A DIANELLA nursing student aims to help her family and people who are struggling in her home country of Liberia, after she lost her cousin to the Ebola virus in 2015.
Lisa Howe (21), who is studying a Diploma of Nursing at Open Colleges in Perth and working for aged care provider MercyCare, moved from Liberia to Australia more than eight years ago.
While she was in Australia, her cousin passed away after being diagnosed with Ebola virus disease – a severe, often fatal illness, that was transmitted to people from wild animals and spread through human population.
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READ NOWMs Howe said she started her course in August 2017 and would be graduating as an enrolled nurse in February 2019.
“Even though Australia is my second home, I’d like to go back home and help out more people because back home, it is not like we have all the resources,” she said.
“I would like to go back home and help out people and not just my family.”
Ms Howe said the health system in Liberia involved people having to pay for health services before being attended to.
“That is why people die or have certain diseases because people don’t have that kind of fortune to get help,” she said.
She said she enjoyed studying at Open Colleges because students helped each other through tough times.
“(Open Colleges) is a lovely environment for everyone with any culture or background who will come together as one,” she said.
“The teachers are always helping you out and always there for you.”
In the near future, she planned to become a registered nurse after working at a hospital and completing a nursing degree at university.
For more information, visit https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/courses/on-campus/perth.
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