I had accepted a job in the capital city of a Middle Eastern Country. The only information I had about the country was that a revolution had taken place and there was a new government in place. I wondered if there were Indians there as I had not heard of anyone travelling there. I was aware of women from my state who went to different countries to provide quality nursing services. I reflected that the instability in the country where I was heading would surely deter women in their right minds from going there. The day to travel to my destination arrived and I bid farewell to family and friends.
The plane touched down at the International Airport, and I was amazed to see many Indian women picking up their baggage and most of them were speaking in my language, Malayalam. I found out that they were nurses. As a stranger in a foreign land, it felt good to hear a familiar language and to see women taking up jobs on distant shores. I turned to the nearest nurse and said, ‘Is this your first time here?’ She looked at me with a strange look and turned her face away. I shrugged and said to myself, ‘Ms Arrogance’. I collected my luggage and walked into my new life.
Months later, I was in my apartment when I heard a knock on the door around midnight. I looked through the keyhole and saw my Ethiopian colleague Aster standing there. She was extremely distressed and feeling unwell and even feared not getting through the night. Not knowing what to do at that late hour, I called the Security Officer of our office who promptly send the duty driver with the office vehicle. We reached the nearby hospital and found ourselves in the emergency room. Aster immediately collapsed on the hospital bed quite relieved and confident that she would help now that she had reached the hospital.
I looked out of the room for a nurse. There was none in sight. After around 10 minutes, I saw a nurse walking down the corridor. I ran to catch up with her and said, ‘Can you help?’ while pointing to the emergency room. She nodded and a closer look showed that it was ‘Ms Arrogance ‘, the same nurse who had reacted abruptly at the airport. While walking to the emergency room, she looked intently and said, ‘You are the one I met at the airport?’. She remembered the airport incident. Her name was Sirisha, and she shared how she had felt a wave of homesickness when she was at the airport. In fact, by the time when I had spoken to her, she had been on the verge of breaking down. This explained her abrupt reaction. I apologised for being judgemental in my mind and thinking of her as arrogant at that moment.
We reached the emergency room and Sirisha administered first aid and reassured Aster that the duty doctor would check on her first thing in the morning.
As Aster slept, Sirisha and I talked, and she was happy to connect with a person from her hometown for the first time in seven months. She shared that she had two young children 7 and 9 years old who were being looked after by their grandmother. She mentioned how she felt distressed on special occasions like the children’s birthdays, festivals and family events. She went home every year for a month. She added that on her one-month leave, she focused on spending quality time with her family.
Sirisha continued giving the necessary support to Aster through the hours we were at the hospital. Aster felt better as the hours went by. We thanked her and returned home in the wee hours of the morning.
I could not stop thinking of Sirisha who had taken the huge step of leaving her family and joining a relatively unknown hospital in a foreign country going through political upheaval. She also had to be willing to spend a year apart from her family. That took real courage and determination. Although she did not express it, I could sense the loneliness and isolation of living away from her family and how much she was missing being with her young children. All this sacrifice was for her family, for improving their economic situation and for their better future.
Kudos to our nurses who are providing excellent medical services all over the world. I marvel at their willingness to serve in some of the toughest parts of the world.
Originally Written by Hema Vinod and Posted at Momspresso
