Margot Biggs - Partner Spotlight

This week we are highlighting Margot Biggs. Margot is a nurse in Libera who loves her community through providing medical care and also supporting them through crisis events in their lives. 

Tell us a little about you. What inspired you personally to get involved with this work?

One of my highest gifting is mercy. My husband tells me this is a blessing and a curse. It drives me to help others when I see people in pain. It also keeps me awake at night worrying about them! I am acutely aware of the fact that I only have one life to live, and I want to make it count. I want to use my time on this earth to serve others and to serve God. I was blessed to be born in Australia. I had an excellent education and I have never gone hungry. I feel I am blessed so that I can be a blessing to others. The poverty in Liberia is extreme. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and by some standards, the poorest. So many here are suffering. I have a mix of projects which include helping pay for medical care at the hospital, helping provide decent and safe housing, helping women start small businesses so they can support their family's, amongst many other things.

Tell us about the work your organization does.

I am a missionary nurse working in Liberia, West Africa. I spend some of my time volunteering at the malnutrition clinic at ELWA Hospital.  ELWA stands for Eternal Love Winning Africa and it is a mission hospital run by SIM here in Liberia. As well as the malnutrition clinic, I also help with patient flow, teaching/mentoring nurses and managing precious equipment. I also work with people in the local community and sometimes further into the country areas. 

Tell us about one amazing project you fundraised for on DonorSee this year.

My favorite project this year was raising money to start a neonatal (newborn baby) unit on the pediatric ward at ELWA Hospital. We had teeny weeny babies interspersed throughout the pediatric ward, which is not safe for them! They are incredibly susceptible to infection and they need specialized care and equipment. We were able to raise money to section off an area of the ward to use for our neonates. We now have an incubator and specialized equipment and medication for our tiny babies. 

What are the key challenges you face?

My biggest challenge is trying to describe the desperation and the urgency of the need here. I am right in the middle of it. I see it and experience it. I hear it, I smell it, I feel it.  But how do I describe that need to others who aren't here? 

My next biggest challenge is having to turn people away. I simply can't help everyone, and this is very hard for me. I am asked for some sort of help, usually food or money, every single day without fail. Once word starts to spread that you have helped some people,  more will come from far and wide to ask for help. Screening can be incredibly challenging. Saying "no" is even worse. 

What are your hopes and dreams for next year?

Next year I hope to help make some improvements at the hospital. We are always in need of supplies and equipment. I'm also hoping to continue with nurse training and education. I am hoping that Rachel (one of my DonorSee partners) will be able to take her charity dreams further, perhaps looking at a child sponsorship program. I am hoping that I can work out a way of partnering with local businesses to provide food vouchers for the local needy people - giving them cash directly is not always wise. 

Do you have a message for the DonorSee community?

What can I say except thank you? I love that there are people out there who have hearts filled with mercy. People who can see the desperation even if not in person, through the lens of a camera. It's a special gift to those of us working in these poverty stricken places to know that we are not forgotten, and more importantly, the suffering people in this country are not forgotten. Thank you for working with me, we are a team!