At the event, few people believed that the slender doctor could overcome all difficulties and hardships to fulfill the peacekeeping missions in South Sudan. Major Thuy completed her U.N. peacekeeping missions in South Sudan in 2021. She was one of the ten female members of the 63-member Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 2 of Vietnam and the first members of the General Department of Logistics to undertake duties at the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Talking about her experience on the foreign land, Major Thuy recalled that although everyone had carefully learnt about the country and prepared themselves, they was still shocked when landing at a deserted airport in South Sudan on November 22, 2019. In addition, the weather there was extremely harsh and completely different from that in Vietnam. The difference in temperature between the day and night was high as daytime temperature might go up to 50 degrees Celsius, while the temperature at night might go down to 20 degrees Celsius.
She shared that the members of the hospital had their own way to quickly adapt to the new environment. They chose to concentrate on their work to forget their homesickness. After work, they meditated or did yoga to reset their body and mind to continue carrying out missions. They did not forget to encourage each other to fulfill assigned tasks.
According to her, there were around 2,500 peacekeepers carrying out duties in the area. In addition, next to the field hospital where she and her colleague worked was located the largest Protection of Civilians (POC) site, which was home to more than 100,000 people.
Together with the regular task of taking care of and treating U.N. staff and peacekeepers, the Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 2 had to carry out duties as a military unit in Unity. Its personnel had to participate in protecting security at the unit, ensuring logistics, and carrying out mass mobilization work.
During 17-month deployment, the Vietnamese doctors and nurses provided health check-up and consultation for more than 1,800 patients and were highly appreciated for their professional competence. More especially, Vietnamese female medical staff always received compliment from their patients on their enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, responsibility, and professionalism.
For Thuy, her most unforgettable moment was the time when first COVID-19 cases were reported in South Sudan in January 2020. The pandemic spread quickly in the country, and the hospital had to undertake a new task of containing the virus.
Despite a shortage of facilities, equipment, and personnel, female members of the hospital exerted utmost efforts to contribute to the unit’s pandemic prevention and control efforts, said Thuy.
Together with guarding and patrolling to ensure security at the unit, Thuy and her colleagues actively took part in humanitarian activities, including providing HIV testing and counseling for local people living in POC sites. They conducted a project to build tables and chairs using wood from wooden cargo containers and made 100 sets of hand-made alphabet letters from recycled plastic for students at Bentiu B Primary School in Unity State.
In addition to that, they joined cultural exchanges with units located in the host area to popularize the image of Vietnam and its people to international friends. At weekends, Vietnamese female doctors and nurses helped cooks prepare food and grew vegetables to improve the quality of troops’ meals.
More than 17 months undertaking duties in South Sudan, members of the Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 2 went through numerous difficulties and hardships. Apart from harsh weather conditions, unstable security situation, no television, poor Internet connection, and inadequate food and water, Vietnamese peacekeepers also faced the risk of contracting various diseases, including malaria, typhoid, and COVID-19. Despite that, military medical staff of Vietnam always stayed united and encouraged each other to fulfill duties assigned by the Party, State, and military.
Translated by Tran Hoai