Saving lives during Chinese New Year

Every Lunar New Year, we receive countless blessings from our friends and loved ones. However, even as we celebrate at this time of year by enjoying lavish portions of dishes symbolising good fortune, wealth, unity, and happiness, an overwhelming number of vulnerable people continue to suffer due to armed conflict and emergencies. 

Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) field workers are providing medical assistance to patients who need our help the most. Vincent Li, a Doctors Without Borders field worker, spent his Chinese New Year on a mission in Nigeria.  

Vincent was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In late 2017, he joined Doctors Without Borders on a mission to assist in the building of a new hospital in response to the high medical demand in the Fori area, Maiduguri. Vincent was responsible for designing and laying out the power system for the hospital.  

As soon as the hospital opened its doors, more than 20 patients lined up outside waiting for treatment. Two severely malnourished twin brothers and their mother were the first patients admitted to the hospital.  

When Vincent was in Maiduguri, it was around Chinese New Years celebration. On Chinese New Year's Eve, he helped his colleague from China cook eight dishes and celebrated with colleagues from other cultures.  

Vincent assisted his colleague from China to cook eight dishes and celebrated Chinese New Year with colleagues from different backgrounds and cultures when he was in Nigeria.  

Everyone also wore red-colored clothing, which was considered auspicious during the festival. Some colleagues also used bed sheets as the dragon prop and put on a dragon dance to add to the fun. This was an unforgettable memory for Vincent. 

Vincent is not the only one to have celebrated the Chinese New Year celebration while on field, watch as Lucy Lau shares how she celebrated Chinese New Year while on mission in Philippines, in 2014.

Malnutrition is a chronic and multi-faceted concern in Borno State, Nigeria, driven by the cumulative impact of displacement, insecurity, poverty, lack of access to healthcare and other factors. It is historically most acute between late June and early September during the ‘lean season’ – the period between the planting of crops and the harvest period. The added stressors of low immunisation, lack of access to clean water, hygiene and healthcare, too often combine with chronic food insecurity to produce devastating effects for children.

In mid-last year, Doctors Without Borders raised an alarm about the situation in Maiduguri, Borno State, where our inpatient malnutrition center is overwhelmed with a high number of patients – 2,199 children were admitted from January to June, a 50% increase from the previous year.