NURSES WALKING IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH TO SAVE LIVES

The history of nursing dates back to 1859 by the pioneer nurse Florence Nightingale. Nursing has a body of knowledge and ethics that require nurses to use clinical judgment in provision of care to enable people to resume to activities of daily living.
In 2007 Kenya went into flames of violence that saw the worst kind of hatred people had for each other. After watching the television for two days seeing the wounded and so many deaths, I decided to walk into the valley of death and salvage my own countrymen. Not by the gun or sword, but by the nursing care that I had taken an oath.
Unknown to many Kenyans there were women (nurses and midwives) of resilience somewhere in the health facilities giving care in the oblivion of the danger they faced while on duty, and today this is why web 2.0 is the bomb! Telling my story the way it is, thanks to Pulse Wire. I was one of the nurses who walked into the valley of death throughout the violence to give care regardless of the police or army protection. I vividly remember walking from my home in Kibera (largest slum in Kenya) to the health facility 2km away for 1 week. I met 5 other nurses (female) who had also left their loved ones to attend to fellow countrymen because there was a need. On reaching the wards, I found helpless patients who had been waiting at the mercy of God and to those who could manage to walk had escaped. No security personnel was allocated to us during all this time of duty, and I used to walk to and from the hospital with the resilience and peace of mind that our country is beautiful and Kenyans are a hardworking people, fighting was not a means to an end. I later learnt on that nurses from other parts of the country had been working too. This story was untold! Little has been done to also follow up on the psychosocial impact of health providers who served the wounded that time. We are also human and need care too!
However my story was highlighted later on in a (Calgary)Canadian Newspaper 2008 by a journalist who made me thinking afterwards that I needed to speak for myself and to inform people the encounters that I have gone through with other women(nurses) to save lives of people regardless of their tribe, race, or status. The Pulse wire came into my life after my partner introduced me to the peace and conflict resolution website and while there I stumbled on this site which has been my second lover. I feel so honored here today to give meaning to a profession that the public do not fully understand, especially in my own country. The web 2.0 has opened doors that no one can shut for me.