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Newly qualified nurse recalls living in refugee camp to achieving dream job

Posted on November 2021 By Jamie Southwell

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Rawan Kassab, Yara Kassab, Fayzeh Rachid, Rami Mansour, and Al Qanawan pictured above​​​

​A newly qualified student recalls back to her journey from living in a refugee camp alongside 10,000 others to finally fulfilling her dreams of becoming an NHS nurse in the UK.

Fayzeh Rachid, a 22-year-old graduated nursing student, is one of five from Lebanon of Palestinian heritage to receive her UK international recruitment scheme offer under North West London NHS Trust.

Beginning her career path in her home country studying medicine despite the issues surrounding and breaking out around her, Fayzeh earned a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing Science at Lebanese University in October of 2020.

After receiving her qualifications, she was accepted into the program as a way of increasing nursing numbers from abroad to help across the UK in the NHS with employment gaps.

When living in her home country, the NHS nurse described her struggles as she could not obtain a job in her field even despite being trained to do so. She said "I applied to jobs at hospitals at home but got rejected because of my nationality"

“I want to prove to my family that they raised me well, and to be an example to other women. I want to be an example for other girls to reach out for their dreams despite a cruel reality.”

When extending her praise to the NHS, she added "A big thank you to the NHS for letting me be part of this family."

Fayzeh is set to start her training to become an official NHS nurse at St Pancras Hospital in London alongside Rami Mansour and a set of five other refugees.

​The nursing students at the Central and North West London Trust program, pictured above

21-year-old Yara, similar to Fayzeh, was from a refugee camp in Lebanon, witnessing fighting with military-grade weapons including rocket launchers, machine guns, and hand grenades.

However, she is now working with her twin sister and Fayzeh in the NHS, which she is excited about.

Continuing, she spoke about the struggles of moving to a new city, saying "Adjusting to a completely new culture will be very difficult but we are lucky to have each other,"

"Our grandmother was taken away during the civil war and no one helped our mum to find her because of her nationality.

"And then our Mum had children growing up in an unsafe country. This is a new phase for our family.

"So our thank you today is not just from us, but from our mother."

You can read more about the support funding announcement for healthcare professionals to relocate to the UK as a part of filling the NHS employment gaps here: https://www.daywebster.com/blog/2021/10/support-funding-allocated-for-refugees-to-join-the-nhs