Brief note of Speech by Dr Andreas Prokopiou
On 10/1/08 opening of the FFL Hospice
His Excellency the Minister of Health
His Grace the Bishop of Limassol
Honourable Members of Parliament
Mr. Mayor/his representative
Friends
A Happy and Blessed New Year to you all
Thank you for your presence today
If we could imagine the world as a large sponge and if we squeezed that sponge, what do you think would come out? Blood and tears would come out! And what does this mean? It means pain, a lot of pain my friends.
This pain, our pain and the pain of our fellow human beings calls us firstly to accept it, to understand it and then it is our obligation to reduce it as best we can. Unfortunately it is only in entering such units that man can be calmed.
I express my thanks to the Minister of Health for both his presence here today and for the understanding he has shown in dealing with our problems; also to our Mayor … and to His Grace our Bishop who I believe has given serious consideration to the letter I gave him recently regarding this matter generally and in particular my thoughts on where I believe palliative care fits into the Cypriot culture.
I wish to express my thanks and to congratulate the volunteer team of Friends for Life who created this unit, small at present but nevertheless significant. I thank them both as the manager responsible for this unit and also as a Cypriot citizen, because these persons, foreigners who have come to our country, who love our country, who love us and, respect our rich cultural heritage whilst we ourselves have abandoned this part of our identity and unfortunately with the tendency due to disorientation which possessed us, to reject or deny our fellow human being.
We thank them because through their unselfish love they show us the road to collective voluntary service.
We must not however downgrade the work that volunteers are doing in other domains in Cyprus.
Thanks are also owed to many other others because a project such as this, demands many hands.
One of those hands is the president of the European Party Mr. Sylouris, who has supported for some time the aims of this team. This support has been personal but also I have to admit political, because the European Party is a party with a human face and this humanity and humane programme it cultivates without any fanfare. I thank them especially for the sensitivity shown towards our suffering citizens.
Thank you too to Dr Simon Malas for his continuing and untiring efforts to coordinate this work and for the smooth cooperation which we have among us and with the doctors of our clinic.
It would be an omission on my part not to thank the whole of the clinic personnel who have shown and I believe will continue to show in the future, not only their excellent nursing skills but also the practical expression of their love towards our suffering fellow humans.
Now that we are all here together, with the executive power represented by the Minister of Health and the legislative power represented by our honourable members of parliament as well as the ecclesiastical power through our Bishop and the public authorities through the Mayor of this town, I consider it as a very encouraging move which shows not only the significance you all give to the services offered here but also your practical support of our endeavours.
I plead and invite you to unite your powers together with us towards a collective cooperation of our people, a truly sensitive people for a rightful plan and an organized, coordinated and cooperation of voluntary service.
Voluntary service is the basis for the relief and improvement of our services, not only for the patient but also for the government, lightening for them the excessive expenses demanded in this field of health policy.
Thank you all very much for your presence here. |
