In the distant continent of Africa, an engineering contractor from Jiangsu province has spared no efforts in the international engineering contracting business to create the Chinese quality and Chinese speed that has convinced the African people.
Guinea, one of the least developed countries according to the United Nations, has a weak industrial base. Since 2000, Yin Guohua has been appointed to develop the African market for international engineering contracting business. In 2012, he led his team to set up an office in Guinea.
Yin Guohua and his team have barely gained a foothold when the most deadly Ebola outbreak in history broke out in Guinea. Once infected, the mortality rate is as high as 90%. Yin Guohua will never forget March 30, 2014, a special day in his life.
Yin Guohua, Director of Guinea Office, Jiangsu Int’l Economic and Technological Cooperation Group
Yin Guohua learned that the Ebola virus is mainly transmitted through contact. He stepped forward and became the only person on the team who was in contact with the outside world.
At the same time, Yin Guohua actively contacted the Chinese medical team to get sanitary disinfection supplies and protective equipment. A week later, medical assistance from various countries reached Africa, and the most difficult days were over.
In the two years of fighting the Ebola epidemic, the hotel built by the Yin Guohua team became a landmark in the capital of Guinea. The difficulty of undertaking engineering in Africa is far more than that.
Malaria is the prime threat they must face. Yin Guohua often sent high-risk workers to the hospital in the middle of the night. In spite of the difficulties in logistics and differences in systems, Yin Guohua and his employees took turns to keep track of the progress, and inspected the construction site to ensure that the project progressed as scheduled.
In Mali, gunshots sounded at any time, making them at death’s door from time to time. Yin Guohua arranged for security guards with guns to ensure that the employee were safe 24 hours.
Perseverance means long-term separation from family members. His younger son is six years old, but the time he spent with the Dad adds up to less than half a year. His elder son has undergone two major cardiac surgeries, but Yin Guohua stayed with him for ten days only during the operation.
Fan Youjun, Yin Guohua's wife
For more than a decade, Yin Guohua and his colleagues have worked in Africa for 330 days a year with their footprints seen in more than 30 African countries. In Mauritius, the project that won the World Real Estate Awards witnessed the sweat of Yin Guohua. In Guinea, the landmarks and the primary schools donated by China recorded the contribution of Yin Guohua. In Mali, the aided agricultural technology demonstration center project inscribed the significance of Yin Guohua’s struggle.
This glory, mapped on the face that is darkened by repeated sunburn, also illuminates the youth that is surging because of the day and night.
(Source:ourjiangsu.com)
