At AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, we are inspired every day by the women who dedicate their lives to delivering healthcare worldwide and #BreaktheBias for equity, inclusion and diversity. Celebrating International Women’s Day, we salute our female employees who are clearing the path for future generations.

Today, we highlight Lillian Hellen Auren, Senior Nurse of AMI South Sudan. Lillian offers an incredible story of tenacious triumph against all odds.

Born in Uganda into a polygamist family, her home was destroyed by rebels, and her father was arrested multiple times and imprisoned for his involvement in politics. Trying to survive the turmoil of her childhood, she went to school when she could and knew she had to find a better life for herself.

Studying for secondary school exams in Uganda, 1995.

In order to fund her studies after completing high school and earning her national senior certificate, Lillian spent a year brewing waraji (Ugandan beer) to earn money. She enrolled for a nursing and midwifery certificate at Nsambya School of Nursing in Kampala, where she studied for 30 months and qualified.

Lillian working at Buluba Leprosy Centre, Uganda 2003.

She had to give up her studies for a time to work at the Buluba Leprosy Center in Mayuge to earn enough to go back to school. Having saved money, Lillian enrolled at Rubaga School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kampala, to work toward her nursing diploma and qualified after one year.

Graduation from Rubaga School of Nursing in Uganda.

In order to build a home for her mother and siblings, she took out several loans, and ultimately, they built grass-thatched houses by hand. Devastation struck once again as their village and home were attacked and destroyed.

Lillian persevered and worked two jobs to provide for her family. She was a nurse at Savannah Medical Centre and a nurse at Paragon Hospital. She was trying desperately to make enough money to build a more permanent brick house to call home for herself and her family.

By 2015, searching for a better life, she resigned from both jobs and moved to Dubai. Unfortunately, life in Dubai was not what she envisioned; the salary was low, and the living expenses were high, so she returned to Kampala.

Finally, Lillian left Uganda and headed to South Sudan seeking employment. She worked in various local clinics that paid minimum wage. “I continued praying and trusting God and believed it was Him that blessed me with work at AMI Expeditionary Healthcare in 2017.”

Today, through her tenacity, Lillian has reached her goal of becoming a nurse, providing for her family, and becoming a mother to a beautiful baby girl.

Lillian Hellen Auren, Senior Nurse, AMI South Sudan