Our Frontline Worker of the week is… Dr. Delleana Anderson

May 30, 2021 News

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“My dream was to become a doctor, I wanted to become a doctor, I really didn’t know why, but I remember one time I was talking to my grandmother and she said, ‘you should become a doctor’.”

By Vanessa Braithwaite

Kaieteur News – Born and raised in the mining town of Linden, Dr. Delleana Anderson’s childhood was far from luxurious. Many may have even concluded that because she was born to a teenage mother, the cards were stacked against her from the get go. Living in an unfinished house, she had to learn to overcome life’s early struggles to reap academic success. This path, she noted, allowed her to be rewarded with a medical scholarship.

Dr. Anderson, the oldest of her siblings, was determined to not allow her childhood circumstances to define her future. She was also determined to not let her parents’ struggles to raise them go to waste.
During a very emotional interview, Dr. Anderson related that her mother was only 16 when she got her. “My mother was a high school dropout, she got pregnant with me; she got me at 16 years when she was going to Multi school. My father, he never finished primary school…” she related. But the couple was determined to give their children the education they did not receive.
She said her early childhood years entailed moving from house to house, as her parents struggled to secure a permanent home. When they actually did, it was far from the comfort a home is expected to give a family. “We had no door, window, floor, just like a roof and the walls. I remember we had one neighbour and he had to nail us in at nights and pull down the zinc in the mornings so we could come out. I think that is when hard times hit my family because we started from scratch; we had no light, no water….” she recalled.
She spoke of having to walk for close to an hour to get public transportation to take her to school. Of course, she was tardy quite regularly.
Dr. Anderson said she never allowed her home situation to be reflected on her physical appearance at school. “I never wanted people to know the struggle I was going through; I never looked raggedy or untidy and always had my work done for school,” she said.
Despite her struggles at home, she excelled in school and remained at the top of her class. When she wrote the National Grade Six Assessment at the Wismar Hill Primary School, she was named the best graduating student. She was awarded a place at the Mackenzie High School where she continued to be a top achiever even at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) where she copped the title as top student for Region 10.
After high school, Dr. Anderson worked as a teacher for two years at a private school before she was awarded a scholarship to study medicine in Cuba. This was the unfolding of the life she’d dreamt of — one where she is financially stable and able to repay her parents for all their sacrifices. “My dream was to become a doctor, I wanted to become a doctor, I really didn’t know why, but I remember one time I was talking to my grandmother and she said, ‘you should become a doctor’.”
That memory she called to mind many times throughout her seven-year journey in Cuba to become a doctor. But the journey was no walk in the park. It was as if she was reliving her early years. The transition into a new culture with a different language was difficult for her, but this only motivated her to push even harder to return to Guyana as nothing less than a certified medical doctor, and that she did. For one, the language was hard to grasp for her. “I remember vividly, my teacher asked me to open my mouth to see if something was wrong with my tongue because I was not pronouncing the words properly. The Spanish part was difficult for me; it was hard for me to get it.” After persevering and pushing to perfect her Spanish, Dr. Anderson was invited to make a presentation at a prestigious event and was given a prize for the most improved student.
In addition to the language, the living condition was also very challenging for Dr. Anderson and her colleagues. “Using a washroom that probably had a blind or nothing at all, cooking on the floor; one time my bed broke down. I even survived a category five hurricane…that as well was a very big experience for me,” she related.
After she was able to master the language, Dr. Anderson said the actual medical programme was not so challenging and she was able to graduate with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.69.
Apart from her academic success in Cuba, Dr. Anderson said she also invested a lot of time and effort into showcasing Guyana’s culture. She even won a University pageant she participated in and copped the first runner up position in another. Dr. Anderson was also appointed leader for the Guyana Delegation in Cuba and as Leader for foreign students at her University.
Upon her return to Guyana, she served at the Linden Hospital Complex as a General Medical Officer. She is presently serving as the Medical Superintendent (Ag) of the Kwakwani Hospital Complex.
According to our featured frontline health care worker, choosing to become a doctor is in fact one of the best decisions she has ever made since it brings her absolute satisfaction to provide medical care for persons.
“I cannot see myself being in any other profession. I see their (patients) pain and I want them to get better. I’m passionate about improving health care wherever I am, so it was the right call. The moment I see somebody in pain or something, I put myself in their shoes. I feel that pain and all I want to do is help that person feel better… that gives me a lot of satisfaction. I love to see that smile, I love to hear that thank you,” she said.
Like any other frontline worker, Dr. Anderson had some challenges to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when her 87 year-old grandmother was diagnosed with it. Now that she is in charge of an entire hospital, she takes pride in educating the residents of Kwakwani about the virus and the importance of becoming vaccinated.
A few weeks ago, the doctor, who plans on eventually specialising in internal and emergency medicine, miraculously found the time to produce a locally made movie – an inaugural feat for her – and word on the street is that Lindeners are excited to see it come next month.

 

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