Marcia Porter

Nursing graduate Rosa Diaz Armas' path to Memorial began in her hometown of Lima, Peru and reached all the way to the home of her mother's childhood friend, a retired nurse living in Toronto.

When she went looking for a perspective nursing program, Ms. Diaz Armas did a lot of research about Canadian Schools of Nursing. It was her mom's friend in Toronto who recommended Memorial's program.

"She said it was a good school, with a good reputation," said Ms. Diaz, who has a degree in audio visual communications, and studied in Peru and the United States before arriving at the School of Nursing.

And even though she was fluent in English, at age 27 she was a little nervous about taking classes with a much younger group of students.

"I didn't really look older until I started speaking," she said. "I didn't think I was going to have any friends because I was so much older."

Of course her fears were completely unfounded and she's made many good friends at the school. In fact some of her best friends are among the youngest students in the class.

When she does speak, Ms. Diaz' command of English is impressive; not only because of how she uses language, but for what she says. She has strong opinions about health care and the health care system, and she's well able to articulate her ideas.

"I'm able to have conversations and I think they (my classmates) find it interesting. I have a more international perspective and what I want people to know is that the perceptions they have about a place could be wrong. I think the media can give us the wrong ideas."

Ms. Diaz' mom was a nurse in Lima for 35 years, and her dad still works there as a physician. Health care is publically-funded and universal, even for tourists.

Not many people outside of Peru, particularly in North America, know that.

"Health care is a right and that is a deep belief I have," said Ms. Diaz Amaz, who hopes to use her skills in audio visual storytelling to help introduce and educate people about different health care ideas and practices around the world.

"We can do better," she said. "I think it's good to travel and it can help you see that there are people in the world with less. We have a few issues here (in Newfoundland), it's true. But for example in small communities in the Andes (the mountains of Peru) people are poor, yet they do a lot with what they have.

"In small communities here there is access to more resources and I think we need to focus on what we have, to have a positive view and build on what we have."

Ms. Diaz Armas' work as a personal care attendant (PCA) at St. Patrick's Mercy Home in St. John's to help cover tuition and living expenses, has led to a position in nursing following graduation.

"I know most of the resident's and staff and it's familiar to me," said Ms. Diaz Armas, who is committed to the idea of nursing the whole person, the physical, emotional, the spiritual and the social. "That's my idea of nursing," she said. "Every one of us is in essence the same. We have similar needs."

"I'm so proud of her," said her mom, who travelled from Peru to see her graduate, and spend some time with her daughter before heading home to Lima.