Mission Stories

Lydia

Two women stroll down a path, engaged in pleasant conversation.  One is an islander name Lydia; the other a nurse name Marjie Thompson, a Canvasback volunteer. Listen, Marjie is teaching Lydia a little song, which Lydia sings over and over again until she knows it by heart.

Lydia is no ordinary island woman.  in addition to being a mother of seven, she is also the health assistant (the health provider) for her entire island.  The two are on their way to visit some patients who are housebound.

During the course of conversation, Lydia mentions a young boy who drowned several years earlier because no one knew how to save him.

"I asked her if she knew about CPR and she said no, but that she would like to learn," Marjie remembers.  So she explained to Lydia all about the techniques of cardiopulminary resuscitation and encouraged Lydia to practice on her.  She also promised to send Lydia written material on CPR from the United States.

Marjie says the women of these islands are enthusiastically responding to the health education that Canvasback provides. "They are realizing that they have to take charge of their health, and that good health practices are necessary," she says.  "After all, they are the gatekeepers of the home and are responsible for the health of the family."

Today Lydia is equipped to teach other islanders about CPR as well.  That's important, says Marjie, especially when you live on a remote island where no emergency medical care is available.

It could be a matter of life or death.

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