NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (November 04, 2014) —Celebrating the elderly should be a daily activity and not just for a day, a week or a month. That view was expressed by Deputy Premier of Nevis and Minister of Health Hon. Mark Brantley. He was at the time delivering remarks at a recent celebration of residents of the Flamboyant Nursing Home hosted by the management and staff.

 

The theme for the occasion was “Somebody MUST do it.” The event was attended by other officials of the Ministry of Health, family, friends and well-wishers of the residents.

 

“For me, the celebration of the elderly is not just a week, it’s not just a month. It is every day, all day and we must remember to thank them for their contribution. 

 

“We must remember to thank them and remember, that what we enjoy today is as a result of their hard work and efforts that they have made and so now, it’s perhaps our time to give something back and it is our time to show them our appreciation, to demonstrate to them as a government and as a people, we recognise their contributions and we now appreciate and accept the responsibility to take care of them,” he said

 

The Minister referred to the adage of “once a man, twice a child” and said no matter one’s status he would not be left behind where care was concerned on Nevis.

 

“’Once a man, twice a child,’ We must and continue to be an island people that demonstrates no individual, whatever their situation, whatever their age, their sex, their creed, whatever their capacity or even incapacity, no individual will be left behind in this society that is Nevis.

 

“We have called and continue to call for a kinder, gentler society. I am here to say that here at the Flamboyant Home, the people who are here to deliver care, quality care, 365 days a year are demonstrating in words and in deed, that kinder, gentler society that we all wish to become,” he said.

 

Mr. Brantley expressed his gratitude for the work of the management and staff of the Flamboyant Nursing Home and was pleased the facility had an open-door policy.

 

“I am thankful that you continue to emphasise that the home here is always open, that people can come and visit. You need not have anyone here to come and visit or read a story or just spend a little time,” he said.

 

The Minister Health Minister reminded all that the NIA was all about caring for the people of Nevis.

 

“At the end of the day, we are in the business of people and this is necessary to take care of people and to demonstrate to them, in every tangible way, that they matter, that they continue to matter and no matter what happens, our people must always be at the forefront of policy, at the of forefront of development, all development. All will make sense if it is people-centred,” he said.

 

Mr. Brantley pledged the Ministry’s continued support for the home and urged the public to do likewise.

 

“I pledge certainly, Nurse Sutton, that from the Ministry’s perspective, the Flamboyant Home will continue to be an integral part of what you do, in terms of overall care of our people from cradle to the next life. We have to ensure that our people receive the very best care that is available. ‘Somebody must do it.’ That is the theme and that ‘somebody’ is not just the people who work at the Flamboyant Home. That ‘somebody’ is you and me. That ‘somebody’ must be all of us caring for those who have given us so much and who now find themselves in a situation where we must now give something back.

 

“Let us take care of them. Let us honour them. Let us cherish them. Let us demonstrate to them how important they are to us as a society and let us never forget that those who may now be here, those who may be in our homes, in our communities and our villages, that they, at one point, stood where we now stand as the caregivers, as the breadwinners, as a people who made what we now enjoy in this little island possible,” he said.

 

Other remarks came from Manager at the Flamboyant Nursing Home Ena Sutton and Matron at the Alexandra Hospital Aldris Pemberton-Dias.