CU Nursing - Commencement December 2021 - 16

16
GR ADUAT I ON
Graduating
student will focus
on creating more
diversity in nursing
CIVIL WAR, DEATH IN CHILDHOOD TAUGHT CU
COLLEGE OF NURSING STUDENT EVERYONE
SHOULD HAVE A VOICE By Deborah Sherman
War, terror, pain, death. It will change someone.
It changed the course of Salwa Mourtada Bamba's
life when she was a child living with her family in
Liberia, West Africa, and led her to study medicine
in Colorado. In December, she graduates from the
University of Colorado College of Nursing with a
Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. Everything that
has come before graduation molded the immigrant
into a steadfast champion for social justice.
" I remember all the challenges and the original
dream I had as a child in Liberia, " said Salwa,
MSN, FNP-BC, FNP-C. " When I graduate, I want to
mentor other students, help their voices be heard,
and give back for all of the blessings I've received
over the years. "
CIVIL UNREST
Salwa was born in a country embroiled in war.
When rebels fought the Liberian government,
families got displaced, food and water became scarce, schools shut down,
and victims piled up. During the 14-year civil war, the United Nations set
up a medical relief camp in Bamba's neighborhood. The workers spotted
the teen watching them, and asked her to help and become a triage nurse.
" I would help take care of people and give them cards for rice, food, oil and
a place to stay. Since schools were closed because of the fighting, I became
a triage nurse for two years, " she said.
Danger was everywhere from the rebels. They forced boys to join at gunpoint
and girls were often kidnapped. The danger was even greater for Salwa and
her sister, who were light-skinned from a Lebanese father and a Liberian
mother. One day during relative peace, her sister Laila went to the market
Three-time graduate
from CU College
of Nursing, Salwa
Mourtada Bamba
displays one of her
many diplomas
and never came home. Salwa and her
family later learned Laila had been
kidnapped, taken to the rebel base
and murdered.
Hearing the rebels were out for
more light-skinned blood, her father
begged a relative to sneak Salwa out
of Liberia. Within 24 hours of her
sister's death, 14-year-old Salwa
was in Ghana, placed in a boarding
school. While her dad worked on
plans to permanently move Salwa to
CU College of Nursing | December 2021
CU Nursing - Commencement December 2021

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