A valuable service
Lichfield Health Centre staffers: Midwife Alicia Gonsalves, Patient Care Assistant Tanika Maison and Caretaker Monique De Guair (Carl Croker photos)
Lichfield Health Centre staffers: Midwife Alicia Gonsalves, Patient Care Assistant Tanika Maison and Caretaker Monique De Guair (Carl Croker photos)

-Lichfield’s midwife living her dream of serving her community

ALICIA Gonsalves is perhaps one of the youngest qualified midwives in that region and she is attached to the Lichfield Health Centre, where she is a reliable professional who is living her dream of serving her community.

At 23 years old, Gonsalves is quite satisfied with her academic achievement as a medical professional who, as a young girl, always dreamed of becoming a midwife.

She worked towards that goal through hard work, dedication and sacrifice and today she is glad she qualified herself at a young age.

“I feel very happy because this is the very health centre my mother brought me as a baby and I am pleased to be back here as a midwife, providing care and expertise to the people,” she said.

Gonsalves started working at the Lichfield Health Centre on February 19, 2019 and she is taking her job seriously and so far, she is loving her job as a healthcare provider.

One of the youngest midwives, Alicia Gonsalves

The young midwife is the mother of one living and working right in her village, where she feels safe and comfortable.

The Lichfield Health Centre is open from Mondays to Fridays from 08:00hrs to 16:30hrs. They have five staffers: one community health worker, one patient care assistant, one nursing assistant, one midwife, and one caretaker.

They have a visiting doctor and pharmacist twice monthly and the facility has a spacious waiting area, triage section, exam room, dressing room, a second waiting area, a pharmacy and a vaccine room.

Gonsalves told the Pepperpot Magazine that a wheelchair for the elderly would be fitting and a permanent doctor and pharmacist would also boost their level of service.

The security guard has converted the yard into a vegetable garden and the staffers would help themselves to vegetables for the kitchen.

The midwife reported that they have about 80 houses with about 320 residents and they have a good relationship with the people.

The Village Mother
Alice Linton, who resides near the St. Jude’s Anglican Church, is referred to as the ‘Village Mother’ and is the Lay Minister of the said church and is active in religious affairs and in preserving the rich culture and history of the village.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that in 2019 the village benefitted from electricity and today they have good roads, drainage, landline phones, internet, cable television and other infrastructure.

The Village Mother, Alice Linton

Linton stated that the older folk were farmers who grew their own food, but today it is quite different and the young people do not have any interest in farming and prefer office jobs.

“The young people of this village, some of whom grew up with grandparents, have certain things embedded in them ‘do what they see and they do’ and it is hard to break free of those things,” she said.

She admitted that the village is in limbo and most of the olden houses which the freed slaves built, their ancestors are long gone, but one was still standing but weathered and almost fully decayed.

It is one of the fixtures of the village that remind the people of their foreparents and their rich history and culture.

The St. Jude’s Anglican Church

Linton is from Lichfield and was a teacher who migrated for a while and later returned to enjoy a peaceful country life that is simple.

She is living the community life and does her part at church to develop the village and serve the people.

Linton is one of the elders of Lichfield, who is in her late 70s and still does her gardening and taking care of her dogs.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.