The nurse with the golden heart celebrated
Maila believes that women and young girls need to be taught to take care of their mental health and protect their mental peace.
One of the women to highly praise this month is a 30-year-old motivated and humble nurse, Boitumelo Maila, of Barberton Hospital.
She was faced with a number of challenges in her life, including fighting depression a couple of years ago while studying towards her diploma. She took antidepressants and emerged victorious in her studies.
“One of my highlights was adhering to treatment, counselling and picking up the pieces and moving on. It wasn’t easy because I was a student. I had to excel in school at that time. So for me, being able to complete my diploma in record time during such a hard time makes me proud of myself,” she said.
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With the outbreak of Covid-19, like many health workers, Maila strives to bring hope to her patients. She unfortunately lost her father due to the pandemic. “My other low point was losing my father due to Covid-19 in January, while my mom was in ICU.
“I had to become a mother to my siblings, reassure them that Mommy will be fine. We all tested positive as a family, including my six-year-old daughter and seven-year-old niece. I had to be strong for all of them. It weighed so much on me and I am still trying to recover, even now,” she said.
Besides being the first lady of the royal Mogane Tribal Authority, Maila still finds time beyond her duties to run her projects. She is the founder and executive director of a non-profit organisation called First Lady Foundation. Her foundation, with Mogane Traditional Council, pledged an amount of R10 000 towards building a young man a decent house in Moremela near Graskop.
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Maila also owns Womandla Brands, a clothing brand that donates its profits towards the First Lady Foundation. She is also the national deputy secretary of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa Student Movement.
She is also a mental health advocate, a qualified and registered comprehensive nurse specialising in psychiatry, midwifery, community and general nursing.
“We need to ensure that women and girls in our province know their own worth, stand up for themselves and are not found in abusive households and relationships. We need to teach women about the importance of mental health,” she said.
“As women, we are all queens in our own unique way. We should never look down on one another, never rejoice when another woman is going through a tough time. Women should remove anything that is toxic in their lives and does not give them peace of mind,” she said. For counselling and on issues related to depression, you can reach her on her Facebook page, Boitumelo Pheladi Maile, or on Instagram, HRH Ndlunkulu Boitumelo Maila.
