Jujuna, nurse, Georgia

This is Jujana Xhalvashi. She’s a village nurse in the Kedi district of Georgia. It’s a job she’s had for 32 years. During that time she’s developed some innovative ways of making sure that people who need medical care can get it.

“A big challenge in this area is getting help to people when snow blocks the roads,” she explains. “I’ve skied to patients’ houses before now, and used to travel for two hours on skis to collect essential medicines when we were snowed in.”

Jujana is trusted and admired by the local community. She decided to become a nurse as a child, when she would spend time caring for her diabetic grandmother. It’s a job, she believes, that brings its own rewards. “As a nurse, I provide first aid during emergencies before the ambulance reaches rural areas. There are many people whose lives and health depend on me. I have helped people in comas, and people suffering from heart attacks. And this is what gets me going in my work – helping people and saving lives.”

In 2006, the Georgian government began to privatize the country’s health system. According to Jujana, the biggest problem she faces is a lack of medical resources and medicines. “The current supply is not sufficient,” she says. “We still need assistance from the government.” She does believe, however, that state assistance programs for poor people seem to be working.

Having worked as a nurse for more than three decades, through the Soviet era and beyond, Jujana is used to changes in the health system and the wider political landscape. She gives the clear impression that she will continue to do whatever she can to help others, regardless of what is happening around her. Imagine what she could achieve given the facilities, resources and funding to have the greatest possible impact.

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