Security guard Esther watches over mothers

By JIMMY KALEBE
WOMEN admitted at the Angau Memorial Hospital labour ward will recognise the familiar face of security guard Esther Kapia.
Esther, in her late 40s, is a mother of six from Chuave in Chimbu. For the past two years, her task has been to not only patrol outside the hospital ward during her shift but also to offer assistance and guidance to women visiting the ward.
She is the second wife of a man from Chimbu. But she is happy that two of her sons have completed their education at the University of Technology in Lae and are now working.
She is working to provide for her other children. And she is happy with what she is doing, especially in helping others although she is not that well educated.
“My level of education is only up to Grade Six. But I try my hardest every day to give the best to my job.
“I give my best to see wherever my service is needed. I give it with my heart. I am always there to give mothers comfort when they come here to give birth.”
As a mother herself, she understands the stress and anxiety pregnant women can go through and is always ready to offer her assistance to anyone she thinks needs help by talking to them.
She uses her calm composure and demeanour to talk to women she thinks may be seeking help or just needs someone to talk to.
Esther joined the security firm which employs her in 2008. She was assigned to provide security around the labour ward of the hospital in Lae two years ago and loves her job as she easily relates to that environment.
Her working hours vary according to the roster. She sometimes is assigned to the graveyard shift which means staying away from her family at night.
Esther understands well the pain women in labour go through and offers her help when she sees one in some sort of distress or anxiety.

“I am always there to give them comfort to mothers who come here to give birth.”

“I have experienced this and I know what it is to feel that pain. I cannot do anything else. All I can do is give those mothers the comfort they need at that moment.”
She strikes up conversations with visiting relatives and just tries to be friendly to everyone.
She sometimes feels emotional when she hears a woman cry out in pain during labour, sharing her feeling as a mother.
“I am always there to give them comfort. We are here to assist each other, and that is my number one priority. God wants us to do to others what we want done to us.”
One cannot miss Esther in her blue uniform doing her rounds outside the Angau hospital labour ward, mother watching over other mothers.