February 24--  If you’ve had any surgical procedures in the last two years at Meadows Regional Medical Center, chances are you may have  been under the careful observation of Curt Peters, R.N., and if you had the opportunity to hear him speak, you probably thought, “He’s not from around here” — and you’d be right!
   
Peters is originally from the city of Durban in South Africa, but he’s one of the proudest and most patriotic Americans you’ll ever meet. And yes, he is an American citizen having gained his citizenship status just last year.
   
   
The Peters came to Vidalia after the college that his wife was working at in Clearwater, Florida, closed. She applied to jobs, and Brewton-Parker College was one of the first to respond. The family came for the interview, was embraced by the community and was impressed with their now home. Helene Peters was hired at BPC and is now the head of the Science and Math Department.

When the couple moved to Georgia, Curt enrolled in STC, but found out he’d have to redo all of his credits if he wanted to continue his education in nursing — which actually turned out to be a positive thing. Initially he was studying to be a Licensed Practical Nurse, but when he had to basically restart his education, he decided to go for the pentacle of being a Registered Nurse. He began nursing school in 2016 at STC. In 2017, he was selected as Southeastern Technical College’s Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership recipient.

He graduated from nursing school in 2017, passed his Board exams and was immediately hired at Meadows in the surgical department and says, “I’ve loved every minute of it!”

The Peters family has actually been in the United States since 2005 and lived in California. Curt studied at a Christian facility to become a mime, but as the economy began to tank, there wasn’t much work available for such a career.  When the college in Clearwater Florida hired and sponsored his wife’s VISA, he gave up his VISA so she could have one. That meant he couldn’t work in the United States so he was a stay-at-home father for almost 7 years and he was proud to care for the couple’s daughter and son and their home.

In 2014, he received both he and his wife obtained their green cards and he started looking for employment outside the home, but once again, no one wanted to hire a mime. That’s when he decided to study nursing while at the same time, taking employment at the local Walmart as a cashier. According to Curt, a green card must be kept for 5 years before applying for full citizenship of the United States, so after fulfilling those requirements, the petitioned to become U.S. Citizens, and in August of 2019 in a ceremony  in Charleston, Curt officially realized his dream.


Since both Curt and his wife obtained their citizenship and although their daughter was born in South Africa and considered a minor in the United States, she, too was granted citizenship. Their son was born in the United States in 2009 and even though he had yet to become a citizen, he always instilled in his son to be proud of being an American. He says he’s now proud to stand beside his son and recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag, and enjoys the pride in his heart as they both sing the National Anthem.

Peters said getting full citizenship was a bit expensive, and 14 years to obtain his citizens, but well worth it and something he’s very thankful for having done.


For more on this story, see next week’s Advance and the feature in a “Chat with Curt Peters.”