The ever-helpful Somaliland247 Blog has reported that Somaliland is one of the countries receiving free medical aid from the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps (TRMPC), an independent non-profit organization [1].  Taiwan and Somaliland have a similar situation as unrecognized nations.  Taiwan is a nation whose independent statehood is recognized on every level except official status because of the fallacies of the “one China” policy, a relic of Cold War geopolitics, and because China refuses to have dealings with any nation that recognizes the independence of Taiwan.  Somaliland, on the other hand, is a nation whose status is unrecognized because of the stupidity of the “One Somalia” policy that recognizes an ineffective transitional government that cannot even rule its capital city and not a nation that has had free and clear control of its claimed lands with a functioning multi-party democracy for two decades.

It should therefore be seen as only natural that these two unrecognized nations would work together.  Nor is Somaliland the only unrecognized nation this Taiwanese organization works with, as it helps provide medical care to Kashmir and the Amazonas region of Brazil also.  The mission includes providing basic medical care to an area that is terribly short of doctors and medicine, as well as training to the people of Somaliland to help improve their medical infrastructure.

The way the medical group provides care is by its members giving up their 7-10 day annual vacation time to volunteer in missions overseas.  By providing this time and the heavy expense of travel (which is up to two month’s pay for a registered nurse in a hospital).  There is also difficulty in that doctors and nurses frequently have to see their patients die in difficult surroundings and face sleep deprivation and insects.  Still, the work is important, and much appreciated, from one nation that deserves international recognition to another.

[1] http://somaliland247.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/taiwan%E2%80%99s-medical-group-offers-free-health-care-to-over-45-poor-countries-including-somaliland/