Ruthan Shortt, a single mother of Kwakwani, Region Ten, said her journey from being a ‘teen mom’ to recently graduating as a nursing assistant is owed to the unconditional support she received from her mother.
The 26-year-old told the News Room that she became pregnant at 13-years-old. She was able to complete her secondary school education after her grandparents, Yvonne and Hilton Simon assisted her.
Unfortunately, the couple died after she graduated secondary school and she had to quit her job as a sales worker at a nearby store to tend to her daughter, Roniye, who is now 12-years-old.
Eventually, the Ministry of Health’s Patient Care Assistant Programme was launched in the region and she applied. Shortt said the programme spanned six months and it was a challenge because she had to focus on her school work and caring for her daughter during this time.
It was her mother, Nikessa Prince who was a pillar of support in her life, helping to surmount the challenges she faced then.
Ruthan and her mother, Nikessa when she graduated from the patient care assistance programme.
Split between two communities, Shortt was adamant to successfully complete the patient care programme and reap the benefits of her sacrifice, fulfilling the dreams her grandparents had.
Shortt said her family supported her even in the face of stigma about her teenage pregnancy but building a career in healthcare has helped heal the pain she feels she caused the family by becoming pregnant at a young age.
“It was hard, not just on me, but my mom. The stigma attached to a teenage pregnancy often makes mothers feel isolated, judged and unwanted, but thank God for my mom,” Shortt said.
“It’s like jumping back to my grandmother. She was sick, I used to see them do a dressing [for her]. I always wanted to be in the healthcare system to help people,” she said.
Then she decided to further her studies; she ventured into the Nursing Assistant programme.
Shortt said mothers make extreme sacrifices for their children and she has witnessed that with her own mother, who made it possible for her to complete this programme.
“A mother’s love, I can’t even explain it. She [her mother] was there through out with endless support,” Shortt said, graciously reflecting on her mother.
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