Peace Ark mission links South African student with Chinese doctors

When Sinovuyo Mkula volunteered aboard China's Peace Ark hospital ship in South Africa, she wanted to help patients and learn from the Chinese doctors. The experience left her with a reason to go to China.

Mkula is studying for a master's degree at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. With support from doctors she first met on the ship, she is turning her early interest in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) into practical experience, with a longer-term goal of helping improve healthcare in South Africa.

"My experience on the Peace Ark ignited something in me. I think it was the beginning of everything," Mkula said. "If I hadn't gotten on the ship, maybe I wouldn't have had such an experience in China with such amazing doctors."

From volunteer to international student

When the Peace Ark arrived in Cape Town in August 2024, Mkula volunteered to help its medical team. Chinese doctors treated local patients and exchanged expertise with South African military medical professionals. As a translator, Mkula saw their work up close and learned techniques she had not encountered in her undergraduate studies.

Xu Jingyu, one of the doctors aboard the ship, remembered her enthusiasm.

"She was eager to learn about acupuncture, medical equipment and other TCM techniques," Xu said.

For Mkula, studying in Shanghai has offered a different perspective on the subject beyond textbooks.

"When I was studying for my undergraduate degree, I was studying with my South African eyes. And now that I am here studying my master's, I am studying TCM through my Chinese eyes," Mkula said.

Learning from the doctors she met at sea

The connection continued in Shanghai, where Xu and his wife, Zhang Xuan, welcomed Mkula to a TCM rehabilitation center at Naval Medical University's No. 905 Hospital.

Zhang, also a TCM doctor and a veteran of the Peace Ark's overseas missions, introduced Mkula to clinical techniques. Under supervision, the student had an opportunity to try needling an acupuncture point on a patient receiving treatment for mobility problems.

Mkula hopes to deepen her knowledge of Chinese medicinal herbs, although she acknowledges that specialist terminology remains challenging.

The medical couple has encouraged her to study Chinese culture alongside the medicine, seeing the two as closely connected.

A mission that reaches beyond the ship

While the Peace Ark has helped bring Mkula into contact with Chinese doctors, the ship also holds personal significance for Xu and Zhang. Zhang served on missions in 2018 and 2023, while Xu joined the 2024 mission. When Xu returned, the couple compared their routes on a world map.

"We were very happy. We thought this was an honor for the whole family," Zhang recalled. "TCM is not only a traditional form of medicine that is very popular in China; it is also a calling card for China overseas."

Studying in China has introduced Mkula to classmates from around the world and given her opportunities to exchange knowledge with people who have studied TCM in their own countries.

"I am actually so stunned by how China was able to standardize traditional medicine," she said.

(Zhang Yize, Li Shuang, Zhang Youze, Hui Jie, Wu Zimeng, Lyu Lezhou, Deng Peng, Cheng Yongjun, Tang Jing, Zhang Tingting also contributed to this story.)