Retired nurse shares
SHYAM Naicker still remembers her first encounter with a nurse. She was five, visiting her father when he was admitted at Rakiraki Hospital.
And “beautiful” Sister Titilia, in her starched pink uniform and cap, stole little Shyam’s heart and foreshadowed the Naria lass’ own foray in the medical field one day.
That little girl is now 80, and carries a wealth of knowledge and experience that has allowed her to overcome some of life’s harshest obstacles.
Her life now, as a retired nurse in Samabula, is far different from when she was a mere child living with about eight other siblings, working on their cane farm and living in a foos ke ghar (bure).
Breaking the shackles
Like most Indo-Fijian girls growing up in a traditionally conservative and religious family, she was taught duty and care to family came first.
And in those days, families didn’t see much benefits in educating their young girls as they typically felt women should only learn household chores as they would be married off anyway.
Her sisters were, from an early age, taught to manage their home and finances became tight after their father passed on, leaving their mother and grandfather to handle the day to day running of the farm.
“My mother Savitri was a very strong woman,” she recalled.
“She was the one who took on all the duties after my father died so I started helping her. At that time, we didn’t have money so I started to help her out on the farm as well.”
Mrs Naicker didn’t even have a birth certificate to enrol in a school, so she stayed at home and helped out with the housework as best she could.
During this time, her grandfather, Badri Maharaj, who she described as strongwilled and kind, made a decision to hire one of the local villagers whose name she recalls as “Peni” and his wife to help out on the farm.
“Peni asked my grandfather if he could build a small house near ours, and if they could plant cassava where we used to plant baigan. He said ‘you eat, we eat’ and my grandfather gave him permission.”
This interaction would go on to change Mrs Naicker’s life in ways she could never have imagined.
“Peni and his wife Buka were so helpful and nice to us. We loved Buka, and whenever our mum used to hit us, we ran to Buka and stayed with her. We even went to catch crabs with her.”
It was at this point that Peni started to question why, Mrs Naicker, who at the time was about six or seven, was not at school. He then convinced Mrs Naicker’s mother and grandfather to get a copy of her birth certificate and enrol her in a school.
Thus, she began her studies at Wairuku Indian School. Sadly, she was only able to complete up to Class Six before she left her studies because of financial constraints.
A new path
Despite the struggles, Mrs Naicker said she didn’t give up.
“I stayed home but then one of my cousin brothers asked me if I wanted to teach. There was an opening at Naria Bhartiya Pathshala so I started to teach basic arithmetic like one plus one etc to the smaller kids.
“I was about 12 at this time and I started doing this for about 10 pounds a month. Then I met some other nurses who used to come to school to do checkups. They used to come in big trucks, and they checked the teeth, health of all the children who were there.
“Among them was Sister Ellen.
“They saw that I was quite interested in seeing what they were doing, so they asked me if I was interested in joining nursing.
“At that time, I remember our family had mango trees so it provided good shade and that’s where they (nurses) came to carry out their outreach programs and they encouraged me to apply to the Lautoka Nursing School once I came of age.
“So I applied but I was still underage and they told me to apply again once I was a good 16 years old.”
She spent two years at home and applied again in 1958 and was selected.
“Sister Ellen was a tutor at the school as well and she used to do public health for kids too.
“So when we enrolled, we had to take our belongings, our mosquito nets, our blankets and bedsheets, pillows. I used to stay in the dormitory divided by curtains.
“Before I left, my mother went shopping and that was the first time I wore shoes in my life. She was in tears. Then, the same cousin brother who got me to join teaching dropped me off to the nursing school.
“I cried the whole way and he dropped me off and came back. My brother told me to stay strong, and that I’d be able to buy a lot of pairs of shoes once I started working.”
Nursing — A lifelong career
Mrs Naicker spent three years and three months training to be a nurse, and it was a difficult time because of the fact that not much preference was given to proper protection equipment like gloves and masks.
She decided to join as a family planning and reproductive health nurse to better as
Left: Retired nurse Shyam Naicker with a picture of her husband Vinesh Naicker.
sist women in accessing healthcare.
And despite the setbacks, she soldiered on. Soon, she got her first posting as a nurse in Labasa. Mrs Naicker said she still remembered packing a bag of clothes and a small radio that her mother bought for her.
“That was the first time I flew in a plane. I went from Nadi to Labasa and someone picked and dropped me at the dormitory where I was given my new uniform.
The next day, she met with the matron, and broke down in front of her.
“I cried so much in front of her and this woman told me that I would become a better woman in a few years.”
Her biggest challenge, however, was yet to come. She was transferred to Nabouwalu — then a dingy hospital with crumbling infrastructure and no proper delivery room.
She decided to keep an open mind and met with Dr Baravilala (Sr) and the turaganikoro after the medical staff presented
sevusevu. Mrs Naicker said the turaganiikoro
aassured her she did not have to worry and assigned someone to take care of her during her posting.
“I will never forget the way I was treated, with such love and affection. It was a poor area. I had only one pot. Sometimes, when I cooked curry or vegetables, I didn’t have anything to cook cassava in so I used to cook it in an empty MILO tin.
“Life was hard, but then I got used to it and when it was time for me to leave, Dr Baravilala wrote me a great recommendation letter.”
She worked at Nailaga Hospital and later ended up at Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital soon after, and worked her way up the rights, from a junior nurse, to a senior one, acting matron and matron before she retired at 55.
No regrets
Mrs Naicker said she had some tough times over the course of her life, but she truly learnt a lot.
The mother-of-three faced countless hurdles not only in her professional life, but her personal life too.
Her husband Vinesh Naicker, passed away at 50, and she credited him as one of the biggest pillars of her life.
“Early on, my English wasn’t so good so my husband used to look over the letters I wrote and he used to correct them.
“He never said a word to me that I wasn’t educated or not enough for him.”
Sadly, she lost both her husband and eldest daughter to Alzheimer’s. But she is not deterred.
Mrs Naicker said she had lived a full life. She was shaped and moulded into the person she is today by numerous people, so many that she cannot name them all.
She turned 80 on February 28, an achievement many would attribute to her strict vegetarian diet and strong religious belief. But Mrs Naicker said the memories and achievements she garnered over the decades meant she truly lived her life in fulfilment.
“I have no regrets.
“Women’s health is now seen and a lot better than what we had but we need a lot more, we need better facilities. CWM used to be such a good facility.
“As a society, we’re also thinking about women’s health, and that’s good. During that time, you would see women having 12, 13 children, and sometimes this was at the risk of the mother’s health.
“Mothers and women often juggle looking after their kids and their jobs at the same time. I spent five years looking after my husband after he was diagnosed and looking after my children too.
“Yet, I kept true to my work and every day before I left, I recalled my mother’s words, ‘do you deserve today’s money’?”
“I’ve lived my life. I’m content. But I would like to see more happening for women’s health in the future. That’s my hope.”
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