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16
SPOTLIGHT
UMP
大學廣場
APR 2014
Human Empathy in Gaoyou -
an Intercultural understanding experience
J
oining a health education intervention on "Preparation
of Oral Rehydration Therapy", I made a visit to Gaoyou
（
高友
）
Village of Guangxi Province. This trip was a first
for me in many ways: the first contact with rural China, my
first contact with a Chinese ethnic minority and my first
professional academic fieldwork excursion. Therefrom I was
understandably excited and anxious how I as a foreigner,
with limited Putonghua abilities, would survive in this
environment I was to be thrust into. Any initial worries were
swiftly dispersed thanks to the supporting team of health
professionals, academic personnel and students from CUHK
as well as HKU, and the local villagers whose welcoming
and engaging presence was assuring to all of us upon our
entrance into their village.
Like comparable rural-to-
urban mi gr a t i on of the
young workforce, above all
any males in working age,
left behind were only those
of old age and women with
ch i l dren . Wh i l e mi s s i ng
the f ami l y breadwi nne r
and being dependant on
remittances from the cities,
the households displayed
remarkable hospitality to us
when we stepped into their households and loaded us with
the fruits of their farmlands. They were talkative and attentive
every time I entered their houses with my team. Opposed
to the common western mentality, they had no reservation
for me, a complete stranger, while I was snooping around in
their houses, like exploring bed rooms and badly lit corners
of the house. It soon became my sole passion to assess the
hidden characteristics of the particular houses and to locate
their varying facilities. Moving further through Gaoyou
and Nongtuan
（
弄團
）
village, I could spot that albeit
being incapable or unwilling to work in the cities, the older
generation still actively participated in active work throughout
the community, keeping it alive.
Our heal th educat ion intervent ion campaign was a
rejoicing event and a pleasure to host. Nevertheless, any
self-gratification gained by one's own performance was
The Ethnic Minority Health Project is an excel lent
p l a t f o rm f o r amb i t i ou s s t uden t s t o t r an s f o rm
knowledge gained in classroom settings into practical
solutions for complex health problems in the real
world. Organised by the Col laborating Centre for
Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical
Humanitarian Response (CCOUC,
http://ccouc.org
),
the mission of the Ethnic Minority Health Project is
to mi t igate the adverse human impact caused by
natural disasters, as wel l as to reduce behavioral
and environmental health risks through evidence-
based health education campaigns in remote, disaster
prone, and poverty-stricken communities in rural China.
Jonas Lossau (IASP)
by far outweighed by the sheer glee and delight of the
villagers as they received our souvenirs succeeding the
health interventions.
The non-verbal interaction
with the villagers was
the most memorable
and humbling epiphany
of mine. The frequent
intercommunicat ions
a r e e x emp l i f i e d b y
the following instance
towards the end of our
expedition: After an early
morning interview visit at
the village doctor's house,
a small group of us was
visibly freezing when I
spotted and attempted to
capture with my camera
two e l d e r l y p e op l e
warming themselves at an open fire in the village centre. Just as I
was lifting my camera to take a picture, the elderly lady gestured
towards us and motioned to join her and take a seat around the
fire place with them.
After my return, I have been struck by intercul tural
understanding and human expathy demonstrated in this trip.