Hope and Helping Hands
BB Imaging sonographer shares her experience working as a doctor and serving refugee women while living in Pakistan. Her life highlights compassion and strength and we hope she inspires more to overcome hardship and contribute to making the world a better place.
In October of 2018, Ayesha Rauf began her journey with BB Imaging as a sonographer after spending most of her life in Pakistan.
Ayesha was educated and trained as a doctor in Pakistan. She worked tirelessly with refugee women in camps alongside a non-governmental organization (NGO). The NGOs employ local professionals like Ayesha to carry out their already established programs in countries with high female refugee populations like Pakistan. She worked across programs to address women's issues such as reproductive health, awareness of vaccination, childcare, family planning, and hygiene.
A few years ago, Ayesha decided to move to the United States for safety reasons including a terrorist attack in Pakistan. Soon after Ayesha arrived, she knew she wanted to utilize her skills and knowledge of medicine, which led her to sonography. Although working in the Maternal-Fetal Medicine field is different from her work in Pakistan, Ayesha can use her training as a physician to recognize diseases and conditions that affect pregnancies. She can care for her high-risk patients accordingly. Knowing how to assess and treat this specific group of patients is a benefit Ayesha feels she has carried from her previous career. The work itself might be different for her, but patient care is the same.
Ayesha felt empathy and compassion when working with the refugees. Women were rendered helpless and distinctly disadvantaged. She appreciated the opportunity to work with people whose needs were significant and help them in any way she could. Still, the lack of necessary supplies to provide care often left Ayesha angry and frustrated.
"The lack of basic health care facilities in the camps lead to complications in childbirth and pregnancies,” Rauf said. “The perinatal mortality and morbidity in those camps were very high."
In addition to providing medical care Ayesha took on a mentorship role in the refugee camps, becoming a confidant for the women who had gone through physical and sexual abuse.
"My job required a high level of care, confidentiality, compassion, and competency," Rauf said.
Passion is something that can be beneficial to all healthcare workers; for Ayesha, her drive comes from the interactions and relationships she formed with the women while working in Pakistan. Being a female doctor allowed her to help women when they needed it most.
“Due to the cultural norms, these women would not even speak to a male doctor,” she said.
Elated, Ayesha said the NGOs' work in Pakistan helped lower the perinatal mortality rate. Within a year, they were able to successfully perform deliveries in a labor room in one of their clinics.
“Every day I spent at the camps increased my desire to help,” she said.
Ayesha is not only knowledgeable but also full of love and compassion. She held the hands of women who experienced violence and did what she could to help them through their trauma, including reducing the physical and emotional impact when possible. When asked why this work is so important to her, Ayesha mentioned the BB Imaging mission statement, "We believe serving the underserved is not just good for business but good for our greater human community."
Ayesha's mission is to continue to help and serve those who need "something extra." Over a year into her BBI journey, Ayesha is an MFM sonographer following her passion and using her experience as strengths for her future.
If you would like to help refugee women, you may make a donation to the International Medical Corps (IMC) https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/ or EDHI foundation https://edhi.org/. Both organizations are in Pakistan and would benefit from any monetary donations.