00:00Meet Omolewa Eperopoulou, a nurse, a midwife, and a dreamer.
00:05But today, she's not wearing scraps.
00:07She's on a different kind of mission.
00:10Omolewa is on her way to the German language school,
00:13the first step in her goal of moving to Germany.
00:17Because I learned they need more health workers there.
00:21If I'm there, I'm going to expand myself educationally, culturally, and also otherwise.
00:27Germany faces a significant shortage of health care workers,
00:32largely due to its aging population and a decline in local workers.
00:36That's where people like Omolewa come in, young, skilled, and ready to step up.
00:41But it all starts with mastering the German language.
00:44The motive behind the establishment of this institute is just to make people internationally relevant,
00:49you understand, and also bridge gap between the African culture and also the German culture.
00:55And it's working. Dozens have already made a move.
00:59Faith Mutesi is one of them.
01:01At 23, she left Tanzania to follow her calling, to care for others.
01:06I wanted to become a nurse first, because the closest person to me was my grandfather.
01:11And I got to see him sick at a young age.
01:15And that's when I realized the importance of compassionate care.
01:19She is currently in the second year of her three-year nursing program.
01:23What Mutesi didn't expect when she moved to Germany
01:26was that some of the people she came to care for would reject her,
01:30not because of her skills, but because of who she is.
01:33I was with a friend, also from Africa, and we were supposed to help this patient.
01:38And our accents are not perfect, probably.
01:42And while we were about to help him, he said, stupid, Ausländer.
01:46And that was kind of bad.
01:50Most of the times you tell a nurse in charge or the head of the stations,
01:55you tell them and they talk to the patient about it.
01:59They confront it, like, they tell them this is not how it works.
02:04Ausländer, foreigner.
02:06This is a reality many foreign-trained nurses face.
02:09Studies show that nurses of color in European healthcare systems
02:13are more likely to face workplace discrimination,
02:16not only from colleagues, but also from patients.
02:20In Germany, over 60% of migrant nurses
02:23report experiencing discrimination or exclusion from patients.
02:27Fortunately for Mutesi, her colleagues at the hospital confronted a patient
02:32and told them that such behavior was unacceptable.
02:36Although she's training to be a nurse,
02:38nothing could have prepared her for the experience of losing a patient.
02:41The patient looked okay.
02:44And when it was time for me to take the food,
02:47I find him dead and I broke down.
02:49And it was emotionally challenging.
02:51But it was, I was lucky I was working with someone who
02:56kind of encouraged me and gave me advises on how to deal with these things.
03:01But sometimes, the emotional weight takes a toll
03:04and it's simply not possible to continue.
03:07After seven years in Germany's care system,
03:10Jafar Asadki has reached its limit.
03:12A recent survey of 200 physicians in Germany
03:15showed that 35% of them are likely to leave their jobs
03:19within five years due to stress and a huge workload.
03:24Nurses and care workers are struggling with heavy workloads too.
03:29The pandemic, a high demand for healthcare and labor shortage are to blame.
03:34The crisis has brought Asadki to his breaking point.
03:37Because in as much as there are many staffs,
03:41so the work, the load of the work will be less.
03:43But if there is less staff,
03:46definitely there will be much overload of work for many people,
03:50whereby stress will be higher.
03:53Saraki works at a retirement home in Hennef, Western Germany.
03:57Some months, he's on duty up to 20 days
03:59with shifts that require him to be up at 5 a.m.
04:03Even if I have a pre-day, sometime if I am free,
04:06so if someone falls sick, then you can receive a call.
04:11You understand that, please, you can come
04:13because so-so-so person is not there.
04:15Also, the salaries for nurses and care workers here
04:18are among the lowest in Western Europe.
04:20Despite the responsibility and pressure,
04:23compensation hasn't kept pace with inflation.
04:26That means many in the healthcare system
04:28are working more for less.
04:31And for Saraki, it's time to do something different.
04:34That is the reason which motivated me
04:38to obtain my bachelor's degree.
04:40So I'm hoping after an academy, that is attestation,
04:43so I'm switching to another profession.
04:46I am still in healthcare, but into management.
04:50Three journeys and three dreams.
04:52While Germany has a real need for healthcare workers,
04:56some like Jafar believe the country must do more
04:59to keep its healers.
05:04And the universe is a good way through the challenges.
05:10Now we are at the table like Jauer is a
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