitation.
"The country was tackling poverty and poor healthcare, but you can never understand it unless you see it."
At the age of 34, the youngest of the 30 members of the team, Zhong arrived in Zinder, a city in south Niger.
Now 47, he can remember clearly the sights that greeted him.
The very first day he got to the hospital, a patient was sent for emergency treatment.
"I could barely understand what he said and we ourselves were suffering jet lag, but he looked miserable."
Saving lives is routine for Zhong and his team. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The equipment was rudimentary, and doctors had to diagnose based on their skill and observation.
On this occasion, the patient was saved but he was pretty sure that he was the only anesthetist in the hospital and probably the whole city.
Then it became apparent the scourge of famine had hit the area in 2005.
"Death from starvation was becoming more common and we could do little to prevent it. The doctors were depressed at their inability to save lives."
Doctors themselves had little to eat, just sweet potatoes.
"Even in the deepest frustration, we harvested hope from humanity," he said as many patients shared their precious peanuts and pumpkins.
Some of them even dedicated their amulets, usually made of fur or leather, making doctors feel truly blessed.
With seven of eight operations each day, the work took a toll and he fell to malaria.
"What I suffered is quite ordinary in Niger. Human beings are all equal before disaster and misfortune, that's why we help each other" he said modestly.
The President of the Comoros Ikililou Dhoinine received Zhong on Feb 13, 2014. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The medical team fulfilled their mission in 2006.
His second Africa mission was six years later in 2012. He went to the Comoros islands off the coast of Africa where 600,000 people shared just one anesthetist.
He delivered lectures once a week to train nurses and doctors and also helped to set up operation regulations.
"Knowing how to fish is better than having a fish. The mission of Chinese doctors is to impart knowledge and our humanitarian spirit," he said.
He put his experience in Africa on paper and his book Chinese Doctors in Africa won a prize.
"In 1963 the Chinese government sent the first medical team to Africa. As a result, 180 million people from 47 African countries and regions have benefited from China's aid," Zhong recounted proudly. "I am telling a truth that generations of Chinese doctors have sacrificed their youth or even lives for their career, a truth that people should know but few do."
