On Wednesday 3rd July, we hosted a stewardship dinner at Windsor Castle in the presence of our Grand Prior, HRH The Duke of Gloucester. We were delighted to be joined by Precious Divala, Programme Officer, St John Malawi and Olivia Sheppard, one of 2023’s Sovereign Award winners, who shared their experiences with St John thus far. Please enjoy their speeches below.
Precious Divala, Programme Officer, St John Malawi
“My name is Precious Divala, I work as the Programme Officer for St John in Malawi based in Lilongwe, and I am responsible for running the Mother and Baby programme in Lilongwe.
Malawi is among one of the poorest countries in southern Africa and has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Africa, where a large number of the women in the country do not have access to proper health services as they have to travel for more than 8 kilometers to access health services like ANC. St John, under the Mother and Baby programme, aims to ease these challenges by providing communities with Community Outreach Clinics and helping them have access to health services in their villages.
Through the Mother and Baby programme, St John has reached out to thousands of women and mothers by making sure that they have easy access to health services through the provision of community outreach clinics, by helping women have access to family planning services and with the support of the community volunteers that the programme works with on the ground we have managed to reach women with health education sessions that have imparted knowledge and skills on issues of safe motherhood, maternal and child health.
I would like to share with you a story of one of the women whose life has been impacted by the Mother and Baby programme, a woman by the name of Alinafe. Alinafe is a mother of 5 children who lives in Chimbalanga in Lilongwe. She had 4 of her children before the program was initiated in her area and she delivered all the 4 children at home, she shared that with those 4 deliveries she faced a number of life threatening challenges. By the time the Mother and Baby programme was being initiated in her area, she was pregnant with her 5th child and in the course to the programme she was visited by the community volunteers who held education sessions with her and the husband at their house, and through these sessions she was encouraged to start going for ANC earlier, the household was also educated and encouraged on the importance of birth preparedness where they gained knowledge on how best they can save for their unborn baby. Through those session Alinafe was able to attend 8 ANC sessions and together with the husband they saved some money which they used as transport to the hospital where she delivered a child with the support of a trained midwife.
This is just one example of the thousands of lives the Mother and Baby programme has impacted and continues to impact across Africa. And all this is possible because of the support that we receive from St John International. Thank you.”
You can learn more about the work of our Mother and Baby programme here: https://www.stjohninternational.org/what-we-do/mother-and-baby-programme/
Olivia Sheppard, 2023 Sovereign Award Winner, St John Ambulance England
“I am a volunteer with St John Ambulance in England and I am a Paramedic. This year I was honoured to be chosen as one of 10 recipients globally to receive the Sovereign’s Award. The Sovereign’s Award was established to recognise a member of St John between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five for outstanding achievement in personal development and benefit to the community through the work of St John. I feel honoured to be here this evening to share my experiences of how St John Ambulance has given me opportunities and experiences that have supported me to get into my chosen career of paramedicine.
I joined St John Ambulance in Staffordshire in 2017 as a cadet member at seventeen years of age. I attended my local St John unit with a school friend as I was keen to learn first aid and life-saving skills as a component of my ‘skills’ section for my Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s award. Although the requirement for skills section of Silver DofE was just three months, I enjoyed my cadet sessions and transition into the adult section that much that I continued attending weekly, completed the initial First Aid training, and six years later I am still an active member and feel part of an St John family.
When I joined St John I had an idea that I wanted to have a career in healthcare, but I didn’t know specifically what I wanted to do. There were many paths I could go down but at the time I didn’t know which was right for me. Through the training I received from St John, experiences I had and people I met, including paramedics, it helped me confirm that being a paramedic was the role for me. The experiences I had continued to prove invaluable through the recruitment process and my university degree. I felt like I had a head start on some of my peers as I had spent time volunteering in this field already with St John.
My positive experiences from St John volunteering fuelled my passion for first aid, caring for others, and saving lives which gave me the confidence to apply for BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science at University in September 2018. Despite my St John and student paramedic journey being disrupted by challenges such as the Coronavirus pandemic, I found the resilience and determination to complete my university degree and became a HCPC Registered Paramedic in Summer 2021 with West Midlands Ambulance Service.
The knowledge and skills I have obtained through St John training, which I would have not otherwise gained, have not only aided me in treating hundreds of people on events, but have assisted me in getting my dream job as a Paramedic. In addition to teaching me clinical skills, St John has enhanced my non-technical skills such as communication, teamwork, decision making, and leadership which are transferable skills in all aspects of life.
St John England HEART values of Humanity, Excellence, Accountability, Responsiveness and Teamwork are embedded in everything I do. The values have taught me the importance of teamwork and responsiveness by working together to achieve the common goal that is to preserve and protect life. Part of achieving this goal is to demonstrate accountability, provide excellent care, being responsive to any changes, all whilst having humanity at the centre and treating others with respect.
I have so many wonderful memories and met such inspirational people from my St John journey so far, I feel privileged to be a volunteer in such a rewarding organisation. I have so much more that I want to achieve in life, and I am forever grateful for every opportunity that St John Ambulance has provided me. HEART values will be encompassed within me forever, and will go with me to wherever life takes me. Thank you for listening and thank you for all being here tonight.”
You can learn more about the work of St John Ambulance England here: https://www.sja.org.uk/
Photos: Fergus Burnett Photography
