Botswana honors Chinese medical worker for her dedication

   Xu Aina, a Chinese nurse and the mother of one son who has been working and residing in Botswana since 2002, has since become a daughter of Botswana.

   Xu came to Botswana with the 9th Chinese medical team in 2002 on a three-year contract. She was expected to return to China in May 2005 following the expiry of her contract.

   But Xu decided otherwise. She decided to remain in this nation.

   Due to her dedication to her nursing job, Xu was hired by the government of Botswana in November 2005 after making an application in May 2005. Since then, Xu has been working in Botswana.

   Xu, who works at Nyangabgwe referral hospital situated in Botswana's second largest city, has earned a presidential recognition for her contribution to the success of the nursing profession on Aug. 29 this year.

   She said she does not feel like a foreigner in Botswana.

   Asked what could have contributed to her being presented with a presidential honor, Xu said she is dedicated to her work all the time and gives her patients the care they "most deserve from a nurse when they are ill."

   "I put myself in the shoes of the patient or their relatives. That alone makes a lot of patients to appreciate my service," said the ever-smiling Xu who have since christened Naledi, a local name meaning a star.

   Lebang Tshabangu, a nurse manager at the referral hospital's operating theatre and Xu's boss, described the pint-sized Chinese nurse "as a competent and specialized nurse who delivers her mandate without fail."

   "It is interesting to work with Xu to be honest. She is a jovial lady who does her work with meticulousness," Tshabangu says.

   According to Tshabangu, most of the patients who come to the operating theatre cherish the service they get from Xu all the time. To many patients, Xu is always an outstanding nurse when it comes to deliverance, she said.

   "Xu deserves the presidential honor presented to her. She really deserves it. Xu helps her patients with much love and dedication," said Tshabangu, adding that Xu handles patients with care without complaining.

   Tshabangu's quest is for the government of Botswana to give Xu an infinite contract such that she can inspire some local nurses on work ethic. "Her being around for many years would inspire upcoming local nurses to improve their work ethic," she says.

   Mothusi Onneile, an elderly patient who has been receiving assistance from Xu all the time he visits the hospital due to her chronic health condition, says Xu is one of the few dedicated nurses available at the hospital.

   "This is now our daughter. We do not want her to go back to China. She is now part of us because she has mastered Setswana (a national vernacular spoken in Botswana) and can now ask us questions in our own language," says Onneile.

   Xu graduated with a Diploma in General and Theatre Nursing at the Fujian Province Nursing School in 1992.  (Xinhua)