Lots of love as Friends light up tree

President of Friends, Claudia Ottley, was overwhelmed by the “love and more love” which has been shown in the face of the country’s drastic economic downturn. Thus, the organisation started 38 years ago by the late hospital administrators - May Cherrie and Dr David Quamina - is able to continue with its ideals “to work along with the nurses to improve the quality of patient care.

“This worked well in the beginning,” said Ottley.

“We assisted and the patients benefited but with the introduction of personal care assistants we were not needed.” And, says Ottley, “In spite of the lack of finance, I will continue to tie many shoes on a short shoestring budget.” What a fantastic ceremony with a guest list headed by the Minister of Health, Dr Terrance Deyalsingh; hospital director Dr Parkinson, CEO Northwest Regional Health Authority Sheldon Cyrus; Zalayhar Hassanali, patron of Friends; and Canon Dr Steve West at the head table. The Regiment Band played “O Christmas Tree” at the time of the switching on of the Christmas tree lights on the huge tree standing in the central forecourt by the patron, guests having enthusiastically taken part in the “Countdown to turning on the switch” led by Francois Ottley, who truly kept the programme alive as chairperson.

There were expressions of surprise as the minister let the nurses know that he tries to visit a hospital on every public holiday, be it Eid, Divali, or Christmas Day when on Sunday 25 he will show support and solidarity with health care workers with visits at 9 am to the PoS Central Block, 10 am PoS Maternity and then Mount Hope Maternity. Referring to the tree, the minister very wisely quoted: “He who hath not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree,” and brought applause as he ended, “We are not in a good place but many countries wish they were in our place.” Ottley (Claudia) gave a quick rundown on Friends through the years going back to “a trolley service to sell much needed toiletries etc to patients; we managed the paediatric ward for years until it was moved to Mt Hope Medical Sciences Complex; the prayer group continues to be a source of encouragement and hope to patients; most of our outreach is with fellow NGO’s and elderly sick members and we are happy to do this as they have served selflessly.

“Our cafeteria provides a variety of items ranging from lunches to popcorn on a daily basis. We do floral arrangements for all the wards at Easter time and the supreme sacrifice of giving a care bag to each patient on Christmas morning when members leave their families to bring cheer to patients and staff on duty with the bag and parang/Christmas songs – unfortunately in 2016 we have to break tradition after 37 years due to financial constraints we cannot do this project.

“But we plan to be back in 2017 and are apologising upfront for the no show. Friends make a sterling contribution to the Medical Social Workers Department by disbursing cheques from Republic Bank Ltd to medical providers for needy patients.Transparency is the order of the day and annual audited accounts have been provided for 35 years.” The music was a mixture of Christmas and other songs. The Regiment band, which came at short notice, as usual provided wonderful music so too did saxophonist Trevor Callender, who has played with the Police Band in the Cayman Islands; powerful soloists Raymond Edwards and Nigel Floyd; Marilyn Williams wrapped us in “ribbons of love” with her powerful voice; and it’s not Christmas without a parang presentation, this time by Los Alumnos de San Juan beautifully gowned in red and white as they followed tradition and sang first asking for permission to enter, followed by the story of their song, ending with farewell.

Tributes to awardees from president of Friends and also floral presentations to those who never say “No” to Friends; an assortment of refreshments and the 35th tree lighting ceremony closed with guests chipping to the Regiment Band’s rendition of “No Christmas on Sesame Street” THE National Youth Action Committee (NYAC) has announced the finalists for the 2017 Stars of Tomorrow competition, which will be held on January 14, 2017, at Daaga Hall, UWI St Augustine.

The finalists are: Aneka Collins, Curlissa Charles, Ezekiel Yorke, Garve Sandy, Jhevon Jackson, Keishon Jack, Kerine Williams- Figaro, Kevin Dodds, Kyle Cowie, Mark Eastman, Meguella Simon, Natasha Edmund, Nicholas Ashby, Sasha Ann Moses and Wendell Goodridge. All finalists are asked to contact NYAC offices, 40 Duke Street, Port-of-Spain, Tel: 6235470, immediately.