There are so many people that I remember, and there are so many that I can't remember — but they'll be the ones to remember me. But there was a striking one that I can never forget easily.
When I was practicing nursing in Nigeria, working in a female surgical ward, I was barely one week or two weeks in that facility, and I saw a woman who was helpless.
They said she had a surgery, and they needed to open her up again to remove a certain thing that was really causing nuisance. Nobody could stay close to her, because it was bringing out bad odor from her.
And to make it worse, she didn't have the financial requirements for the surgery — they had done the surgery before, so they had already spent their money. They didn't have money anymore. And I was quite new in that facility.
So they booked her for surgery. She failed, because she couldn't pay all the fees. And I summoned up courage. Before then, I had been talking to them — in my own usual way, bringing encouragement to everybody through the word, through kindness.
So that fateful day, when I heard her history very well, I approached her. I said, what is really the matter? And she said: finance — that she couldn't pay all the fees for surgery.
I said, wow. Then I asked her: so if you have a surety, will you be able to pay the hospital later? She said yes. I said, okay — let me go to the theater and know what to do with them.
When I went to the theater, I presented her case, and I asked them: can I surety her? They laughed at me. They said, how can you surety somebody that you don't know? That clients don't usually cooperate with people that stand in for them — they usually disappoint.
I said, I don't care. I said: if she doesn't pay, take it from my salary. They said — but you are barely a week or two here. How can you start doing that to yourself? You don't know these patients.
I said: but for the fact that it has come this far, somebody needs to stake something to help somebody come out of this mess. They marveled. But for me, I had made up my mind.
They brought out the surety book. I signed. I filled up everything and I endorsed it. No shaking. I didn't even shake.
So they said I should go prepare the woman for surgery and bring her. I said thank you so much. I went back to the ward. I gave her the news. She couldn't control herself. She started weeping.
I said, don't weep. You are going for surgery. Don't disturb yourself. Just let's do this. I encouraged her. She summoned up courage — and I took her to the theater.
They did the surgery. The surgery was successful — and that was how she regained her health. Later she was discharged, and on her own she came back to the hospital to pay.
I was in my house one day. She called me — that she wanted to come to my house. I said, to do what? She said: to thank me for the kindness I showed to her.
I said, you don't need to worry yourself. We are here to help one another in this life. It was your time to receive help, and I rendered the help I could.
So that is it with every other human being in this world. At the time we need help, we don't need to withhold whatever help we need to give to people. So this is why we are here: to help one another.
It was a striking story because of the gravity of what happened to that woman — and she felt that nobody could come to her aid, because the family had spent a lot. And that was how I felt: I felt fulfilled that, yes, I tried to help somebody. That's it.