Inspired by her keen interest in the American Indian--their traditions, holistic approach to healing, dignity, and pride--Sheila Parks will spend five weeks as a Nurse Practitioner on an Indian reservation in South Dakota before returning to the nursing faculty at Bluefield State College this semester.
Parks (R.N., M.S.N.), an associate professor of nursing at BSC, and her sister Marvella Lawhorn, an LPN at Columbia Raleigh General Hospital, will provide volunteer health care for the Oglala Lakota Sioux Indians at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Kyle, SD. This marks the third consecutive summer Parks has served as a volunteer in the program, sponsored by Arrow, Inc., a nonprofit organization established to assist in providing health care for Native Americans.
"We will work at the Kyle Health Center (a primary care clinic) on the Pine Ridge Reservation," Parks said. "There is only one hospital to serve the 21,000 Sioux on the reservation."
"Many of the Sioux must do without water and electricity," she observed. Parks will be returning to the site where, in 1996, she provided health care for the Oglala Lakota Sioux. "The need for help there is very great," she observed. "There are very significant differences in cultural values. I hope to become a little more involved with the culture and, maybe, go on some home visits this time."
"I'm being welcomed back with open arms and am very much looking forward to returning. It's almost like going home," she said. "A common phrase used by the Lakota, 'mitakuye oyasin,' means we are all related," she continued. "I wish everyone could identify with this philosophy. The Native Americans are truly a wonderful people. Their philosophy of life can teach us so much."
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