14
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER, 2016
FEATURE
“Adults are obsolete children,”
said Theodor Seuss Geisel,
or Dr Seuss, as he has come to be known. Perhaps more
than any other children’s author, Dr Seuss is recognised
as the chief advocate of the childlike. He wrote of the
childlike capacity for wonder, resilience and compassion. He
lamented the loss of these capacities in adulthood. But, like
a child, he was hopeful they could be recovered. It’s more
than fitting then that the works of Dr Seuss should be part
of a remarkable programme created by medical students at
the Faculty of Medicine of UWI St. Augustine.
The Bedtime Stories Initiative (BTSI) is an activity
through which volunteers visit the paediatric wards of the
Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt. Hope and
spend time with the children.They read with them, make up
stories, play games, watch movies and sometimes just have
conversations. Its sounds simple enough, but for children
dealing with illness and confinement, BTSI is a source of
emotional support and entertainment.
“For a child, a ward is not exactly a fun place to be,” says
Dr Srikanth Rao Venkata, founder and first president of the
Art Society of Mt. Hope, the group responsible for BTSI.
Venkata, who graduated in 2013 and is now a house
officer at the St. Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital, is a remarkably
good-natured and easygoing youngman, which is impressive
when you consider how successful his creations have been.
The Art Society, a small group he formed originally to
showcase the works of his friends, has erupted in the space
of five years to a membership of hundreds, promoting the
arts and artists within and external to the campus.They host
an annual party as well as an art gala, their signature event.
BTSI is their flagship initiative.
“It went from nothing to something really fast,” he
says. “It was just me and five of my friends. We intended
on showing 20 pieces and it became 135 in the space of a
week. It just started to escalate from there”.
The first Art Society gala was held in a small space at
the Mt. Hope campus. Subsequent galas were hosted at the
much larger Teaching and Learning Centre of the main
campus and at Circa, an upscale outdoor nightspot. They
hope to host the next art gala at the National Academy for
Performing Arts (NAPA). “If we get to NAPA we’ll have
Once upon
a time in the
children’s
ward
done what I set out to do,” Venkata says.
Understand, these are not professional artists hosting
what has become a vibrant part of Trinidad’s social calendar.
These are medical students investing precious time and
effort into the arts while working to complete a five-year,
highly rigorous course of study.
“It is pressure,” says Sofiya Barrow, a final year medical
student and the current president of the Art Society. “But
it’s not impossible. You spend your free time working on art
society business. It also helps that we have a great group. We
are like family. We handle everything together”.
And, she points out, there are many medical students
with both an interest and aptitude in art:
“The Art Society of Mt. Hope encourages people, not
just medical students, to do things outside of school work
– something colourful, something interesting, something
artistic, something creative”.
Friends on the ward
If the Art Society provides a creative outlet, then BTSI
provides a charitable one.
“I remember breaking my arm and being on the ward
when I was 7 years-old. I was miserable the entire time,” says
Aaron Marc Ali, a third year medical student and member
of the Art Society. “I just wanted somebody to talk to”.
Aaron guides me through two of the four paediatric
wards that BTSI visits. They are like canisters, low roofed
with a narrow hallway, rooms to either side. He informs
the nurses of who we are (the number one rule of ward
etiquette is speak with the nurses first). We pass room after
room. Many are empty. There is a group of children in a
play room, watching a TV with the volume low. A parent
smiles gently at us as she passes, going into a room to sit at
the bedside of her child.
Aaron, despite the pressures of school work, is doing
what he can to improve the experience of children today.
“We try and reach as many as possible in the timeframe,” he
says. BTSI makes its rounds onThursday evenings, meeting
first at the campus coffee shop. As many as 25 participants
take part on any given week, most from the School of
Medicine but also many from the Faculty, the main campus
and even external participants.
“I firmly believe that once you have something good,
people will support it regardless of whatever walk of life
they are from,” says Venkata. “Honestly, helping sick kids is
something at a baseline that is fundamentally good”.
And the Society has been taking itsmission even further
than the ward visits. They purchase books, toys and even
medical equipment for the wards. Earlier this year they
made a donation to the St. Mary’s Children’s Home and
Orphanage. The funds for these charitable acts come from
the proceeds of the art gala. On September 16 they held
a party at 51 Degrees nightclub called “The Human Art
Project,” an event used to help fund the art gala.
The mission is to use the proceeds fromnext year’s gala
to refurbish one of the wards. As Aaron says, “we want to
liven it up and make it more colourful for them”.
Sofiya wanted to have this project completed during
her term as president but because of delays in getting
official approval it will fall under the tenure of her successor,
Jonathan Edwards. Nevertheless, she has put things in place
for the new president and is confident in his ability to get
the job done.
“Being part of the Art Society is so fulfilling because we
always succeed,” she says. “We don’t stop until we succeed.
And that makes you feel really accomplished”.
Srikanth Venkata is also confident in the capability
of the Art Society. Under the leadership of his successors
Khavi Singh (the second president) and Sofiya (third) the
organisation has grown and prospered. The plan now is
to ensure its continued growth, recruiting new members
and expanding its charitable works to other medical and
childcare facilities.
“Considering the sheer magnitude of what we are trying
to achieve we really hope people and organisations can come
and help,” he says. “We do need money. We do need hands
onboard. If we can do something like put Internet on the
wards that will help more than one group of people for a
small amount of time. It is going to be there for decades. We
want to do something as permanent as we can”.
Med Sci students tell powerful story of compassion and creative expression
B y J o e l H e n r y
