The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation

By Ovundah Nyeche.

Some people are giants by nature of their stature, while others are by the size of their hearts and deeds. Decades ago when the Scots-American Clergyman Peter Marshall penned that “The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation” he may have been talking about Dr. Alinnor Ezioma a Senior Registrar in the department of Paediatrics, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State.

Perhaps her passion for taking care of sick children and for helping out adolescents who are usually at a crossroads during this phase of their lives when they are easily misunderstood by people around them drove her into the field of Paediatrics.

Hospital admissions are usually scary for children and there are growing evidence that environmental modification has a great impact in patient experience and health outcomes. While these are written in papers, many government paediatrics hospitals in this regards beg for attention.

And like is said in local parlance “government work, no be your papa work”, and usually it is hoped that the hospital, department or well-meaning individuals can do something about this.

Dr. Alinnor like everyone knew the Children Medical wards and the Special care baby unit which houses preterms and neonates needed refurbishment, and when no help was forthcoming she decided to take the bold step to make her work space look pleasant enough to encourage health staff in their already stressful job as well as the innocent children who had come in for treatment through no fault of theirs and deserved a warm and friendly environment in which to recuperate.

By the time she sat down to calculate how much it would cost to make her dream a reality, the enormity of the task almost weighed her down. Who would she call? She summoned courage to call on family and friends who were always willing to assist her indigent patients who could not pay their hospital bills. And surprisingly, they all willingly started sending in donations in cash and in kind and this spurred her on.

By the time her dreams came true, the wards were painted with warm, bright and attractive colours. Wall papers were put in place to decorate the area carved out as a sitting/play area for children with tables, chairs, television sets and teddy bears. Bed screens were also bought for the wards

Plumbing work was done with repairs and replacement of wash hand basins, taps, broken tiles and installation of a 100 Litre water heater. The mosquito nets on all the windows in the children wards were also replaced.

The Special care baby unit also smiled as curtains and bed linens were bought and put in place.  New scrubs were made for the doctors and nurses.

In the words of Dr Alinnor “If we all can make our little spaces more habitable instead of waiting for the government, maybe this world will be a happier place.” Dr Alinnor is also the wife of a loving and caring husband, mother and a seasoned baker.

Take a bow Dr Alinnor, you are the #HearWord woman of the year. This is truly worthy of commendation and emulation, God bless you.

This is also to say a big thank you for everyone that made this happen.

Keep doing good. #Letsdomore

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