The hospital I worked in during my stay in Swaziland sits atop the beautiful and very steep Lebombo Mountains.   In this part of the world

　　people often have to walk 40 kilometers or more in order to see a doctor.

　　As you can imagine there are many people in the community who are simply too sick or too poor to get to a hospital.  This is where home-based care comes in.   The home-based care team consists of several nurses who jump into a small truck every morning and travel out to the community to tend to the health needs of the truly destitute2.

　　Before I went out with the team I used to buy potatoes and carrots and apples to give to the people we met -- because health care in Africa is often just as much about the provision5 of food as it is about medicine.  I would always make sure I also bought a bag of sweets to give to the beautiful children we would meet out in the community.  I have learned that sweets are one of the great unifiers4 in the human

　　world-- we might look different and speak different languages -- but most of us -- especially the young ones-- love sweets!

　　在我逗留非洲的斯威士兰期间，我所工作的医院就坐落在美丽而陡峭异常的莱邦博山脉之巅。那里的人们为了看医生，常常得徒步走40多公里的山路。

　　你可以想象得到，那个地区的很多人由于病情太重或者过于穷困，没法去医院治疗。于是就有了上门医疗服务。上门医疗服务队一般由几名护士组成，她们每天一早就搭上小敞篷车，到那一带给那些生活确实贫困的人们提供医疗服务。

　　在非洲，医疗服务不单单是提供药品，向他们供应食品也同样重要。所以每次随医疗队出发之前，我经常会买一些土豆、胡萝卜和苹果，准备送给沿途要碰见的人们。

　　同样，我每次都要买一袋糖果，送给社区里可爱的孩子们。我知道糖果是最能拉近人们之间距离的一种东西了。也许我们长相不同、言语迥异，但我们当中的大多数人——特别是小孩——都喜欢糖果!