Driven by the passion to work in the mortuary from school benches, she is nowadays, the only woman in Chad with the courage to officiate in this service in a hospital. Her name is Memti Nicole. But who is really this lady who is in contact with the corpses?
“95% of the Chadian population think that when it is already a dead body, it must be thrown away and no longer touch it. Yet it’s a person like you. This is the statement that motivated Memti Nicole to engage in the service of the mortuary. At the base, Memti Nicole is a health worker working in various services namely: pediatrics, maternity, surgery, etc. After some time of experience, she chooses to work in the mortuary.
Born in Moundou in Logone Occidental in 1986, Memti Nicole made her first classes in different localities of the country like Moundou, Moïssala, etc. She attended college in N’Djamena, Moundou, Ba-Illi. She obtained her first cycle of study in 2004 at the N’Djamena general secondary school No. 2 and her bachelor’s degree in 2008 at the high school ‘Sans Frontieres’ of N’Guéli in the 9th District.
Passionate about health care, she decided to pursue a career by taking courses on this subject from which she graduated with a diploma of state certified nurse (IDE).
Beginning of the career
Memti Nicole is a health worker
“It all starts at Sarh Regional Hospital where I was on probation. There was an accident that killed a dozen people. The mortuary guard being ill and the staff being afraid to take care of the bodies, I took my courage to wash the bodies and I dressed them. Having finished, on leaving, I took the opposite direction. One of the bodies opened his eyes and shook his head. This gesture was interpreted by the head of the service as a blessing, “says the lady. She adds that “this was a motivation to get involved in the emergency department.”
Married and the mother of two daughters, the lady relates how she came to this service. “Even when I was in surgical department, I left every night to come to the mortuary and see how the agents were doing it. After that, I followed a training in this field with Dr. Guernabaye Djasnabaye who showed me practically how to take care of corpses. This is how I asked to join this service. “.
Working in this department for over 8 years, the Catholic Christian explains her ritual: “When I receive a body without life, I put myself in my work clothes, accompanied by masks, gloves, slippers before placing the body on the table in order to wash it. According to her, “prayer remains an effective weapon”.
Proud of her work, the thirty-year-old lady is pursuing her great dream of going outside to get more training in this domain and set up an autopsy service.
“In life, when you choose to do a job, whatever the disadvantages, you have to persevere to get there,” she advises.
