Miss Barbara Ashworth This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Rossendale Free Press - Medical missionary returns to her roots

   www.therossendalefreepress.co. - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/12/2005   Last Visited: 10/26/2005

   BARBARA ASHWORTH.
   ...
   BARBARA ASHWORTH.
   
   A WOMAN has returned to the Valley after leaving 28 years ago to follow her calling of becoming a medical missionary.
   
   Barbara Ashworth, 47, originally of Rawtenstall, has now re-settled in Haslingden.
   
   She left Rossendale at the tender age of 19 to embark on a career in nursing, which saw her spend 12 years helping some of the world's poorest people in Africa.
   
   Her adventure began in Harrogate where she trained and became a state certified midwife at York General Hospital; her involvement with mission organisation WEC International led her to volunteer for two years' service as a midwife in the African country of Zaire.
   
   The Free Press kept up with her during her time working in a mission hospital in Zaire, using extracts from the vivid letters she sent home to her father.
   
   Barbara, the daughter of the late Stanley and Betty Ashworth and sister of Ronald and Norman, then returned to England to complete further training and to learn French, before leaving once more for the Cote d'Ivoire, to work in some of the country's isolated villages.
   ...
   In 1999 the country became increasingly politically unstable and a military coup took place, forcing Barbara to return to England in 2001.
   
   She said: ‘In 2000 I had a very traumatic experience when our church was burned down; I was just thankful that I got out alive.
   
   ‘My home was also ransacked and the thieves wanted to burn the house down with me in it.
   
   ‘The African guardian who lived with us with his family said we had to get out, but I was so frightened.'
   
   Barbara somehow found the courage to walk past the six young men who were smashing up her kitchen and asked them to let her out, which they did.
   
   A committed Christian, she said she was drawn to her work in Africa by the challenge of giving up her comforts and helping the less fortunate.
   
   She said: ‘My father thought I was crazy at first, but once I got out there and he saw what I was doing he was proud.
   
   ‘The African people are so friendly and are more concerned about family and good relationships than possessions.'
   
   Barbara, who has spent the last three years working as a care assistant back in North Yorkshire, was left shaken by the experience, but says she would like to return if the country become stable and it was safe for her to do so.
   
   She now works as part of the regional team for WEC in the North West, based in Haslingden, where much of the media work is done.
   
   She said: ‘Working in Africa has been such a valuable experience, living in a different culture and learning to understand people from that culture has been very rewarding.'
   
   If anyone would like to hear more of Barbara's story they can e-mail her on barbara@ashworthb.fsnet.co.uk.

2. 2. Kay Street Baptist Church

   www.kaystreetbaptistchurch.co. - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/12/2004   Last Visited: 10/23/2005

   The speaker is Miss Barbara Ashworth of WEC.