MEET NOMSA MARUTHA

Nomsa Marutha, Mentor Mother

As a nurse, why do you enjoy doing outreach work, rather than working in a clinic?

 I enjoy outreach work than working in a clinic because I am able to give health education and support to all households extremely far from the clinic health facilities that DOH cannot reach.

What do you like teaching the Mentor Mothers about the most?

I like to teach Mentor Mothers mostly on i) respect - in order to be respected by the community, they must first respect themselves; and ii) empathy, they must be able to sense how others feel and lastly social skills which they must be able to handle the emotions of others because all people are different.

What makes you happy about your job?

Knowing that I have changed people’s lives, makes me happy. The support that I get from my employer, physically and psychologically makes the job even sweeter.

If you could ask for one thing that would assist you in your job during the COVID pandemic, what would it be?

To be trained on COVID-19 testing and to do the test myself, my clients would appreciate this service from me.

What is the biggest impact COVID has had in your community thus far?

The increase in domestic violence, job losses and drastic increase in death toll leaving more orphans.

How has COVID-19 made your job harder?

COVID-19 has made my job harder because most health facilities closed down due to people in the front line being infected which resulted in us not referring any emergencies.

How many mothers and children do you look after in a year?

I am looking after a total number of 1360 moms and babies but only focusing on critical cases which need a clinical intervention.