Let Love Be Spread All Over Daliang Mountains

A 70-member delegation of MSI Professional Services headed by its honorary president Dr. James Hudson Taylor visited Sichuan from April 1 to 9, during which it attended in Liangshan Prefecture the tea party co-sponsored by the local government and MSI and the ceremony held by the Zhaojue County Government to confer the title of Honorary Citizen of Zhaojue County on Dr. Taylor. The members of the delegation came from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan of China. Most of them were medical professionals who came to provide their services. Also on the delegation were overseas Chinese, Chinese descendants and friendly personages who have financed the MSI projects, and specialists and scholars from the mainland who volunteered to take part. Qin Lin, president of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SIFA), was present at these activities.

Dr. Taylor was born in Kaifeng, China in 1929. His great grandfather, grandfather and father were British missionaries. Under the influence of his family, he loved China and could speak fluent Chinese since his childhood. He had great sympathy for the Chinese people who suffered from hardships and the impact of westernism. Dr. Taylor lived in different places in Southeast Asia after the founding of New China. In 1994, he founded in Hong Kong the non-profit organization―Medical Services International (MSI), which was renamed MSI Professional Services later. MSI is committed to providing professional services and assistance to poor areas of China’s mainland. Its members are professionals from countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia as well as from regions of Hong Kong and Taiwan. It carries out medical, educational and poverty-relief programmes and finances social welfare undertakings in poor areas of China’s west with the funds raised overseas. The SIFA, as MSI’s contact for all its programmes in Sichuan, provides policy guidance and coordination.

With the support of the governments of Sichuan Province and relevant cities and counties and the assistance given by the SIFA, MSI has, in the past dozen years, provided professional services in Chengdu, Ya’an, Leshan, Meishan, Ziyang and Liangshan and achieved remarkable results. In Zhaojue County of Liangshan Prefecture alone, MSI has put in a total of 1.4 million RMB yuan for the purchase of medical equipment and medicine, sending dozens of specialists both from China and other countries to give free treatment and surgery to local patients. In the past decade and more, it has treated patients totaling 30,000 person/times, performed 400 surgical operations, and given training to over 600 rural doctors and mid-wives. The SIFA has also allocated special funds to launch the rural marsh gas demonstration projects in Zhaojue County in cooperation with MSI, which is warmly welcomed by the masses.

As MSI president, Dr. Taylor has made inspection tours of Zhaojue County several times despite the long distance, high mountains and hard living conditions to see how the poverty-relief programmes are going. At his suggestion, MSI set up a youth training centre in Zhaojue County, for which it put in a total of more than 5 million RMB yuan to build a classroom building, a dormitory building, a workshop and a farm. The centre has successively opened 120 courses in computer, practical agricultural techniques, tailoring and sewing, ethnic folk arts and handicraft, home economics, English language, building, beauty treatment and hair dressing, etc., training a total of 3,200 person/times. The centre is fully affirmed by the Sichuan Provincial Government and relevant state departments. With 12 million yuan put in by the Liangshan Prefectural Government for its expansion, the centre has become a job-training demonstration base in Liangshan.

The foreign specialists recruited by MSI have won Friendship Award conferred by the State Council and Golden Summit Award in five areas by the Sichuan Provincial Government. American doctor Tami Fist who was the first to work in Zhaojue County unfortunately got skin cancer and passed away after returning home. To commemorate the doctor who was deeply loved by the local people, the MSI delegation held a memorial meeting in Liangshan, recalling many touching stories of the doctor.

Dr. Taylor, a compassionate and charitable old man, has done a lot for the development of Sichuan Province, Liangshan Prefecture and Zhaojue County. He is very modest and never talks about his achievements. Due to overwork, Dr. Taylor unfortunately developed liver cancer and had an operation. He is still concerned about the poverty-relief projects in Liangshan and is determined to devote his remaining years to do whatever he can for Liangshan. In recognition of what he has done, the Zhaojue County Government conferred on him the title of Honorary Citizen of Zhaojue County and held a grand conferring ceremony. SIFA President Qin Lin attended the ceremony and expressed respects and warm congratulations to Dr. Taylor. She said that Dr. Taylor is worthy of the title of Honorary Citizen of Zhaojue County.

On April 9, Ma Kaiming, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Congress, met with Dr. Taylor and Stephen Chan (Singaporean), chief representative of the Sichuan Office of MSI, in Chengdu. The vice chairman spoke highly of the positive contributions Dr. Taylor has made to the economic and social development of Liangshan and expressed his great pleasure at Dr. Taylor’s reception of the title of Honorary Citizen of Zhaojue County. He pointed out that Dr. Taylor has shown concern for and given support to the development of Liangshan over the years and that his deeds would go down in the annals of Liangshan’s friendly relations with other countries.

SIFA President Qin Lin was present at the meeting. On behalf of the SIFA, she presented the Certificate of International Friendship Envoy to Dr. Taylor. She wished him good health and a long life and expressed the hope that the friendly cooperation between the SIFA and MSI would continue to develop and benefit the people.