Taiwanese Nurse Serves as "Single Mother" to AIDS Patients
Taiwan Church News 2828 8-14 May 2006
Reported by Li Hsin-ren. Written by David Alexander
Looking at the situation one way, you can say that, though she is unwed, she serves as a mother. But she has not given birth. Ms. Tsai Hsiu-chia is a nurse who cares for the residents of a home operated by the Taiwan AIDS foundation. Her 20 some charges include newborns and others up to the age of 80. She cares for people who have no teeth yet, and for others whose teeth are a distant history.
In Taiwan¡¦s society in general, a woman marries, gives birth, and then begins to care for children. But Ms. Tsai is getting her first experiences in the love and suffering of motherhood in her position at the AIDS foundation. The experience is doubly special because it is with a group of special people.
Much of her attention is devoted to insuring that residents take their medications on schedule. She also accompanies them on medical visits to local hospitals and clinics. She claims that the attention to detail, especially to that of medication scheduling, makes her feel old at time.
Remarking on one of the children under her care, who was infected with AIDS during the process of birth, she said, ¡§He often forgets to take his medicine. He doesn¡¦t take responsibility for this part of his own care yet. Though I call out to him, it seems that sometimes he does not hear me.¡¨
Mothers in Taiwan have the responsibility to feed and train their children, and at some times they feel that the children do not listen, or do not appreciate what is being done for them. Mothers can sometimes become angry. Ms. Tsai confesses that she has had the same problem at times. In fact, not long after she accepted the job with the AIDS foundation, she began to feel that the residents of the home were dis-satisfied with her, and she with them. But she persevered, overcame her own insecurities, and began to observe her patients¡¦ individual qualities and strengths more closely. Her feelings eventually changed.
¡§When I began here, I viewed everyone according to my own standards, and saw little to encourage me. Then I began to pray for something, and a miracle happened. They didn¡¦t change, I did! I ceased to look at them ac cording to my own standards, and followed what God was telling me.¡¨
As Ms. Tsai re-envisioned herself, she became more ¡§motherly¡¨ and gradually more accepting of her patients. She admits that some people contract AIDS through intravenous drug use and activities of questionable morality, , bot many others were born into AIDS because of an infected birth mother. Such children have a special course of growth, and a potential to become persons of unique quality.
From her earliest years Ms. Tsai saw herself as a nurse, but did not imagine caring for persons with AIDS. Following her graduation from nursing school she served in a hospital and then in a private clinic specializing in plastic surgery. But she did not want to work the night shift, so looked for something else. The AIDS foundation offered a position with regular hours and weekends free, so she took it, and then began to learn about what was required. The freedom she has to participate in church activities has convinced her that this position is God¡¦s calling. She is thankful for the life-renewal she has experienced through her job at the AIDS foundation.
Mothers in general change as their children grow. Ms. Tsai expects also to grow and change in the way she understands herself, and as those under her care move on and others replace them. She will grieve for those who die, but trusts that God will be the source of her power.
For more information: www.aidscare.org.tw
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