Somali-born Christchurch nurse Sahra Ahmed concedes she is “either brave or silly” as she starts work next week with Ebola victims in Sierra Leone.
Sahra, a refugee nurse at Piki T Ora health centre in Linwood, is on a two-month assignment with the International Red Cross Ebola response.
She says she wants to give back to the continent of her origin.
Sahra, the only African aid worker with the New Zealand Red Cross, admits to “moments of nervousness”.
“I love New Zealand. I always say New Zealand is my official parent. I had the privilege of being educated here and doing what I wanted to do. For me it’s really humanity first.”
She will be based in Kenema, a rugged five-hour drive from the capital Freetown, helping patients who have been been treated successfully, discharging them into their communities with the right support from social workers – or helping someone who may have lost a parent, reassuring them and equipping them with all the information they need.
“My mum thinks I’m mad. She says ‘you’re crazy – are you looking for death?’. For her, it’s just a terrifying thing and she’ll be counting the days. My brother understands.”
Sahra, a New Zealand registered nurse, understands her mother’s concern. “It’s just a lack of knowledge about it.
“I’m a determined woman. Once I get it into my head, I’ll do it.
“I want to change the perception that all Somalis are either pirates or plane hijackers”.
Sahra arrived in New Zealand with her brother 25 years ago and is married to a New Zealand aid worker who has served in Sudan, Kenya and Uganda.
“He’s a good man. He told me ‘I’ll be worried but I’ll be very proud of you’.”
The couple have a 12-year-old daughter, Raha.
The decision was made just before Christmas.
“It all happened very fast.
“I thought it’s a job to do.
“It is a challenge. It always hurts me to see the suffering with Ebola. When I saw the Sierra Leone story, it decided me, if I can do it I will do it. I do care about people, and love caring for people.
“To be honest I haven’t given huge thought about it.” (sic)
She is thankful for the support of her employer Piki Te Ora, a mini United Nations itself.
Sahra is no stranger to calamity. She was in Macedonia when the 7.4 magnitude killer earthquake struck Turkey, and worked with the German Red Cross. The disaster claimed more than 17,000 lives although other estimates put the death toll at 45,000 with a similar number injured. Half the area’s health workers perished.
There she worked in a tent hospital dealing with medical emergencies and women giving birth.
“I’m sort of nomadic, I don’t belong anywhere really. I want to be occupied, not bored.
“This is what I wanted to do.
“Life has got its own plan.”
She flew out on Sunday with two Wellington health workers bound for Madrid for a two-day briefing and training with protective equipment, before heading to Sierra Leone in a day or two.
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz
