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In the mix: Becoming a nurse to the world

Stressed Out Nurses Weekly, June 16, 2008

To nurses, it's more than a job. Nursing is a career. Sometimes, though, nursing becomes a lifestyle. The values of caring and compassion seep into every facet, every nook and cranny of your day. So much, in fact, that sometimes nursing can link someone from Alaska—someone like Catherine Miller—to a group of orphans in Ethiopia.

"This is just an extension of nursing," says Miller, RN, founder and president of Children of the World. "You want to care for people and this is just a different form of compassion."

This is Woliso, site of an orphanage Miller's organization runs that is home to 43 children in Ethiopia. This is a new roof her organization put on an orphanage in Liberia. This is also something that wasn't in the life plans for Miller.

"I never, ever intended it," she says.

But it's something that she couldn't imagine being without. It's something that has changed her view of the world.

"Ethiopia is an extremely poor country," says Miller, who is heading back to the orphanage this week. "If you've ever been to Kenya, South Africa, or Uganda, those [countries] are in much better shape."

Hardships are not hard to come by in Ethiopia. Simple, everyday luxuries are.

"They call it power sharing," Miller says. "The government owns the electrical. They will shut the lights off on one side of the city, turn it on in the other, and you have no idea when it's going to come back on. You might be without power for two or three days."

You can go without water for two weeks. The roads, Miller says, are in deplorable condition. An average class size—if you're lucky enough to attend—is about 80-120 students. The 43 children at the Woliso orphanage share one TV that gets one channel. They share one old ping pong table. They share one sink . . . and it's outside. (A slideshow and a YouTube video really help the reality sink in.)

"My hope is to get the orphanage to be more sustainable," Miller says. "I'm trying to get more funding. My hope is that the organization, Children of the World, will grow up."

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