My name is Elena.

 

I am one year old today!

 

My father is from Ghana,and my mother is from Malaysia.

 

So I am a beautiful baby of mixed race.

 

Dad says I am special because I was born in China during its fight against the epidemic.

 

We were very anxious at the beginning of the epidemic,especially me,because my wife was pregnant, and I was concerned about how to take care of her.

 

At that time, I was about three months pregnant and was about to have an obstetric examination.

 

I was extremely worried because we did not know how to find a safe means of transport and whether there was chaos at the hospital.

 

When the epidemic first broke out,it was very difficult to find masks.

 

This concerned us because masks were out of stock and you could not even buy any online.

 

Since we only had a few masks,we decided not to go out.

 

Staying home was better to keep us safe.

 

I was the kind of person who loves going out,and I kept asking my husband whether we could go outside.

 

But he never agreed,saying that we should stay indoors for a while.

 

I was most concerned about the safety of my family.

 

My wife’s younger sister was also in China.

 

I was particularly concerned about their safety.

 

We did not go out often, instead, we stayed at home most of the time.

 

For the rare occasion that we had to go out, we would plan and prepare in advance where to go and what needs to be done.

 

My arrangement was that we could only go out once a month.

 

Before the epidemic, we had already arranged to return to my country to give birth.

 

But later we talked to a friend who had a similar experience. 

 

His suggestion was We’d better stay in China.

 

So, we followed his advice and stayed in China instead of going abroad.

 

At that time, Gabi was not feeling well (because of her pregnancy) and could not cook every day. 

 

Therefore, we had to order takeaways.

 

The food had to be collected at the guardroom of the residential compound when it arrived because the deliverymen were not allowed to enter.

 

I was extremely busy during that period since I could not go to work as normal.

 

This destabilized our life a little bit.

 

In addition, I was working on my doctoral thesis at that time,and doing all the work at home put me under more pressure than being at school. 

 

It was difficult to work and take care of the family at the same time.

 

Initially, we expected our family, specifically Gabi’s mother,to come to China and take care of my wife,but she could not come because of the epidemic.

 

Our friends,both foreign and Chinese friends,sent us protective masks and food,showing their loving care.

 

Daniel’s Ph.D. supervisor also provided us with masks,disinfectants,and all kinds of other supplies.

 

We were worried at the beginning because we had a lot of shopping to do for the baby,in particular, to get diapers.

 

We were happy that we could still buy items online.

 

When we went to the hospital for the obstetric examination,I was prepared to find the hospital in a state of confusion,but it turned out everything was still in order. 

 

The examination proceeded as normal,which calmed my frame of mind. 

 

I think China has done an excellent job in response to the epidemic,in a timely and effective manner.

 

Of course, the lockdown was rather painful at the beginning,but we later realized that it was exactly the right thing to do because it safeguarded us and the community.

 

Therefore, I encouraged my family to stay inside and follow the measures taken by the Chinese government.

 

We also shared these measures with friends in our home countries.

 

We strictly followed the health and hygiene measures that were outlined for the epidemic,such as washing hands and practicing social distancing.

 

There were platforms available that kept us informed about the epidemic,e.g., where the most affected places are and where it was relatively safe.

 

We used these platforms to identify which routes to take if we need to go out.

 

The police would check on us occasionally to see if we have any problems, which we appreciated.

 

And I think that was very nice too.

 

I remember sharing with our parents what China has been doing during the epidemic,so they could learn from it.

 

We think everyone can learn from China’s efforts to prevent and control the epidemic.

 

In my capacity as a medical student graduated from Nanjing Medical University,I think that China has done a respectable job in both controlling the epidemic and promoting prevention measures.

 

The Chinese government makes sure that everyone,including people living in the most remote places,gets access to information about self-protection.

 

We also observed that China had acted quickly to build many makeshift hospitals, and the medical research teams had worked extremely hard.

 

We have seen that our Chinese friends,our neighbors,and we as foreigners too can be vaccinated free-of-charge at the community hospital.

 

We’re very, very grateful to China, and to the government of China for allowing us to stay for this time.

 

And for all this care,for all the attention for all the measures that they have taken place to make sure that we are safe.

 

It has been a difficult time,but we are happy that we could share this with China.

 

And we hope that the rest of the world will learn from what China has been able to do.

 

Thank you, China!