Doctor Beatrice served Mistissini from 1984 to 1997. She is now leaving the community. At her good-bye party in an emotion-packed speech she told Mistissini residents she felt like she was leaving family. She remembered when the latest clinic was built she thought it was so large but said today it’s too small. Evidence that Mistissini is growing.
Doctor Beatrice pointed out that when she first arrived the clinic was run by non-Crees. Today that has changed.
She praised Elizabeth Gunner-Iserhoff and the rest of the staff saying they run the clinic to suit the people they serve. The doctor went on to say that she enjoyed every moment she spent with the Crees and that she learned many lessons from them. She learned patience and to observe before speaking. The value she felt was most important was learning about forgiveness.
She said she worked in many countries and with many peoples but had never met a people with such a high level of forgiveness. During healing sessions she attended she said while people may not have agreed with the wrong action they still forgave the person responsible so the healing could begin. She went on to name all the people she wanted to thank. There are too many to mention in The Nation but trust us you were mentioned!
