Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5971/-1/135/
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SDA Church Awards Nurses, Sanitary Personnel
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The three congregations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Anguilla held a combined Appreciation Day Service at the Mount Fortune Church at East End on May 17, at which Nurses, Nursing Aids, Sanitation Workers and Solid Waste Companies were honoured for their contribution to the island’s health and environment services.
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Pastors Philip and Hastings (centre) and other platform personnel
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“It is with a tremendous amount of joy that the Seventh-day Adventist Church welcomes you today,” Pastor Danny Philip told the large congregation. “We are very delighted and thankful for the contribution that the Nurses and Sanitary Engineers are making to Anguilla; and so we have invited you to come to this special service where we can recognise your contribution and trust that God will continue to bless your services.”
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Government Officials and Health personnel
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In addition to the Nurses and Sanitary Personnel in attendance, were Chief Minister and member of the Church, Osbourne Fleming, his three Ministerial colleagues, Victor Banks, Kenneth Harrigan (another SDA member), Evan Rogers, Parliamentary Secretary, Albert Hughes, Opposition Member, Hubert Hughes and Director of Medical Services, Dr. Kennedy Simmonds.
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The Nurses Chorale in song with candles
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Minister of Social Development, Evan Rogers, expressed thanks and appreciation to the health workers for their invaluable contribution and the important role they play in the health and wellbeing of the Anguilla community. “I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of you for the invaluable service you have given this country. Special thanks to the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist Church and the community for this noble gesture of hosting this Appreciation Service,” he said.
The Government Minister continued: “Nurses and Sanitation Engineers have long been, and continue to be, the heart and soul of health in this country. They offer support and provide assistance in every step of the health-care process. Every minute of every day, somewhere across the world, a nurse tries his or her very best to ease pain and suffering of persons. They offer smiles or lend an ear which makes a difference in the patients’ lives.
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Nurses and members of the congregation
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“Their dedication and hard work, their professionalism and compassion, play a pivotal role in ensuring the delivery of high quality health services, not only in Anguilla, but throughout the world…Sanitary Engineers play a very critical role with regards to the public health sector.” Mr. Rogers added that Nurses and Sanitary Engineers often encounter a number of complex challenges in a wide range of clinical and environmental settings and there was therefore a need for their services to be widely recognised and appreciated.
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Chief Minister presenting gift to Nurse
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Youth Director with the North Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Wilmoth James, wondered what the world would be like without Nurses to offer nursing health care and Sanitary Engineers to remove solid waste and other garbage thereby contributing to a clean and healthy environment. He offered them ‘a hearty thank you’ for their work on behalf of the Church, all the people of Anguilla and visitors to the island who benefit from their services. He called on all young people to emulate their fine example of service.
Speaking on behalf of Lynette Rogers, President of the Nurses Association, who is recuperating from an illness, Nurse Alecia Haywood said that Nurses in Anguilla and around the world had been observing Nurses Week and that the Appreciation Service was well appreciated by the island’s health-care workers. She noted that their professional roles and responsibilities appeared to be often unappreciated but they were not deterred from rendering a high level of service at all times. “We will continue to make changes in our professional practice which allow others to see the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the service we offer patients, their family and the community in which they live,” she pledged.
At the start of his sermon, Pastor Philip said that the Seventh-day Adventist Church believed that it (the Church) must be a very important part of the community. He noted that last year the Church held an Appreciation Service for Teachers and had decided to have a similar one for the Health Workers. During his sermon he touched on various matters relating to service to humanity, its importance to all persons and the need to thank nurses who provide health care and Sanitation Workers and Engineers who remove solid waste in the various communities.
Following the sermon, the Pastor called on Chief Minister Fleming and Minister of Social Development, Evan Rogers, to distribute gifts of appreciation to Nurses with 20 or more years of service; Minister of Finance, Victor Banks, to make presentations to Nurses and Nurses Aids with less than 20 years; and Mr. Hubert Hughes to present gifts to Sanitary Workers and representatives of Solid Waste Companies.