HUMANITY |RELATIONSHIPS|SOCIAL WORK
Celebrate the Inspirational Doctor in the Service of People
Salutations to you dear doctor for serving in underdeveloped countries and developing communities.
The lady in the picture is a doctor. She is Dr. Sigrun Roesel. (Sigi for short). Do you know what it means? It is a Nordic name that means Goddess of Victory.
I met her some time ago. She used to walk her two dogs. On a hot summer day, we passed each other while taking a walk. I smiled and she warmly smiled back at me. We introduced each other.
She told me that she was a German and worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) which is the United Nations’ specialized agency for Health. It is an organization that works in collaboration with different countries. Its unifying factor is the Health Ministry of each country. The WHO works on global health issues.
Childhood, education, and towards social work
I celebrate this doctor, A single child was born and brought up in Germany. She moved from a doting father to the care of (also very young) husband and kindest father-in-law at the age of 19 when she got married.
She Pursued her studies to become a maxillofacial surgeon studied dentistry and medicine and has DDS and MD degrees. She did part of her medical internship in Fiji in 1988 when the country had its first military coup and an acute shortage of medical personnel. Working under such conditions was a true eye-opener for the protected “princess”.
At this time the idea grew that she wanted to work in underserved communities in developing countries rather than in high-tech clinics and hospitals in Germany.
She completed her Ph.D. in HIV/AIDS-related behavioral study and while working in a hospital for psychosomatic diseases took up a master of public health program. To meet her “international health” interests her university sent her to Boston to partially complete her studies there and the director of her School of Public Heath there suggested doing her field practicum in the Philippines.
In October 1992 she set off to Manila to do her research work under a project of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, was placed in a rural area, and fell in love with the country and its people.
People who inspired doctor Sigi.
Dr. Sigi was inspired by her family. Her father who was handsome, generous, and positive taught her to be organized. Her beautiful intelligent and artistic mother brought out the finer qualities in her life and her grandma taught her elegance in whatever life she would like to lead. Her grand uncle taught her to love nature, go for excursions and appreciate the birds, flowers, and plants and thus she developed into a well-rounded personality.
Social work and community development
The call for social work came and she began her journey in polio immunization in different countries starting from the Philippines in 1992.
The Philippines: In 1993 she returned to the Philippines and fell in love with the people of the country. In 1996 she joined the WHO Regional Office in Manilla in the service of people for the polio immunization program and stayed there till 2015.
She was constantly on the road for immunization in more than a dozen countries. She worked in Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Viet Nam.
Her social work and community development in different countries and her long-distance relationship with her husband cost her own personal life as she chose to serve people and she had to go through a divorce with her husband as he did not want to travel to underdeveloped countries.
WHO Regional Offices and polio eradication program in different countries: WHO Regional Offices invited Dr. Sigi’s support, especially in polio eradication and thus she was exposed to Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Thailand. Her first work assignment in India was in the summer of 2002 when most internationals were leaving the country with the imminent war threat with Pakistan. She was based in Muzzafapur District in Bihar. She went to Lahore and loved the Qawallis over there.
This and future work assignments in India awakened her love for the mountains. She visited Spiti and Lahaul twice, loved the colors of Rajasthan and the ‘history of, Kolkata that she calls a gem’!.
In 2013–14 she was again busy in the Philippines with her immunization program
In India: Finally, the calling came from India in the South-East Asia Region to the certification of polio eradication in 11 countries. The historic event happened on 27 March 2014. She traveled for work to Japan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Bali, Timor Leste, and various places in India.
In 2015 she was invited by the regional office in India to work from New Delhi. From New Delhi, she went for an immunization drive in the past 5 and a half working years serving in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Sri Lanka, and Timor Leste
The mesmerizing persona of Dr.Sigi
Dr. Sigi is soft, slim, beautiful, and very humane. The people who serve here at home are the housekeeper, driver, and watchman. They swear by her kindness and affection for them.
She loves dogs and looks after three of them in her house. Two who are docile and one being a watchdog is noisy when somebody visits her. In addition, she also looks after the street dogs by immunizing them and making a kennel for them. she feeds them every day.
Dr. Sigi loves to travel. She is fond of going to the hills where there is natural beauty. She feels one with nature and looks after her own garden in the house and on the terrace too. She makes her own compost. She protects the trees and tries to save them from destruction. She loves rural areas. Feeding the cows, spending time on the farms, and loves the people of rural areas.
She becomes part of every country she visits. She wears the clothes of the local communities and eats the food prepared according to the recipes of that country and is now accustomed to the spices of the eastern countries.
She is beauty personified. Beautiful in looks and a heart of gold. I salute her in the service of humanity sacrificing her own home life for the people of many different countries in the world.