Want China Times, Staff
Reporter 2014-08-25
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| Yang Chun-yuan, the first doctor to visit Taxiusi, July 4. (Photo/Hsu Wei-heng) |
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| Yang offering medical services, July 22. (Photo courtesy of Motif Press) |
Yang, 39,
has visited the Tibetan village eight times within the past nine years. Without
external funds and aid and never deterred by his altitude sickness, Yang
empties his own savings every summer on medical supplies and airplane tickets
to a village that barely exists online.
In the
Tibetan language, Manba literally means "doctor." The doctor, as the
village residents call him, did not end up in Taxiusi by accident.
Born in
poverty, Yang had to witness his diabetic father suffer amputation, blindness,
and dialysis while his mother ran a noodle shop and struggled to pay the
medical bills and tuition fees. After finding out that a doctor earns more
money and determined to help his parents, Yang gave up the normal university
track and the promise of a steady job to fight his way through medical college
on part-time jobs and scholarships, eventually becoming a psychiatrist.
The year
Yang became a psychiatrist, he was asked by Khentrul Rinpoche to accompany the
Tibetan tulku to Taxiusi village, located at the altitude of 4,500 meters and
with an average temperature of -7 degrees centigrade. Knowing his altitude
sickness, Yang declined. He regretted the decision soon and accompanied
Khentrul Rinpoche to Taxiusi the next year, carrying 80 kilograms of medicine
with him. The tortuous journey fueled by the altitude sickness almost killed
Yang, yet the moment he arrived Taxiusi, his home in the tulku's words, Yang
found himself recovered and reluctant to leave the village, where a winter is
capable of killing a third of the population.
The next
year Yang arrived at Taxiusi with 150 kilograms of medicine. Each year he
carries more, as much as he can afford and physically lug. He takes care of 300
patients a day during his one month stay each year, an act that has cost him at
least US$529,600 over the night years.
The
medicine from Yang staves off the bite of Taxiusi's 8-month winter. Yang,
however, was worried that one month was far from sufficient for the medical
needs of the villagers. He finally came to the idea to train the local monks and
let them distribute the medicine regularly so as to avoid abuse.
A medical
system, however simple, is already an achievement, but Yang did not stop there.
Invited again by Khentrul Rinpoche, he started raising funds for a school. His
childhood poverty spurred him to push through in raising the funds. Yang's
mother, who could not study due to poverty, gave him full support by donating
her life savings.
Yang's life
journey in the medical service used to a lonely and jarring ride. The huge
medical costs forced him to give up his own material desires and make do
without a car and smartphone in Taiwan. He is mocked and misunderstood now and
then for being foolish. With his perseverance, Yang has turned most of his
naysayers into his financial supporters.
The medical
and educational systems have now become as the Taiwan Fund for Karma, which
draws people and volunteers to Taxiusi. Yang is neither satisfied nor proud.
Knowing that the villagers are waiting for Manba Yang, he will start the
torturous 5-day journey for the eighth time soon.
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