I was privileged in 1963 to be one of the first 13 young Malawian women who flew to Israel to undergo a three years Nursing Training at the Henrietta Szold School of Nursing at Hadassah Hospital, Ein Karem, Jerusalem. Our lessons were conducted in English but we had a golden opportunity to learn the Hebrew language during the three years of our studies. We graduated in January 1967 as can be seen from my photograph which was taken on the day of graduation.
At this point in time and on behalf of the Malawian nurses who graduated at Hadassah, I would like to pay tribute to our tutors in nursing, namely: Mrs. Bruria Kedar and Yemima Himo, who tirelessly took us through our studies until the time we graduated. My thanks go also to all the doctors who gave us lectures on various subjects such as Anatomy and Physiology, Material Medica, Parasitology, Pharmacology, Physics and Chemistry, to mention a few. My gratitude also goes to our tutor who dedicated most of his time in teaching us the Hebrew language to enable us to communicate with the patients in the wards.
I would fail myself if I do not say a word of appreciation and sincere gratitude to all ward sisters then, without whose tireless effort in guiding us we would not have gained clinical experience and skills at bedside nursing. It was a pleasant challenge towards the end of my third year of training to have been given an opportunity to take charge of a medical ward during the night shift. I had to write the ward report on most of the patients in Hebrew which was to be read to the day duty staff and in the present of the ward sister-in-charge, I think her name was Mrs. Lifshitz. I was filled with joy when, after reading the report, the sister-in-charge commended me for a report well written. Mind you, words like "Yeshena tov" (slept well), "Yeshena le serugin" (slept intermittently), "hakol beseder" (everything OK) featured in my report.
I still have sweet memories of your country Israel as, besides nursing training, we had an opportunity to know the Holy Land and its people through wonderful sightseeing trips and visits to people's homes. I remember on one occasion I visited the home of Mrs. Steiner Freud, one of the tutors of nursing at the Henrietta Szold School of Nursing. It was a special holiday of Passover when the nation of Israel was remembering their suffering in slavery and wandering in the wilderness many years ago when they ate unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The young ones asked their parents what had happened that they were eating unleavened bread (matzot) "Ma-nishtana halaila haze mikol haleilot." May I ask you, the editor of Shalom, to reflect this song in the next Shalom Magazine to remind me/us of the song like you did with the song "Hine ma tov u manayim." I would appreciate this very much.
The beginning of my nursing career as a Staff Nurse was in March 1967. From this humble beginning I worked my way up to the position of Controller of Nursing Services, known in other countries as Chief Nursing Officer or Director of Nursing Services. I headed many services in the whole country. Out of the 27 years of my nursing career, I worked as Head of Nursing for 17 years before I retired in 1994. During my term of office, a lot of developments took place in nursing. Post basic courses started, such as community health nursing, psychiatric nursing and ophthalmic nursing. Nurses have specialized in pediatric nursing, intensive care nursing, orthopedic nursing abroad, and many have attained degrees and doctorates in nursing. Some Malawian nurses have taken leading positions in the East, Central and Southern African regions comprising 11 countries. Our College of Nursing is one of the constituency colleges of the University of Malawi offering diplomas and degrees in nursing.
I was the founder of the Nurses Association in Malawi, the National Nursing Task Force and I was the first vice president of the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Nursing (College without Walls).
In all, the training, knowledge and skills I gained in Israel helped me to uplift nursing in Malawi. Best regards, Shalom ve Lahitraot.
Lucy Kadzamira
POB 30425
Lilongwe 3
MALAWI
Why is this night different from all other nights?
On all other nights we eat bread, but on this night only matzah.
On all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night only bitter herbs.
On all other nights we do not dip even once, but on this night twice.
On all other nights we can eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we all recline.
Ma nish-ta-na ha-lai-la ha-zeh mi-kol ha-lei-lot
she-be-kol ha-lei-lot a-nu och-lim ha-metz u-ma-tza
ha-lai-la ha-zeh ha-lai-la ha-zeh ku-lo ma-tza
Bruria Kedar writes:
I read with great emotion Lucy Kadzamira's article about her studies at the Henrietta Szold School of Nursing at Hadassah Hospital. The article brings back memories and experiences from those far off days. The arrival of the carefully chosen 13 young women from Malawi and the 2 women from Liberia was for us, the teachers, an extraordinary and moving experience.
The encounter with the participants was accompanied by much anxiety and many questions regarding interpersonal, cultural and professional relations. The most complex of the educational and professional questions was: How can we - operating in a modern hospital equipped with the latest technology and utilizing innovative approaches - train future nurses to function under the harsh conditions prevailing then in their home countries, with lack of appropriate equipment and poor conditions of hospitalization?
The excitement of this new experience and the sense of responsibility and mission helped both teachers and student nurses to deal with the many difficulties we faced during those three years of study. Those years left a sense of satisfaction and closeness in all of us. The three years formed the basis for the students' further professional development which led to key nursing positions within and outside their countries.
The participants' desire to succeed and the knowledge that their professional assistance was expected and needed upon their return to their countries helped them overcome the difficult separation from families and young children for such a long period. We, the teachers, respected and admired their courage and devotion.
Beyond the professional training, we also accompanied them during their process of social and cultural acclimatization, and helped them overcome the difficulties of living together with Israeli students and the hardships of dealing with the study material and the unfamiliar Hebrew language. I remember the excitement we felt when the students left for their first rounds in the hospital's wards to apply their newly-acquired theoretical knowledge and to gain first-hand clinical experience while taking care of hospitalized patients and coming into contact with the medical staff. How would the patients react? Thanks to the students' attitude of respect for the patients, combined with professional ethics and a true desire to understand the patients in spite of the language barriers, they were very popular and loved by patients and staff alike. And as Lucy writes in her article, we did not hesitate, close to their last period of training, to trust them with the responsibility of the night shifts - and they faced this challenge with great success.
During those years, we tried to learn about their cultural values. We were able to understand the great importance they put on the presence of the patient's family during hospitalization when the mother stays with her children. We valued their modesty and moderation on one hand, and their exuberance expressed in African music and dance, and in the beauty of the colors and grace of their traditional garments. During the years they spent here they acquired some of the typical sabra (native) characteristics of straightforwardness.
After they finished their studies we sent them (upon their request) the cap of Hadassah's nurses with the six-pointed Star of David insignia, which became a part of their formal uniforms. This, together with the Hebrew language their learned, which became their "secret" language, turned them into a unique and proud group in their countries.
We did our part, but there is no doubt that a great part of the success is a result of the participants' own determination and will.
By the way, my husband, Dr. Shimon Kedar, taught surgical methods in Malawi for three months in the early 1960s. I would like to end with greetings and thanks to Lucy and all the students and send them my love, and hope to hear from them. Lehitraot,
Bruria Kedar