Nursing was more than a passion to Elizabeth Xaba
She hopes to encourage the youth of today to fight for what they want, for without passion and dedication, dreams are hard to manifest.
Elizabeth Xaba, raised in Soweto, is a retired nurse who lives in Roosevelt Park and hopes to inspire the youth to fight for what they want.
“I am so worried when I look at some of our youth and the lack of motivation they have.”
She describes her youth under the dark cloud of Apartheid as being difficult. “Everything was hard but with tenacity and dedication to any tasks given to you, you are going to succeed.”
She says she knows the youth don’t want to listen to old ladies, but she hopes they might read this article. “Fight, fight hard to achieve your dreams, do what you’re told, and try every day. It will be worth the effort and your life will be better if it is not good now.
“I have managed to achieve a lot in my life for which I am so grateful. I have had a lovely life with many different experiences that exposed me so to much. When I look back on my life I smile.”
Her work has seen her travel abroad, with her first-ever international trip being to Atlanta in America where she was invited to a symposium with other healthcare practitioners.
She describes becoming a nurse out of a love for people. Her father, a handyman, thought she should have rather become a lawyer because she was so good at problem-solving and was not thrilled when she decided on nursing. “But he supported me nonetheless.”
Her first job in the role was in 1964 at a TB Hospital in Edenvale. From there she worked all over the country, often in wards or clinics separated into separate quarters for whites and blacks. She remembers having her first white patient in the Johannesburg Hospital, now called Charlotte Maxeke.
She proudly shows off photos from her long and distinguished career which included becoming one of the first midwives at Kalafong Hospital.
She spends her days now helping abandoned children and participating in her local church. “I don’t know how to be still, and still get a lot of enjoyment from my various activities.”
Related Article:
