Søster Helene. Foto: Nord-Troms museum.
Sister Helene
Helene Suleng, sister Helene, worked as a parish sister, and later as a health nurse in the large municipality of Lyngen (Storfjord, Kåfjord and Lyngen) in the period 1921-1949. Her ability to communicate with everyone made her highly valued. In 1959, Helene received the king’s merit medal for her work.
Helene Mateha Pedersen Suleng, Olderdalen (1890-1979)
You were with many and were not afraid,
if the northwest howled and the land wind howled.
Yes, the district was big, but you never failed.
You came when they called and helped where needed.
To Storfjord and Lyngen and Kåfjord you went.
And nurtured and comforted in all three languages.
In 1921 she was employed as a parish sister in Stor-Lyngen (Storfjord, Kåfjord, Lyngen until 1930), and later as a health nurse. The position was created at a time when tuberculosis, or the “white pest”, was ravaging, and it was absolutely necessary that the population was informed about hygienic conditions. Here Helene contributed and traveled around the municipality as a disinfectant. She saved the doctor from long journeys and the municipality from large transport costs.
Helene spoke both Sami, Finnish and Norwegian, and was therefore able to communicate well with everyone in the multicultural large municipality.
Sister Helene always brought a cloth and a bottle of 96% alcohol with her on her home visits. Everything she came in contact with was thoroughly washed. The same happened to all houses where infection of various kinds had been detected. Clothes and bed linen were taken out for airing and sunbathing, and the houses were thoroughly washed.
Helene was afraid of flying, but it happened that she had to assist mothers in labor who had to take a seaplane to Tromsø. Then she didn’t say no thanks to a glass of brandy before she got on the plane.
In 1959, Helene received the King’s Medal of Merit in silver for her efforts for the health system in the municipalities of Lyngen, Kåfjord and Storfjord.
Helene never got married. Although she lived alone in an apartment at Lyngseidet, it is said that there were always people around her.
Helene Suleng. Foto: Nord-Troms museum
Helene soleng m.fl. Foto: Nord-Troms museum.
Søster Helene mottar kongens fortjenestemedalje i 1959. Foto: Nord-Troms museum.
The newspaper “Tromsø” 10 October 1945
Sister Helene Suleng, Lyngseidet, can celebrate her 25th anniversary as a Sanitation Sister in Lyngen. An old saying says; No one becomes a prophet in his own town, but Sister Helene has been a saving angel for many sick people in her own home town for these 25 years. She has an unwavering mood, and a practiced hand to care for the sick, always joking and with a good mood, she is loved by both the healthy and the sick.
Sister Helene started as a nurse quite young for about 10 years before Lyngen was divided, she also had to serve both Kåfjord and Storfjord, so she had to be on the move at all times, when other young people went to parties and dances she sat and watched the night over the sick. In storm and snow as well as sun and summer, she had to help the sick
In recent years, she has also acted as a midwife and has welcomed many newborns.
Sister Helene has been modest in her demands, she has sacrificed herself for the sick and forgotten herself, which is why she sits alone in a small dormitory.
Hyllest til Søster Helene Suleng.