“My faith motivates me to do my job well: I don’t work for my boss, but for the Lord and for the patient.” Thirty young doctors, nurses, and students have come to Jan’s training session on ethics on their day off. The room is full, and there is lively discussion about the case studies in small groups. Victorine, a dental assistant, is also there. In the car on the way home, she begins to reminisce about how it all started ten years ago.
“I remember Tabitha coming to me with the vision of bringing Christian healthcare providers together for prayer, encouragement, and training. I immediately thought it was a good idea and shared it with my prayer partner Patricia, a medical student. Tabitha and I then traveled across the country to visit church clinics. Everywhere we went, prayer groups were formed, and the idea for a national conference was born.
The three of us started preparing for the conference, and that’s how Bijou joined the group. We needed someone to cook, and Bijou, who works as an assistant nurse in a clinic, is amazing at organizing food for large groups. A few years later, all four of us were on the board of the new foundation for Christians in healthcare.
The movement grew; in Dakar alone, there are more than a hundred healthcare workers involved. There is a national board and four regional boards. They independently organize training courses throughout the country, such as the one on ethics today. We could never have dreamed of this 10 years ago, when we sometimes held our prayer meetings in the clinics with three or four people.
