A Story of Selfless Sacrifice on the Frontlines

of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tesha Loven has been a nurse for 26 years. She is currently the Clinical Director of
the Emergency Department at INTEGRIS Health Edmond. She says they’re prepared to
handle an influx of COVID-19 patients, even though she hopes they never see one. “We wait
on the edge of our seat wondering if ‘today is the day’,” admits Loven.

She understands there’s an element of danger to her job, especially when dealing
with a novel virus that we don’t yet know much about. “I feel it’s important to not let fear
define me. I must take control of the things I can and accept the things I can’t.”

In order to protect those she loves, Loven has made the conscious decision to stay
away from her children, grand-children and parents until this crisis is over. “It’s very
difficult, yet it’s a sacrifice many in the medical field are willing to make to keep our families
safe.”

She adds, “Many of our caregivers are making far greater sacrifices than myself, they
have small children so they have chosen to stay in hotels, RV’s or with other health care
workers.”

She knows some in the health care profession feel like they didn’t sign up for this,
that caring for people during a worldwide pandemic is too much to ask. “I know many
nurses who have spouses who have told them that it is not their job to risk their lives for
strangers and have requested that they walk away from the situation,” Loven says. “But
thankfully, my husband supports me. He prays for me and my team and prepares us for
battle. For that, I am thankful, and I am at peace in the role I play in this crisis.”

Loven says she will continue to come to work as long as there are people in need.
“There will always be doctors and nurses who continue on with the mission. Although it will
be overwhelming if others retreat, there will always be those who walk into the storm.”

That’s what she wants the public to realize. “Health care workers are being asked to
sacrifice their time with family, their own mental, physical and emotional health. It is very
dis-heartening to see members of the public congregating in large groups and proceeding
with daily activities as if nothing is occurring around them.”

She concludes, “It is difficult to see the end in sight if the public does not comply with
sheltering in place, social distancing, self-monitoring and self-quarantine when appropriate.
Their actions have the biggest impact on the overall situation.”
 CHILD LABOR STORIES

ALEJANDRA
Twelve-year-old Alejandra is woken up at four in the morning by her
father, Don José. She does not go to school, but goes to collect curiles, small
molluscs in the mangrove swamps on the island of Espiritu Santo in
Usulutan, El Salvador. In the rush to get to work, Alejandra does not take
time to eat breakfast. It is more important to make sure she has the things
she needs to make it through a workday that can mean spending up to 14
hours in the mud. These items include about a dozen cigars and at least
four pills to keep her from falling asleep. A good part of the money that she
earns goes to buy these things. In the mangrove swamp without shoes,
Alejandra has to face bad weather, mosquito bites and cuts and scrapes
from having to pull the curiles out from deep in the mud. The cigars help to
repel the mosquitoes, but when she runs out of cigars Alejandra has to put
up with the insects as she moves from branch to branch and from one area
to another in search of shells. When she returns from work, her body is
nearly always covered with bites. She earns very little. If she is lucky in
one day Alejandra manages to collect two baskets of curiles (150 shells),
worth little more than 12 colones, or $1.40. Alejandra, who has seven
younger brothers and sisters, has no time to go to school or play with
other children. Anyway, she prefers not to play with other children
because they say she smells bad and exclude her from their games for
being a curiles worker. Little by little Alejandra has lost her self-esteem.
Like the other children who work collecting curiles,
 The Grey Fountain
Once upon a time, a boy was walking through a wood and he thought he could hear
a sad cry, as though someone was crying while singing. Following the sound he came to
a big, round, mysterious, grey fountain. The sad sobbing seemed to be coming from the
fountain pool. The boy swept aside the pool's dirty surface water and saw a group of grey
fish swimming in a slow circle through the pond. With each lap they made, their little
voices opened and out came the sobbing sound.
Amused by this, the boy tried to catch one of these incredible talking fish. But
when he stuck his arm into the water it turned grey right up to the elbow. As this
happened, a huge sadness entered into him, and he suddenly understood how
sorrowful the fish was feeling. He felt just like the earth on his arm; dirty and
contaminated.
He quickly pulled his arm out of the water, and ran from that place. But the arm
stayed grey, and the boy continued feeling sad. He tried so many times to cheer himself
up, but nothing worked. That was, until he realised that if he were to make the Earth
happy then that happiness would be, in turn, transmitted back to him, through the earth
on his arm.
From then on he set about looking after the countryside. He cared for the
plants, he did what he could to keep the water from being polluted, and he
encouraged others to do the same. He was so successful that his hand started to
recover its normal colour. When the grey had disappeared completely, he started
feeling happy again, and he decided to go and visit the fountain. When he was still
some way from the fountain he could hear the fish singing happy hymns, and he
heard them joyfully splashing in the crystal clear waters of that magic fountain.
It was plain to see that the Earth had returned to its original happiness; and
the boy felt even happier at the sight.