by Hua Hongli, Lin Guangyao, Lucas Liganga
DAR ES SALAAM, June 15 (Xinhua) -- In a pediatric operating room at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, an aluminum medical equipment case sits quietly in a corner.
Written on its lid in black marker are three simple words: "Dr. ZHANG," "CHINA TEAM," and a phone number.
The handwriting has faded over time. The number no longer works. Yet no one has erased it.
"We want these words to stay here forever," said Hosea Boniface, an anesthetist at the hospital, gently touching the case.
The case once belonged to Zhang Junqiao, a Chinese doctor who served in Tanzania as leader of the 27th Chinese medical team. On June 15, 2025, Zhang died while rescuing a local woman from the sea in Dar es Salaam. He was 38.
One year later, traces of his presence remain across Tanzania, in hospital corridors, in the memories of colleagues, in the lives of children he helped, and in the hearts of people who never forgot his kindness.
At the hospital, where Zhang spent much of his time training young anesthetists, colleagues still speak of him with admiration.
"He never got tired of answering our questions," recalled Boniface. "Sometimes he would demonstrate the same procedure over and over again until we fully understood."
Tanzania faces a chronic shortage of trained anesthetists, and Zhang devoted much of his time to mentoring local medical staff, according to Boniface, who added that many of the young doctors he trained can now perform procedures that once required foreign specialists.
"People here respected him not because of any title," said Liu Jia, leader of the 28th Chinese medical team in Tanzania. "They respected him because he truly helped others."
Far from the hospital, Zhang is remembered in other ways.
Every evening, children selling balloons weave through traffic along Dar es Salaam's busy seafront roads. Among them is nine-year-old Nefat, who still remembers a Chinese doctor who often stopped his bicycle to talk to her.
"He would ask whether we had eaten and how many balloons we had sold," she said.
In her memory, the Chinese doctor always had a smile on his face. "A lot of cars passed us, but no one stopped," Nefat said, lowering her head, "But he did."
When she learned of Zhang's death, she cried for days.
"I thought I would see him again one day," she said softly.
Another child whose life was changed by Zhang is Rweiss Ali Kato, a boy born with a giant abdominal hernia.
Rweiss's mother recalls the difficult years her son endured due to an untreated abdominal condition that left him in pain and emotionally distressed.
"He would come home from school sad and tell me he felt like there was something hidden in his stomach," she said. "As a parent, it was very painful to see him like that."
A turning point came when a Chinese medical team conducting a free outreach clinic visited his school. After examining the boy, the team determined that his condition was treatable.
"I was overjoyed when I received the news," his mother, Mumin, said, recalling the life-changing moment for her son.
Spearheaded by Zhang, the Chinese medical team and another Chinese company, China Railway Jianchang Engineering Company (CRJE) (East Africa) Limited, joined hands to fully cover the cost of the treatment.
The surgery was successfully carried out in February 2025. Following the operation, Rweiss regained his confidence and returned to school a happier child, free from pain and stigma.
When reporters visited him again this year, he had just returned from playing football with friends.
"He has changed completely," the mother said. "Zhang changed his life."
The image that brought Zhang's story to wider attention was captured on the afternoon of June 15, 2025.
Mike, a beach photographer, saw a crowd gathering along the shore and rushed toward the commotion, describing that in rough waves, a Chinese man was struggling to bring a drowning woman back to safety.
"The sea was rough, and he was exhausted, but he kept going," Mike recalled.
He raised his camera and pressed the shutter.
The photograph showed Zhang holding the woman above the water, fighting the waves as he moved toward the shore. The woman survived, Zhang did not.
At the time, Mike knew neither the man's name nor his profession.
"But I knew one thing," he said. "He was saving a life."
"He was a gift from God to the people of Tanzania," Mike said. "Not everyone would do that, but he did."
For those who knew Zhang, the sacrifice was not surprising.
Whether in hospitals, communities, or villages, he was always the first to step forward when someone needed help.
While working in Shandong Province, China, he was involved in public welfare activities for a long time, launching the first-aid public welfare project, which has since conducted more than 400 training sessions, training more than 20,000 people.
In order to popularize CPR knowledge, he converted his old house into a training base at his own expense. Again, in order to help more people master first aid skills, he purchased teaching models and equipment on his own. After arriving in Tanzania, he maintained these selfless habits.
Shortly before his death, Zhang wrote on social media: "Serving people knows no borders. As a Chinese doctor, I am proud of my country and my profession."
One year after his passing, his knowledge, compassion, and sense of responsibility continue to ripple through the lives he touched.
The faded words on an old equipment case remain. So do the memories, and so does the legacy of a doctor whose life continues to inspire others long after he is gone.
Perhaps this is the best way to commemorate Zhang Junqiao.
