Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
  • Cue Media
    • Cue online
    • Cue Archives
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • You can be bold. You can be you
  • Willows Cricket Club bonus point win over Rhodes
  • Hendrik Kanise learners at risk from crumbling building
  • Illuminating the World with Curiosity and Science
  • Feature Friday series announces winnner of competition
  • The ART of our life
  • Joza to host Annual Aerobics Marathon
  • Makana Tigers finding their feet
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
  • Cue Media
    • Cue online
    • Cue Archives
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»OUR TOWN»Humans of Makhanda»Chosen from above
Humans of Makhanda

Chosen from above

Rod AmnerBy Rod AmnerAugust 24, 2022Updated:August 24, 2022No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Sister Heather Ferreira walks her chosen path with love. Photo: Katlego Nkosi

By KATLEGO NKOSI

Born in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), Heather Ferreira set her sails and studied teaching at UWC. This, however, was not her purpose. She was a born nurturer. This came so naturally to her. I sense this as I converse with her in her warm office.

In her sweet but stern voice, she tells me about her second – and chosen – career. In 1990, she applied at the Livingston Hospital for a position she thought she could not get. The application became a seamless acceptance into the best training hospital at the time, coming with a four-year course at Nelson Mandela University, previously known as the University of Port Elizabeth.

“Things just happened for me. It was in me,” she says.

Heather moved to Makhanda 22 years ago and worked at local clinics. In her years of practising in this town, she has learnt the Xhosa language well, saying, “I had to learn isiXhosa to communicate effectively with patients. The small kids taught me. Now, I can fully work in isiXhosa.”

In this current chapter of her career, Sister Heather Ferreira is the head nurse at the Rhodes University Health Care Centre. She says that engaging with young people daily at work reminds her of her three daughters. “I can relate to what you guys go through. It is not easy being a young person nowadays. There’s so much to consider… your goals in life, like getting your degree. It is very hard, especially here at Rhodes.”

Mental and sexual health is critical in Ferreira’s line of work. Acknowledging the mental health struggles at Rhodes University, she says, “We have all been through a lot these past couple of years due to Covid, but you are not alone. We are all here to support you.”

And who supports our sister? “God chose me to become a nurse,” she says. “I just had to become a nurse.”

Previous ArticleBeyond the street corner
Next Article Azapo calls for local Biko memorial
Rod Amner

    Comments are closed.

    Tweets by Grocotts
    Newsletter



    Listen

    The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

    Humans of Makhanda

    Humans of Makhanda

    Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

    © 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.