Growing up, Ellen Smith imagined herself being a mechanical engineer; she was always fascinated with fixing her bicycle wheels and always wanted to know more. That dream was never fulfilled but she eventually became a midwife, a profession she now believes she was destined to follow.
Initially, the young mother of two almost fulfilled her original dream when she was granted a government scholarship to study mechanical engineering in Cuba. But it was not to be. Days before she was due to travel, her mother fell ill and she was forced to return to her home village Aishalton, in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and she eventually missed the flight to Cuba.
“I had my suitcase and everything packed and you know the person in charge was saying he hoped I would come back in time for the flight which was a week away, but I knew it was not going to happen because of how many days it takes to get to Aishalton by road. I couldn’t just go and know that my mother was sick,” Smith told Stabroek Weekend in an interview.
She returned to the city months later to uplift her belongings and she was offered the opportunity to study to become an assistant nurse.
“I didn’t really think about nursing but it was that or teaching and I didn’t want to become a teacher, so it was nursing. I then went on to do midwifery and it was not easy because by then I had my daughter but you know I just keep doing it and today I am proud of myself,” she added.
Today, Smith has many reasons to be proud as she is part of a power duo that works at the Lethem Hospital. While she works in the maternity ward of the hospital, her husband, Paul Alfred, is a patient care assistant and is currently attached to the operating theatre of the hospital.
The story behind Alfred becoming a patient care assistant demonstrates the tenacious character of Smith, who supported her husband while he pursued his studies in Georgetown for six months even as she struggled to care for her then six-month-old son and three-year-old daughter. She did all of this while working only nights as a midwife at the hospital. While some days she felt like giving up, she kept pressing on. Her fight to ensure her husband successfully completed his studies even saw her starting an icicle business to supplement her income and today it is a business she is still involved in.
Eventually in 2018 her husband was the best graduating student of his batch and recently while cleaning she came across the trophy he was awarded.
“When I looked at that trophy, tears just rolled down my cheeks because I remembered those days how I used to take my son to work and people accuse me of not taking good care of him. It was not easy…,” she told this newspaper via phone recently.
From porter to patient care
Smith recalled that when she met her husband he was a porter at the hospital but he always expressed the desire to be more. Her husband has scoliosis (a sideways curvature of the spine that most often is diagnosed in adolescence) and he complained about the back pain he endured because of job.
She encouraged him to upgrade so that he would not have to do much lifting and he told her that if he had the chance he would, as he never got the opportunity to write CXC. It was while she was completing her midwifery training in Berbice that they learnt of the six-month training at the Georgetown Public Hospital. He had to find his own accommodation and meals and was just given a $15,000 stipend. She encouraged him to take the opportunity even though he was hesitant and did not want to leave his then infant son.
“I told him I did it alone when my daughter was about six/seven months old and I told him it would work, we can make the sacrifice. I told him not to worry about me, whatever I have I will support you,” Smith said.
He applied and was successful and he managed to access free transportation out of the region and commenced the training.
“Some days it used to be so hard and I would just break down. I used to feel so weak like I can’t make it anymore. Sometimes I would just try for the children to eat and I wouldn’t eat anything, I would just drink some water. And when he call, I would try to encourage him, you know, I would tell him I was in Linden for two years and then New Amsterdam for two years and I did not have anyone to support me like how I am supporting him,” Smith candidly shared.
She continued to encourage him even though there were times when he wanted to quit. It was around this time, Smith said, that through his sister she learnt to make icicles and sell to supplement her income.
“I watched, I learnt and I started,” she said admitting that she was at first ashamed to sell icicles but remembered that her mother used to tell her, “If you get pride you nah guh end up nowhere. To get successful in life you gah sacrifice you self and time”. She recalled how she laughed at the last part of the statement when she was younger, but later understood its meaning.
And while she was doing all of that she struggled to take care of her baby son. She explained her plight to her supervisor, who gave her the option of working only the night shift as she could not have afforded a babysitter. She lived in the hospital compound and took her son to work in his stroller and left him sleeping in the nurses’ room as she attended to patients.
It was a struggle and there were times when she was accused of not taking good care of her son and people even contacted her husband in Georgetown to give him that complaint and this created problems at times.
“I used to cry because they accuse me of not taking care of my son…it was hard and nobody knew what I was going through…,” she said.
Three months into her husband’s training he suggested that their son be sent to his mother and that was a difficult decision to make.
“I remember I cried because I did not really know where my son was going… I cried so much I didn’t even want to eat when he left,” she recalled.
But eventually her husband was successful, he returned and the family was reunited and him being adjudged best graduate was the icing on the cake.
“I felt good, you know. I cried and I was so overjoyed,” she recalled.
Mechanical engineering
Returning to her missed opportunity to study in Cuba, Smith said her mother is diabetic and she just could not leave the country without knowing she was doing better.
“While growing up we had bicycles, we rarely had motorcycles and vehicles in the village and I used to always like to look after my bicycle wheels and so. And you know I said like that would be money. I wanted to like own a gas station and then be an engineer… I was like into this thing…,” she said.
“I left in September time and I never went back to town until November and all my documents and suitcase and everything was left there….”
In 2010, she entered the nursing programme. Looking back, Smith said she believes that it was the best profession for her especially now that she is serving her region. She is proud that there are times when she is able to communicate with some of her patients in their dialect.
“I know it [the dialect]. I speak it, but not so well but when the patients speak to me in the dialect, I understand and I would speak back sometimes in the dialect or mix up the English with the dialect and we would just have a good time and they would understand what I am telling them,” she shared.
Smith said she feels proud to be working at the hospital with her husband even as she noted that they were only legally married in 2019, after he completed his training as a patient care assistant. As she made the sacrifice those six months, Smith said, it never once crossed her mind that her then reputed husband could have upgraded himself and walked out on her.
“And even if he did, I was already an independent woman, I was not depending on anyone,” she said laughing.
Smith is the fourth child for her parents and the only nurse in the family. She hopes to become a neonatal intensive care nurse which is needed in the region or an accident emergency nurse as she recently completed a course in that area.
“Every little piece of time I have, I try to make use of it…,” she said.
She encourages young women not to give up on their dreams and advises there are times when sacrifices have to be made.
Her icicle business is still up and running and Smith said she is happy for the additional income as her customers are still faithful. There are times when she also delivers icicles around the community.
