CUHK Lives and Legends

8 A soft-spoken young clinical psychologist with big eyes and delicate features,  Eliza Cheung  can be mistaken for a professional stereotype who listens carefully as patients pour their hearts out in an air-conditioned clinic. Quite the contrary, she specializes in disaster psychological relief, and her work exposes her to all sorts of dangers in places devastated by fire, epidemic, or earthquake. Before turning professional, she had pursued her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in psychology at CUHK for five years. Psychology is her favourite subject because it enables her to—in her own words— ‘know myself as well as learn all sorts of things’. After graduation, she volunteered with the Hong Kong Red Cross while studying for a PhD in public health. She now works as a clinical psychologist at the Hong Kong Red Cross and also as the technical advisor for international Red Cross covering the psychosocial activities in the entire Asia-Pacific region. Eliza first came into the public eye between July and August 2014, when she ventured into Liberia, one of the countries hit hardest by Ebola, to engage in front-line psychological relief work. That year, Ebola wreaked havoc in West Africa in what turned out to be the most extensive and long-lasting outbreak of the epidemic. With a fatality rate as high as 90%, the deadly haemorrhagic fever claimed the lives of over 11,000 people. Soon after arriving in Monrovia, the capital city of the country, she was immediately struck by a strong sense of helplessness and fear permeating the entire city. ‘The local hospitals became so wary of admitting Ebola patients that they simply shut down altogether. Even pregnant women ready to give birth or victims in traffic accidents were denied admission and eventually died from a lack of medical attention. Ebola patients were turned away from home by their families who were afraid of being infected. Some were even left to die in the street,’ said Eliza. Eliza was there to support the dead- body disposal team of the Liberian Red Cross, who bore the brunt of mental stress among front-line staff. As she recalled, ‘The source of stress is threefold: Firstly, the fear of being infected since dead bodies remain highly infectious. Secondly, instead of gratitude, the men tasked with handling the dead faced isolation from their friends and families and even got evicted from their houses. Thirdly, staff responsible for sprinkling disinfectant were rumoured to be spreading the Ebola virus. In the course of their work they were yelled at, spat at and threatened with rocks.’ Working in the shadow of death, and shunned and despised for doing a job no one else wanted, members of the burial team were particularly prone to c c Giving a training session to local counsellors in Liberia