CHIAZOKAM G.

Hello, My name is Benta Russell. I began my personal-care career with Synod Residential Service, in August 2013. I have always done personal-care work since I was a young girl. Growing up in Kenya, it was my responsibility to care for my family's elderly. Every day I would take care of my grandparents by fetching them water from the river, cooking their meals. I also did their laundry, cleaned their dishes, and house. One of the many things I have learned throughout the years is that it is very important to be patient and understanding when providing aid to an individual. All the people I have helped have had different strengths and weaknesses, and as the personal-aide, it was my responsibility to understand this in order to adapt to the individual's needs. What I enjoy most about being a caregiver is developing a relationship with the client. As the relationship grows it becomes more than a job and is like finding a new friend. This is important to me because it makes the work that much more enjoyable for both the client and myself. My greatest achievement so far was getting my degree from Washtenaw Community College. There were many days and nights when I wanted to throw my textbooks in the garbage and walk away from school, but I didn't do that. I stuck it through to the end and am very proud to have earned my degree.

I have been working doing care giving since i was 12 when my aunt had a hernia removed and the nurses that came in started showing me how to change the dressings and change her iv tubing. I have worked in health care most of my life. I took care of my mom and grandparents. I was trained at UofM wound care clinic for my mom. I also went to school for medical assistant. I experience taking care of wounds, autistic, dementia,Alzheimer's, people with hearing and vision and who are bed bound. Ive worked with people on hospice. I love helping others and taking care of them and helping them living there best life. I love listening to the stores people tell me. Especially the elderly the stories they tell sometimes have great lessons behind them. I still talk to some of my cleints i took care of they message me or if i see them out at the store they come up and give me hugs and tell me how much they love and miss me which makes me feel good and that i could be a positive person in their lives. I have had cleints that had noone else and who i made a differnece in their lives when they thought no one cared about them. One of my personal achievements is i dropped out of high school to take care of my mom so after she passed i was in my 20s i went back to school got my GED and went to college.