84-year-old Gulzar reflects on embarking her career as an international midwife in the UK
To celebrate South Asian Heritage Month (18 July – 17 August), we hear from trailblazing midwife Gulzar Waljee, the first nurse of South Asian heritage to work at Royal Surrey.
Sixty-five years ago, in 1959, Gulzar Waljee (nee Shivji), a young woman of Gujarati origin, arrived at Royal Surrey County Hospital from a small town in Tanzania (then Tanganyika) to train as a nurse and midwife. Now 84 and living with her family in Cambridge, Gulzar recalls her three years at Royal Surrey, where her long and successful career in midwifery began.
“I felt so nervous sitting on the train that took me from Heathrow airport to Guildford – nervous and very lonely. My biggest fear was that I would miss my stop and get lost. At the time, my English language was very limited, I was on my own, and I truly had no idea where I was.”
“Luckily, I didn’t miss my stop. I arrived in Guildford with my suitcases, found a taxi and made my way to the hospital. I later realised that I had left Guildford station by the back entrance, leaving behind my two colleagues who were waiting to greet me outside the main entrance. I’ve no idea how long they stayed there waiting for me!”
“I’ve come to realise that such situations test your self-reliance. Finding yourself alone in a strange place, thousands of miles from your home and your family, is a true test of your inner strength. My upbringing in Tanganyika [where Gulzar’s father had emigrated from Gujarat in India] was so sheltered. I was very naïve, but I was a hard-worker, and I knew I had to make the most of the opportunity I had been given to study in the UK.”
“My three years at Royal Surrey began with three months’ preliminary training, which all new nurses needed to do before they could start working on the wards. This gave me the chance I needed to orientate myself, improve my English and make some friends.”
“One of the first people I met was Stella. She had come from Jamaica and, as far as I know, we were the only overseas nurses working at the Royal Surrey at the time. I remember her saying to me: “I am really going to have to keep any eye on you – because you really don’t know anything!” She really stuck to her word, because we remained close friends for the next 60 years, until she sadly passed away a few years ago.”
“My first experiences on wards were often hard. The sisters were tough, and I do believe they were particularly tough on me, because I was still learning English and I didn’t share their culture. At times I found life very hard – working all day and studying all night – and to be honest, I often cried. But my bad experiences were outweighed by the positive. I have beautiful memories of my time in Guildford. On our days off, we would take wonderful coach trips out to the countryside, visiting beautiful places like Godalming and Milford, and I even found the time to learn ballroom dancing – which turned out to be life-changing for me, because my husband was a ballroom dancing teacher, and we met through our shared love of it.”
“Some of the most wonderful memories I have of Royal Surrey are of the patients I met. I don’t remember a single bad experience. I remember always being treated with a lot of respect on the wards, and there were always lots of friendly smiles.”
“By the end of my three and a half years at Royal Surrey, so much had changed. I had grown into a confident woman and was ready to embark on my career in midwifery. In the years that followed five of my sisters and two of my brothers would follow me into careers in the NHS. I am so proud of the contribution our family has made to the NHS, and equally grateful for the opportunities the NHS has given my family.”
“I hope my story shows just how much you can achieve when you work hard.”