The power of women in the fight against COVID-19
Mar 08, 2020
Peking University, March 8, 2020: Today is March 8, which marks the 110th International Women's Day. This special day honors the social, economic, and cultural contributions of women around the world. Yet, it is also just another day for the hundreds of millions of women in China doing their part to defeat the coronavirus.
On this very unique Women's Day, we reached out to six female PKUers — with masks on, they are doctors, student hall monitors, professors, canteen staff, researchers and managers; with masks off, they are daughters, mothers or wives; and they are doing their duties with all their heart and soul. We want to share their stories with you so all of us can witness the power of women during this challenging time.
Yuan Xiaoning
Deputy Director of the Nosocomial Infection Management Department at the PKU Third Hospital
"Wuhan, Wuhan! With support from every corner of the country, nothing will stop the coming of the spring, and we will never retreat until you are fully healed!"
Dr. Yuan Xiaoning, leader of a team of 137 medical workers who rushed to Wuhan on the second day of the Spring Festival, also fought on the front lines during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Her colleagues like to call her "Mama Yuan", since she has always been the one to take care of everyone, teach them how to properly wear protective suits and help them avoid getting infected. Before leaving home, Dr. Yuan joked with her son, telling him to practice the famous saxophone melody Going Home, which she wanted him to play as a parting song. "But, he immediately refused," she laughed.
Jia Yunling
Engineer at PKU College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering Analytical Instrumentation Center
"I look forward to meeting my students in the Transmission Electron Microscopy Room at the Analytical Instrumentation Center once again when the pandemic ends."
The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected the work of Ms. Jia Yunling a great deal. Most students are staying at home and taking online courses, reducing the work load in her Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) room by four fifths. It gives her much more time to do work on her own projects and learn new theories in her field. Ms. Jia mostly spends her days on a Chinese MOOC platform, obtaining new knowledge on crystallography and TEM-related topics.
He Shu
Associate Professor at the PKU School of Journalism & Communication
"Seeing that students in my class can still meet 'face to face' even though they are located across 11 countries and regions right now really makes me feel relieved. We are not on campus, but we are never going to stop learning and researching!"
Professor He was informed a week before the start of the 2020 spring semester that, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, classes would be moved online for some time. To make sure that all professors and lecturers could understand how to conduct online courses with only a week to spare, the PKU Center for Excellent Teaching and Learning carried out training sessions that always lasted until midnight answering various questions of teachers. Professor He Shu, awardee of PKU Most Popular Professors (2011), is teaching English News Reading this semester, which appears to be a pretty special class as it has 18 international students joining from 11 countries and regions. Life is a bit different for her when compared with others, as she has to take the mask off while working as a screencaster at home.
Hu Yanhong
PKU Nongyuan Canteen Staff
"I hope this pandemic ends soon, and I will be waiting here for these lovely young faces coming in with their friends and saying 'This one! That one! And a bowl of rice please~'."
Every morning at 6:20, Ms. Hu Yanhong arrives at the Canteen and starts her day of work with a body temperature check and thorough disinfection. In the face of the coronavirus, Ms. Hu believes that we are all fighting our own battles in each of our different positions. At the moment, PKU canteens offer more than 100 kinds of fresh dishes each day to the over 2,000 students and staff still on campus. To ensure the safety of Pekingers, Ms. Hu and her colleagues disinfect the entire dining hall three times a day while also conducting regular localized disinfections.
Yan Dongmei
Monitor of PKU Student Dormitory #28
"The students living in this dorm are just about the same age as my own child. Every time I tell them to practice proper personal sanitation, I think of my own kid."
Ms. Yan inspected the entire building five times today, walking up and down over 16,000 steps and helping to water plants and pick up parcels for students who haven't yet returned to campus. There are currently 18 boys staying in Dormitory #28. Because of the outbreak of COVID-19, Ms. Yan has to check body temperatures and hand out masks to them every day, which she says brings her closer to the boys and makes her more mindful of her own sanitation. After work, she also serves as a volunteer for COVID-19 control around her neighborhood. Although her family didn't understand her decision at the very beginning, Ms. Yan was glad that they now fully support her on this.
Mu Zhihua
HR Manager at PKU Global Village
"The tasks are urgent; the changes are many; the expectations are high — this is how I feel at work. Each task requires meticulousness and thoughtfulness."
The 9 buildings of PKU Global Village have a total of 462 residents between them at present, and Ms. Mu and her team serve them 24/7. On February 24, Global Village launched a new service providing fresh vegetables for sale, and Ms. Mu was put in charge of this program. She manages up to 60 transactions on average each day the service is running. Like many of her colleagues, she chose to temporarily live on campus instead of returning home after work so that they can better focus on their work and reduce the risk of bringing the coronavirus into the community.
Written by: Pu Hairui
Edited by: Amanda Hu, Trevor
Interviewed by: Zhang Jiang, Chen Xueji, Chen Mo, Zhao Mengqiu
Photo credit to: Lv Chen, PKU News Center, PKU Health Science Center, VCG
