Speech of one of our sisters during her Cap and Badge Ceremony:
Composed By: Warina Sushil A. Jukuy
Bismillahir Rahmani Rahiim
In the Name of
Almighty God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalamu alaykum
wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuhu..
What can be more beautiful and perfect than
the universal greetings for all mankind….. The Peace of Almighty GOD, His Mercy
and His Blessings be upon us all today….
Let me salute and
honor the presence of the people who do the “dirty job” of maintaining the
sanitation, system, and order of this institution…from the security,
maintenance staff and crew; our beloved parents who struggle and sacrifice for
the sake of our dreams, our academic mentors, advisers, and coordinators;
faculty and administration…. And..of course… the our College Dean _______ and
our President and _______ of this institution _____________, fellow nursing
colleagues, ladies and gentlemen….. GOOD AFTERNOON.
I do not want to commit the
crime of stealing your time and putting you to sleep against your wishes. I
must tell you that I am required to deliver a 15-20 minutes speech. I am
questioning my ability now: Can I hold your attention for that long? I wonder.
That remains to be seen.
Thus, I divide my speech into
three brief parts: expressing my thanks to Florence Nightingale, sharing my
sacrifices, and envisioning my aspiration and inspiration.
Alhamdulillaah! All praise is
due to Almighty God and I thank Him for giving to us the LADY OF THE LAMP FLORENCE
NIGHTINGALE, the pioneer of this noble profession..NURSING; and by stroke of
FATE AND DESTINY.. she was a woman who lived up to ninety! (90) She was born
188 years ago on May 12, 1820 and died on August 13, 1910….. one hundred years
ago!
Florence Nightingale is most remembered as a
pioneer of nursing and a reformer of hospital sanitation methods. Cynthia
Audain, Class of 1998 of
Agnes Scott College wrote:
Named after the City of her
Birth, Florence Nightingale's two greatest life achievements--pioneering of nursing
and the reform of hospitals--were amazing considering that most Victorian women
of her age group did not attend universities or pursue professional careers. It
was her father, William Nightingale, who
believed women, especially his children, should get an education. So Nightingale and her sister learned
Italian, Latin, Greek, history, and mathematics. She in particular received
excellent early preparation in mathematics from her father and aunt, and was
also tutored in mathematics by James Sylvester. In 1854, after a year as a
unpaid superintendent of a London "establishment for gentlewomen during
illness," the Secretary of War, Sidney Herbert, recruited Nightingale and
38 nurses for service in Scutari during the Crimean War.
Unknown to many, however, was
Florence Nightingale’s use of new techniques of statistical analysis, such as
during the Crimean War when she plotted the incidence of preventable deaths in
the military. She developed the "polar-area diagram" to dramatize the
needless deaths caused by unsanitary conditions and the need for reform. With
her analysis, Florence Nightingale revolutionized the idea that social
phenomena could be objectively measured and subjected to mathematical analysis.
She was an innovator in the collection, tabulation, interpretation, and
graphical display of descriptive statistics.
Florence Nightingale also developed a Model Hospital Statistical Form for hospitals to
collect and generate consistent data and statistics. She became a Fellow of the Royal Statistical
Society in 1858 and an
honorary member of the American Statistical Association in 1874. Karl Pearson acknowledged
Nighingale as a "prophetess" in the development of applied
statistics.
Nightingale's hospital visits
began in 1844 and continued for eleven years. She spent the winter and spring
of 1849-50 in Egypt with family friends; on the journey from Paris she met two
St. Vincent de Paul sisters who gave her an introduction to their convent at
Alexandria. Nightingale saw that the disciplined and
well-organised Sisters made better nurses than women in England . Between
31 July to 13 August 1850, Nightingale made her first visit to the Institute of
Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth. The institute had been founded for the
care of the destitute in 1833 and had grown into a training school for women
teachers and nurses. Her visit convinced Nightingale of the possibilities of
making nursing a vocation for ladies. In 1851 she spent four months at
Kaiserswerth, training as a sick nurse. When she returned home, she undertook
more visits to London hospitals; in the autumn of 1852 she inspected hospitals
in Edinburgh and Dublin . In 1853 she accepted her first administrative post
when she became superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen.
Nightingale offered her
services to the War Office on 14 October but her friend Sidney Herbert — the
Secretary for War — already had written to her, suggesting that she should go
out to the Crimea .
Thus, Nightingale embarked for the Crimea on 21 October
with thirty-eight nurses: ten
Roman Catholic Sisters, eight Anglican Sisters of Mercy, six nurses from St. John's Institute,
and fourteen from various hospitals; Mr. and Mrs. Bracebridge, also went with
her.
