Feature: Chinese care team brings sunshine, hope to Nepalese quake victims

Panicked Sumesh Dwivedi jumped down from the second floor of his rented house for his life when he felt the earth moving suddenly on April 25. He ended up in hospital.

More than three weeks have passed since the devastating 7.9 magnitude quake hit the Himalayan country, leaving over 8,400 people dead and 101,180 others injured. Dwivedi, 25, was still lying on his stomach at a spinal injury rehabilitation center.

In the early days following the severe injury, Dwivedi, a career diplomat, thought he would live with the condition for the rest of his life. He even mulled over suicide as an option.

"My lower limbs were insensitive. But after the massage, I can feel now -- they have turned sensitive. So, many thanks to them," Dwivedi told Xinhua, minutes before Guo Shenggang, chief of the China Qingdao Charity Care Team, gave him another routine massage.

Organized by the China Charity Federation Long-Term Care Professional Committee, the seven-member China Qingdao Charity Care Team arrived in Nepal on Saturday, as the third batch of Chinese aid workers sent by the committee.

"We started working as soon as we arrived here, taking care of the 93 patients assigned to us," Guo said, adding that this is the first time they are on an overseas humanitarian mission.

According to Guo, the team's seven members were selected from 120 candidates, including three doctors, three senior caregivers and an English interpreter.

The rehabilitation center, located just outside the Kathmandu Valley, was surrounded by green hills and crop fields, and dotted with disaster-relief tents from China and other countries.

For Guo's team, life in Nepal is not easy. Since arrival, all team members have been living in mini-tents they brought from China. Instant noodles are the food for their daily meals. Each day, only one bottle of purified drinking water is provided to each member.

"This facility is fully occupied by patients; so we have no choice but to live in our own tents," Guo, a surgeon, said.

Wan Ying, a senior caregiver, said they have to deal with various kinds of challenges after the mission started.

"Because we can't speak their language, we rely on smiling, body language and hand gestures to communicate with them. For example, before washing our patients' feet, we would pat our own feet and ask 'OK?' If they shake their heads, that means they've given the permission," she said.

After days of interaction, the Chinese aid workers have became friends of their patients. Indra Prasad Rajlawat, a middle-aged man who had his spine near his waist injured in the quake, found a way to "talk" with the Chinese aid workers. He managed to find a cell phone interpretation software, which can convert a series of daily English texts to spoken Chinese.

Every day, using the software, Rajlawat would greet the Chinese aid workers with "nihao" (hello), and express his gratitude with " xiexie" (thank you), which makes Wan and her colleagues happy.

For the patients, despite tremendous challenges facing them, they are full of hope.

"I will travel to China or India for further treatment," said Dwivedi, adding that he believes some day he will fully recover and stand up again. Endi