The fruits of my labors have begun to ripen. Yesterday was the all-staff quality assurance kick-off meeting at one of the hospitals where I've been working. The Matron (head nurse) at the hospital gave a beautiful speech, then a local business woman/motivational speaker revved up the staff. The whole time she was speaking in Sesotho, but I swear her energy was so huge that it was as if I understood everything she was saying.
After the meeting, several people came up to me and said how motivated they were to make their hospital the best hospital in the country. That complacency is not good, that even though they are already considered the best hospital, they want to strive for perfection.
The whole time the speeches were happening, I was just sitting back, looking at the room FULL of people, and thinking "Wow, this is so unreal. THIS IS IMPLEMENTATION. This is the most unbelievable group of people with whom I'm working." Yeah, I may have provided some framework, some nudging and some technical assistance, but my Basotho colleagues have really provided everything else. Yeah, I do feel like patting myself on the back, but more than that, I feel even more upset that I'll be leaving just as things here are getting started. The Matron again told me that I can't leave Lesotho.
And what's so different here, is that instead of sitting me down in her office and telling me that she likes the work I'm doing, she held my hand, put her arm around me and made me feel like I was a part of her family. People here are just so warm in a way I have never experienced.
Oh, and again, there was much singing
No comments:
Post a Comment