Validictory Speech
By Ms Harriet Karimi, Class of 2013 (Mombasa)
Ladies and Gentlemen
This is one of the best days in my life which I believe my fellow graduates would echo the same words. This is a crucial day and great honour to our almighty God who has with much effort taken us through arriving at this special day, the day which we celebrate, shine with joy, walk with dignity and dance in achievements.
Fellow graduates, i stand here today, running total short of words to say, this is due to the joy and jubilation i feel to stand before you to present this speech on behalf of 2010 Aga Khan university class.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a very long journey which encompasses endurance and sacrifice, going to class as an adult, father, husband, a wife, mother, a nurse head of a health facility, head of women’s religious group, a sister, a daughter, a breadwinner, one had to take center role, all this can only be taken as supernatural power, this was God, to have made us come this far.
I take this opportunity to thank all stake holders who made this course a true dream.
With special recognition of the Lundin family our sponsors, you are very special to us: You paid 70% of our tuition, accommodation, meals, books and computers, we say thank you and God bless you. Thank you AKU Foundation dean AKU-ANS, the Academic head, Project manager, the AKU Academic team, not forgetting St. Luke’s mission hospital tutors, management and staff where the main learning events as a group occurred.
I also thank all nursing officers, Deputy Public Health Nurses Supervisors and nursing leaders who made sure that we are granted permission to advance our studies at AKU. We cannot forget our families who persevered hard times during our absences while in school. Graduates class of 2010 congratulations, we have a lot to remember, team work, weeks of challenges, in all we achieved our goals. We made it!!!!!
I want to put it today that, as we started the program thirty of us, we are graduating thirty of us with God’s blessings. In addition we multiplied and several of us were blessed with babies. We thank God for the AKU kaloleni babies. With these little ones the drama we were to encounter in the community unfolded in our everyday life in Kaloleni. Crying babies, sick babies, house help issues, no water, at times no electricity. AKU leadership with the staff at Kaloleni, thank you for being extra ordinary generous, a lot of support was offered to ensure we were comfortable.
With your permission allow me to share my one minute experience as an AKU student at St. Luke’s Mission Hospital.
The challenges were real, assignment were due, research proposal, mental health, projects, community health and others it was a moment to remember with nostalgia on top of balancing my other roles.
As a group we brought our gallons of water, we kept them on a line as water trickled to each container, Online the typical queuing system were AKU students, St. Luke’s student, staff and others. As a student group, the young and the experienced, we went on with our health discussion with no minute to waste. The experienced students reminded the others, nursing was a practice profession. Meanwhile, the young ones were fixed on scientific jargons on what they Googled from the computers. As the water fetching sessions finished electricity was seen flushing in our beautiful furnished classrooms on and off and this would go on at times up to 10 p.m. Remembering some have never touched a computer; those with good computer skills were seen begging the librarian to keep the library open. To the amazement of some, they thought some of the computers keyboards were missing some typing keys. Tutors were not spared, at such a moment; we called for clarification as typical students or begged to extend deadlines.
Thank you Mrs. Teresia Thuo you started with us and allowed us to disturb you at any time. We knew you will listen to all our needs. Thank you Esther and Robert what a great team, you are the best teachers we have encountered in a school life.
Let me say, a lot was learnt in the classroom and the clinical areas, each moment, this has made me to know as an AKU graduate, I will face the real world, I hope to be able to explore best solutions using evidence based practice from journals, and good time management and other skills acquired in my student life at AKU.
We would also like to see our dream being supported by AKU by starting a BScN program in coast province. Now that Kaloleni was so central to the coast community who are disadvantaged, we would like to challenge AKU to make this gesture a long lasting stay so that, our young ones those behind us will reach the top of the mountain as we keep climbing. To other institutions, after this, let’s borrow a leaf from AKU and make people’s dream come true.
Ladies and gentlemen I am happy today and we all see faces of achievements we promise to be a help and a stepping stone to our community the mantle is on our side. Let’s provide best services as we are better highly qualified nurses and our community will not hesitate to appreciate the good changes.
Let us be ambassadors of health at our places of work, our country and globally. Last but not least, graduates i pray that we need to strive higher to climb the ladder by doing BScN, masters and even PhD and become academic giants not forgetting at the same time to provide safe, quality and ethical care to the population we serve.
I wish you all the best and god bless you.
Thank you.
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