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Erika Sutter : seen with other eyes : memories of a Swiss eye doctor in rural South Africa / told by Gertrud Stiehle ; with a foreword by Mamphela Ramphele ; and a preface and one chapter by Frances Lund ; translated by Anu Lannen ; edited by J. M. Jenkins.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Stiehle, Gertrud, 1936- author.
- Ramphele, Mamphela, author of introduction, etc.
- Lund, Frances, author of introduction, etc.
- Series:
- Lives, legacies, legends ; 10.
- Lives, Legacies, Legends, 1660-9638 ; 10
- Standardized Title:
- Erika Sutter -- Mit anderen Augen gesehen. English
- Language:
- English
- German
- Subjects (All):
- Sutter, Erika.
- Ophthalmologists--Switzerland--Biography.
- Ophthalmologists.
- Ophthalmologists--South Africa--Biography.
- Anti-apartheid activists--South Africa--Biography.
- Anti-apartheid activists.
- Anti-apartheid activists--Switzerland--Biography.
- Missionaries, Medical--South Africa--Biography.
- Missionaries, Medical.
- Missionaries, Medical--Switzerland--Biography.
- Missions, Medical--South Africa--Elim (Limpopo).
- Missions, Medical.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (ix, 124 pages ) illustrations ;
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Basel, Switzerland : Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2013.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- The Swiss ophthalmologist Erika Sutter was born in Basel in 1917. She spent 32 years working in Elim Hospital, founded by the Swiss Mission in an impoverished rural area in North-Eastern South Africa. Together with her African colleague and friend, Selina Maphorogo, she founded the Care Groups, village self-help groups working for better health in their communities. The movement is still active after more than 30 years, and now has around 2, 000 members, mostly women, in over 200 villages. Erika Sutter has received numerous international honours and awards for her pioneering work, including the award Woman of the Year in 1984 from the South African newspaper The Star, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel. For the creation of this biography, Erika Sutter spent many hours with the author, her friend Gertrud Stiehle, telling the story of her long life vividly, with a sharp eye for social issues, a hint of self-irony, and dry wit. Her account does not ignore events in the wider world. She experienced life on the Swiss-German border during the Second World War, and her years of working in South Africa were those when the apartheid policies of the South African Government were becoming more and more repressive, affecting many aspects of life in the country.
- Contents:
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Contents
- A healer and torch bearer
- Preface
- In lieu of an introduction: Immersing myself in the life of Erika Sutter
- I. The Roots
- II. Childhood and Adolescence
- A happy time: Early childhood years in Basel and holidays in Valais
- Paradise was in Troistorrents
- The youngest
- School days
- A conflict-laden adolescence
- III. University Studies duringWorld War II and starting in a profession
- The challenge of choosing a career
- Studying during turbulent times
- Not quite as planned: the start of professional life
- Two unmarried daughters set up house on the Spalenberg
- Life during the Second World War
- IV. Preparing for Africa
- First contact with the mission
- A circuitous route leads to a successful plunge
- Two happy years in Sweden
- A decision, and a second contact with the mission
- Final preparations and departure
- V. The Path to Ophthalmology
- Settling down in Elim
- The laboratory - a long working day
- Nationalisation of the schools: the spread of "Bantu Education"
- A new challenge: Medical School in Johannesburg
- The year of residency
- Specializing in ophthalmology
- VI. Head of the Eye Hospitalin Elim
- Returning to Elim as a doctor
- Her own home with a garden
- Making music in the mission setting
- Vacation and more training
- Language - understanding - communication
- Stories about spectacles
- Apartheid and forced resettlement
- Apartheid and Christianity
- Working and living in South Africa under apartheid
- New possibilities open up: a second ophthalmologist in Elim
- The School for the Diploma in Ophthalmic Nursing
- The Eye Doctor's own eye problems
- VII. The most meaningful years in Erika's life: The Care Groups
- Community eye health - the development of the Care Groups
- Leadership and being a leader.
- Health education based on what people know
- Managing time and people
- Finding support
- Voluntary work
- The repressive political environment
- Ubuntu: People are a gold mine
- VIII. Retirement and the return to Basel
- Preparations for retirement
- The grand departure from Elim
- The return to Basel, and new contacts
- Passing on knowledge and experience
- Experiences with apartheid, seen from afar - and the beginning of change
- New horizons
- Honours
- Drawing strength from family
- Limited time, and thoughts of death
- IX. A final look back and forward
- A conversation between Erika Sutter (E) and Gertrud Stiehle (G)
- Illustrations
- Bibliography
- Back cover.
- Notes:
- Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
- Includes bibliographical references.
- Description based on print version record.
- ISBN:
- 9783905758474
- 3905758474
- OCLC:
- 908063354
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