Margaret John Abee, a caregiver from South Sudan
When Margaret John Abee started her job as a caregiver at a retirement village in Upper Hutt 14 years ago, not all the residents were happy to see her.
Some told the African-born mum of six they didn’t want her helping because of her skin colour. But Margaret, who survived almost eight months in the African jungle running for her life, shrugged it off. Using humour and compassion, the chatty care worker soon bonded with the residents she now calls friends.
“I ask them questions about photos in their rooms, which brings them closer, and we laugh,” says Margaret, 50, who settled in Upper Hutt in 2004. “I tell them I’m from Africa, and this is our colour, and in the world, we have a lot of colours. I don’t get angry because they’re just fighting some other fight since they’re sick and sometimes in pain.”
When the bubbly grandmother first moved to New Zealand, she
