NOVEMBER 1, 2002
Smoke Signals 9
Syrian Nurses Visit Tribal Council and Health & Wellness Center
O Health Care not as good in Syria, but available to all.
By Ron Karten
Members of the Tribal Council and the Tribe's Health & Wellness Center
greeted five Syrian nurses and two translators on Friday, October 11.
The nurses sought information to help them upgrade the nursing profession
in Syria, according to Toufic Maged, one of the translators.
"Nurses are not so respected in Syria," he said.
The visit, arranged by Tribal Council Relations Coordinator Charles Haller
II, included a "meet-and-greet" with members of the Tribal Council when both
council members and the nurses asked and answered a range of questions
everything from specifics about Tribal government to whether the nurses were
married. On learning that one nurse was married and another was anticipat
ing marriage on her return from this trip, translator Maged added, "and the
'
Visitors On Tour - From left: State Department translator Toufic Maged, Syrian
Ministry of Health teacher of trainers Ms. Al-Yamama Mahmoud Al-Hatba, Ms. Nima Juma
Mousa, an adult nurse with the Al-Mujtahed Hospital in Damascus, Ms. Sahar Yousef, a
teacher in the nursing school of the Syrian Directorate of Health, speaking is State
Department translator Mucan Aljabiry, and Ms. Ruwaida Salman Salameh, deputy head
of Nursing for the Syrian Directorate of Health take a tour of the Tribe's Health &
Wellness building.
others, no doubt, have many many seekers."
Tribal Council Vice Chairman Reyn Leno provided the nurses with some back
ground on the Tribe, including history and the Tribal governmental structure.
Tribal Council member Ed Pearsall described the Tribal practice of funding
education for Tribal members and surprised them when he replied to a question
wondering if the Tribe required a period of service from the students after they
graduated. Of course, the Tribe at-
taches no strines to its support for
individual education. f
The nurses serve in public institu- v.
tions in two Syrian cities the capi- "
tal, Damascus, and the port city, v t r.
lartous, and included a teacher ot
trainers, an adult nurse, two teachers,
and a deputy head of nursing. They
said that there was no difference in f '
tVio miolitw nf VmoltVt noro fVnm nr ' -
ban to rural areas, though a State Department spokeswoman
wondered if they might have a different view if they worked in a
rural area.
While impressed with American facilities "they're quite ad
vanced," one nurse said "however, we understand that you
have to have medical insurance to take advantage of them."
By contrast in Syria, the government owns all natural resources
and is able to provide many services for free. Tribal Council
Member Bob Haller asked about taxes in Syria. Taxes, the nurses
said, are "insignificant." Medical schools and hospitals are not
as sophisticated, but everybody is entitled to be treated without
charge or with a "very minimal charge" at state-run facilities
and universities. A small number of private facilities have sprung
up in recent years, one said, and the quality of care there is "prob
ably better" but private facilities charge for service.
Tribal Council member Val Grout asked about schooling in
Syria (everyone goes K-9; nurses earn a 3-year diploma equiva
lent to a Bachelors' degree, and after graduation, they are as
signed to the hospital closest to where they live) and life expect
ancy (65-70).
The nurses said that one of their goals for this trip was to find
ways to improve nursing care. There is a lot of pressure on the system, one said,
because care is free.
"They want to improve the image of the profession by improving education,"
Maged said.
Among the lessons the nurses will bring back to Syria, said Maged, "They
need to have more practical training." They would like to see students have the
opportunity to shadow professional nurses, and to institute the American "pass
or fail" grading system instead of the percentage system used in Syria. "Either
they know the subject or they don't," said Maged.
Part of a two-week State Department-sponsored visit, the nurses included the
Grand Ronde facility among a range of educational and health care facilities in
Washington, D.C., New York, Detroit, Des Moines, Iowa, and Portland, Oregon.
The State Department International Visitor Program, of which this was a
part, is "apolitical" and sponsors some 5,000 visitors each year from most coun
tries of the world, according to a department spokesman. B
She Lets Her Fingers Do the Talking
Tribal member Darci Warren balanced being a single mom with completing massage school.
By Ron Karten
As a single parent of two, Tribal
member Darci Warren had to wait
until her boys were old enough be
fore she could go back to school.
Now, they're 19 and 16 and War
ren has just completed more than a
year's worth of massage school cred
its "got straight A's," she said
at the Ashmead College of Massage
in Vancouver, Washington.
And she has more big educational
ideas for the years ahead.
With the help of the Tribe's Adult
Vocational Training program, War
ren was able to study Swedish and
deep tissue massage techniques, as
well as sports and clinical massage.
"I feel we're all athletes to a point,"
Warren said, "and I love the heal
ing aspect of massage."
Warren uses the time when she's giving a massage to educate her cli
ents on these healing aspects. She said that a good massage "lowers blood
pressure, increases blood circulation, decreases stress, increases relaxation,"
and also is a good tool for injury prevention.
She works with people who have headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome,
and whiplash. She works with golfers regularly because the golf swing is
so unnatural, "even if you are swinging right." Gardeners can often ben-
) fl
X
7
Darci Warren
efit from a massage, Warren said, because "they spend too much time
bent over."
Massage can also solve problems resulting from general stress at work.
"85 percent of missed time at work is due to stress," she said. "Stress
breaks down your immune system, which makes it easier for you to come
down with things."
If this sounds like just about everybody is due for the benefits of a War
ren massage, the message is probably a result of Warren's natural entre
preneurial bent. She has run a day-care business, a resume and business
cards business (still going), and a house cleaning business, and has taken
advantage of many opportunities to improve her skills. For example, she
took advantage of a 12-week business class offered by the Tribe.
"I like being able to work for myself," she said, "and set my own hours."
She would like to get a hold of an old bus or van and put massage units in
it. While she now travels to give massages on location, this addition will
really give new meaning to her company name: "Massage on the Move."
With a bad back herself, she said that she already is making plans for a
time in the future when she may no longer have the strength for the
physical exertion necessary to give massages. In the fall of 2003, she
anticipates taking the prerequisites necessary for learning acupuncture
at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. In addition, this October, she
will enjoy a class in aroma therapy.
For now, though, she is focusing on what she does best deep tissue
massage. Does it hurt? "It's about a 3 on a 1-5 pain scale," she said,
"with one being no pain at all and five being unbearable. I really believe
that old saying, 'no pain, no gain,'" she said.
Warren is the granddaughter of Tribal Elder Sylvia Fuller.