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Knowing from Experience

Maya Saito is both a mother and a nurse. And through her experiences in both roles, she is all too familiar with the road families travel when they stop at the Ronald McDonald House in Tochigi, Japan. Maya knows because she walked the same path and is now the House manager.

Maya’s daughter Maria was born with a serious heart condition and had cardiac surgery only days after being born. For four weeks, Maya slept on a cot next to her daughter in the hospital, miles from home. Maya’s husband made the trip back and forth from the hospital, and the couple’s eldest daughter remained at home with her grandmother.

“Maria is healthy now,” Maya says. “Although there were so many dark days while Maria was sick, there were also good things that came out of it. My daughter’s illness deepened the relationship with my family. We went through a hard time together, and we learned the value of family.”

Familiarity Makes Perfect Fit

As a nurse, Maya was in charge of the pediatric unit at Jichi Medical University Hospital in Tochigi for 11 years. She knows how to navigate the often-confusing health system, how to advocate for patients and families, and what families go through when their child is hospitalized.

When RMHC Japan opened a Ronald McDonald House in September 2006, in Tochigi, Maya knew it was where she belonged. As a mother who experienced a child’s illness and as a seasoned health professional, working at the Ronald McDonald House was the perfect fit, so she switched jobs. “I want to help support families because I know they are lonely, frightened and enduring the most difficult journey of their lives,” she says.

With the help of more than 150 volunteers, Maya tries to provide families the warmth of home. She manages the Ronald McDonald House so it is a relaxing, comfortable retreat from the hospital. “I think the House manager is almost a mother for the families,” Maya says. “When a family isn’t sure where to turn, I help show them the way.”

A Ronald McDonald House isn’t just a place near the hospital where families can sleep and eat. “The House provides the families with the physical and emotional support they need to be strong for their child,” Maya says. “In turn, it is through the support of their families that children can recover from their illnesses.”

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