Joe McWilliams

Lakeside Leader

Meet Motunrayo Adeoye. She’s a nurse, working at the Slave Lake Health Care Centre for the past few weeks.

Adeoye is from Nigeria, where she had been working in the field for the past 10 years. She’s one of the health care workers Alberta Health Services has hired through its international recruitment program.
“It’s been quite an interesting journey so far,” says Adeoye.

Slave Lake Alberta certainly is a long way from Africa. Why did she decide to do it?

“I want to move out and learn more,” Adeoye says. “I want to explore the world.”

The process started about a year ago, when a friend drew her attention to “a link,” which must have been ‘out there’ due to AHS recruiting efforts. She investigated, applied and went through the vetting process, with her credentials getting verified and so on.

Now on the job a few weeks, Adeoye says the work is more or less the same as it is back home, with just a bit of learning required – brand names of drugs for example.

Twelve-hour shifts are something new as well, but when you’re prepared, she says, no problem.

“I’m enjoying my role here,” Adeoye says.

What she’s enjoying less is the challenge of finding daycare for her two young children. She expects them to arrive with their father in a week or two, and – as we’ve been hearing – there are no spaces available at the Legacy Daycare.

“It’s a major challenge,” she says.

Adeoye’s husband is also a medical professional – an embryologist – who she hopes will be able to find work here as well.

But first things first: finding housing (she has an apartment lined up for Dec. 1) and day care. Other than that, it’s been a fairly smooth transition.

“I’ve not really had culture shock,” she says. “People in Slave Lake have been so good, so compassionate. Lots of support.”

As for climate shock – not so much there either. Adeoye says she had read about how cold it gets, and heard from people about what it’s like.

“I’m coping well,” she says.