VEIL ON MY HEAD SYMBOLIZES MY PURITY BEFORE ALMIGHTY ALLAH

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.