Alice Zoe Johnson, Personal Support Worker, “There’s no ‘can’t’ in this country. Once you apply the effort there’s always help somewhere.”

Alice Zoe Johnson had been in Canada two weeks when she helped save somebody’s life. 
It was 2005 and she, her husband and three children had arrived as refugees after fleeing their war-torn home country of Liberia where Alice had worked as a nurse. 
Seeking familiarity in their new country, the family was at Trinity Lutheran Church in downtown London when a man collapsed. 
Alice rushed over and did CPR until emergency services arrived.
They would learn later that he had suffered a mini-stroke. And to this day, when he sees her, the man thanks Alice for coming to his rescue 15 years ago. 
“I was kind of honoured to do that,” says Alice, who now works as a personal support worker (PSW) in London, while finishing her fourth year of a degree in family studies at Brescia University College. 
But that day in 2005 wasn’t the first time she had helped save a life. 
Alice did three years training as a nurse in Liberia, where she worked before fleeing the country’s civil war to a refugee camp in Ghana. Once there, she continued to work as a nurse. Though there were never enough resources – the camp had one ambulance for 75,000 people –  Alice and the other health practitioners worked tirelessly to help their community members. One shift could include delivering babies, stitching wounds, tend to brutal burns and dealing with diarrhea outbreaks.
Because she arrived in Canada without any educational documents, there were many barriers between herself and a nursing career here. 
But that hasn’t stopped her from working in health care.
She has worked as a PSW in nursing homes as well as home-care since shortly after immigrating. 
She has had two children since moving to London, served as president of the Liberian women’s organization of Canada, volunteered at the London Food Bank and she and her husband support each other to pursue their educational and career goals. 
Alice says she likes to encourage other newcomers to take advantage of English-as-a-Second-Language classes and never give up on opportunity in Canada. 
“There’s no ‘can’t’ in this country. Once you apply the effort there’s always help somewhere,” she says.
These days, as a frontline worker who continues to do homecare during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alice says she is thankful to be working with people in need. 
“I like the interaction with the residents and giving them quality time,” she says. “I love it and I know they love it. As soon as I walk in, they’re happy.”