By Noor Bagher
ABU DHABI — A visit to a hospital is a moving experience in itself, especially if you’re visiting severely ill patients.
Since this is the Year of Giving in the UAE, the leaders of Student Life at Zayed University decided to visit ProVita International Medical Centre at Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 1, 2017.
The trip was organised by Senior Student Leadership and Development Coordinator Reem Al Kindi. Twenty-three students were involved in this trip from male and female camps. Each student gave several bag gifts to the patients. These gifts were for women, men and children patients.
As we entered the hospital the managers were welcoming us and they were very happy. I noticed that the hospital looks like home, very cozy and warm. The good thing it’s looks like a normal house. As I entered I saw an old woman lying on bed, she looked very tired and she couldn’t open her eyes.
The client services officer, Sumaya Alblooki, looked at me and stated: “They call her Amemah (Auntie),” she said.
I was immediately moved.
“Amemah can hear you and feel you, but she can’t respond,” Ms. Alblooki added.
I felt the pain in Ms. Alblooki’s heart through her tone voice and face expression.
I kept walking and going into different rooms. Each room had a story.
I walked in into Rawdah Al Khori’s room. She’s 6 years old. Rawdah can’t move, speak or listen to you but, she can feel you and can feel your appearance. I felt sad after I left her room because I wanted to stay with Ms. Rawdah to tell her stories, even though I knew that she would not respond.
Some patients were in a good condition, they can listen to us and they can respond like Uncle Tamim did.
Uncle Tamim is an old man. He likes traditional food, so we brought him traditional bread. As I entered his room, he welcomed me and asked me my name.
“ I am Noor,” I said.
“Yes, Anwari,” he responded.
In Arabic, “Anwari” means light or radiance. What he meant was, “You light up the room with your visit.”
I got really attached to each patient. It was very sad being at the medical centre, but I was happy at the same time because not only did our visit makes the patients happy; their families happy and thankful for our visit, too.
This trip made me think deep about making a change in our lives. Simplest move can make others happy and cheer people up. After this visit, I realized that life is a long journey. When you’re thankful for what you have, you’re always rewarded.
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This story was originally published on Feb. 28, 2017. It was re-uploaded on Jan. 1, 2021.
