Celebrating CNY in Malawi
She celebrated this Chinese New Year 7,800km from family and friends here.
Miss Sally Low, 29, started serving as a volunteer human resource and finance manager with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Limbe, Malawi, in south-eastern Africa last month. Her stint will last six months.
"I called home on the first day of CNY to tell my family that everything is good here," she told The New Paper in an e-mail.
She joined MSF late last year to help in medical humanitarian work but did not expect to be assigned a mission so soon. She got the news of her posting in November, just a month after undergoing two weeks of induction in Norway and Belgium.
"It is a great opportunity for me to gain insights and exposure to public health issues in the field," said Miss Low, who will be pursuing a Masters in Public Health in the National University of Singapore.
MSF, an international medical humanitarian organisation, has had 38 field workers from Singapore over the years, with about 10 currently active.
It has been in Malawi since 1986 to provide training and technical support to strengthen its HIV response, said Ms Nicolette Jackson, its deputy head of mission in Malawi.
Miss Low said that while her family is mostly "cool" with her missing CNY as well as her younger brother's wedding later in May, her mother had concerns.
"She was concerned about security, as it's so far away and Africa sounds dangerous to her," said the middle child.
She added: "I hope to go out in the field to learn about the public health issues and challenges in Malawi."
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