Before I joined MSF, I worked as a nurse midwife in Kenya for 18 years. I’ve always found working with pregnant women very fulfilling; I just love delivering babies! I think I’ve delivered thousands of them.
My husband first applied to MSF and eventually went to work in Papua New Guinea. When we talked he told me about the fulfilling work he was doing, providing healthcare to survivors of sexual and gender based violence. He described being able to provide whatever care the patients needed and I wanted to be able to do the same.
My husband encouraged me to apply, and after a long wait, in November 2017 I finally received an email from MSF. In early 2018, I was deployed on my first mission to Ethiopia. The next three months opened my eyes. After working for some time in a hospital, I identified a need to take maternity care to women from a nomadic population who lived in the bush. After discussions with the project coordinator, I was able to set up an outreach project providing antenatal services at 11 clinics. I set up and ran the service with three Ethiopian midwives. As the supervisor, I spent up to a week at a time at each site, training my colleagues and helping to provide the medical services.
As well as providing care to women closer to where they lived, we were able to set up a referral service to bring women into the hospital to give birth. It can be dangerous for women to deliver in the bush without medical care, especially for those with complications.
Working with MSF is never routine. I loved my work in Kenya, but after 17 years I was ready for a change. My new position took me to the eastern part of Ethiopia, where I was able to work in and experience a different culture. The heat was a challenge, but being able to create a new project to meet the need that this group of women had for medical care was incredibly gratifying.
Would you go to work again with MSF?
Yes! I’m waiting for my next visa. Being able to be part of shaping services to try to reach people who need medical care was an incredible experience, and one I want to do again and again.