Maternity Ward Assistant

by Dorcas
(Lagos, Nigeria)

I had travelled back home for visit and since I was running low on funds I decided to work with my sister-in-law's clinic. She is a nurse practitioner who has been working as a nurse for the past 27 years. She recently opened up her own clinic in Lagos, Nigeria and she started taking in patients who cannot afford a hospital.

I worked with her for approximately one month. It was a great experience. I got a chance to witness the birth of several children in her clinic. It was both scary and exciting because its the beginning of a little girl or boy's life that I was witnessing.

Some women would come by to get basic antibiotics to dry up open wounds on their children's body or for whooping cough that wouldn't go away. Or their husbands had negleted them and their children for no apparent reason. I was saddened by this.

My sister-in-law could not charge them a lot of money for the services she provided. If she did, she knew they wouldn't be able to afford it. Therefore I too told her to pay whatever she could, just enough for me to get by until my return to the U.S