Sisters, nuns! Take note, ladies and gentlemen, the
pioneering women nurses wore veils, habits and were veiled, as much as Florence
The Lady With The Lamp was wearing a veil on her head and dressed in a gown and
apron! Subhanallaah! This
is similar to hijab wearing or veiled Muslim ladies and women… like I am…look
at me please… just like me…like I do…. Clad in my pure white uniform and my cap
and apron…and a veil on my head symbolizing my purity BEFORE ALMIGHTY GOD….just
like the Immaculate Virgin Mary…. Sitti Mariam to us Muslims.
Alhamdulillaah! I sincerely thank the broad
mindedness of this instituton and the faculty who granted me this privilege
speech so I can wear my hijab during this auspicious ceremonial capping and
pinning today. Never
mind if a cap perched on my hijab covered head would make me look like a Ninja
Turtle. I dont care!
I along with the rest of you and the entire nursing
academe as well as nursing professionals can resonate with Florence and
the pioneering nursing forces during the historical wars, how they have labored
and toiled, how they have suffered and sacrificed for the sake of humanity and
above all for the sake of Almighty GOD.
Like us, they sacrificed precious hours to be with loved
ones and families in the name of nurturing the SICK amidst deplorable
conditions of poor sanitation, scarcity of food and drink, amidst a violent and
horrendous bloody war. We are still lucky, we will be paid in dollars if we
pass the board exams and be an OFW and we were to join the government
labor force as paid employees BUT the pioneering nurses were UNPAID. It
was indeed a NOBLE and PURE Profession for heroines like them.
This is the inspiration that must smolder and burn in our
hearts to care for the sick whether Filipinos or not---- without prejudice or
discrimination.
I must articulate today my sacrifice…my own and co-owned
by my parents and the whole Islamic Ummah…. To be able to pursue a nursing
career…. I am endangered and threatened. Why? My hijab or veil is being
regarded offensive and unsanitary by hospital institutions….and there is no one
to protect me apart from Allaah except my INSTITUTION in the name of human
dignity and liberty.
My hijab is a covering of my private parts because since
puberty I have not expose my awrat … excepting my face and my hands…all are
considered PRIVATE PARTS…if I expose my ears, my neck or my HAIR… it is as if I
am walking naked! That is the consequence of depriving me of my hijab.
I have told you that FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE was a reformist
and an innovator far ahead of her age and century ---one huindred eighty eight
years ago; she did not---with all due respect and begging for your
indulgence--- she did not order the use of nursing caps back then…she herself
was covered from her hair down to the length of her ankles.
It is 2008 now. We must start to be liberal and tolerant
by understanding our multi-diversity as peoples and by respecting each other’s
right to the exercise of religion---which is a substantive right--- not
conferred by any human law--- but these rights have sprung out by the moment we
were born.
Ladies and gentlemen…nursing profession back then was not
about money; not about dollars, not about dinars, not about euro or riyals! It
is essentially about caring for the sick and those who are wounded and injured
soldiers, combatants, civilians, elederly, women and men, the young and the
old..most especially vulnerable children.
Nursing is not about caps! IT IS NOT ABOUT CAPS OR PINS!
It is more than that. Nursing is one of the many FACES of
LOVE, MERCY, AND COMPASSION. It is about HEALING humanity. Just like
patriotism, it is NOT ABOUT FLAGS AND CONSTITUTION…… it is about PEACE, LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.
When dignity of mankind
is at stake the caps, pins, flags, and constitution must not prevail…… dignity
of mankind must prevail at all times….this is the essence of the principles of
human justice.
Together let our dreams..the young generation--- be your
dreams! We thank GOD for you our parents who have dreamed our dreams with us
every step of the way. We thank GOD for our institution and the humane
educators behind it who struggle with us so that our dreams and the dreams
of our parents will cease
to become a mere elusive dream but will ultimately turn into reality.
INSHAALLAH.
AGAIN: Let me salute and honor the presence of the people
who do the “dirty job” of maintaining the sanitation, system, and order of this
institution…from the security, maintenance staff and crew; our beloved parents
who struggle and sacrifice for the sake of our dreams, our academic mentors,
advisers, and coordinators; faculty and administration…. And..of course… the
our College Dean _______ and our President and _______ of this institution _____________,
fellow nursing colleagues, ladies and gentlemen….. GOOD AFTERNOON.
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuhu…..
What can be more beautiful and perfect than
the universal greetings for all mankind….. The Peace of Almighty GOD, His Mercy
and His Blessings be upon us all today….
THANK YOU…THANK YOU SO MUCH.
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