Wednesday , 5 December 2017

The University of Nicosia has long been a supporter of the Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society’s Festive Season Fiesta and this year’s event, held with great success at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus Head Offices in Nicosia on Sunday, December 2 was no exception.

This year, students of the Medical School were also on hand to test fiesta visitors’ blood pressure.  Setting up their equipment amidst the festive cheer, tasty seasonal treats and beautifully-crafted gift options on sale to support the Society’s crucial work, the students filtered out the happy sounds of the fiesta to focus on their patients.

Ruprai Amarinda Singh, a first-year medical student, noted how pleased fiesta visitors were to have the chance to have their blood pressure checked and said that the day had gone smoothly: “People have been very nice”.

Another student, Singey Lhendup, who is in his third year of medical studies noted: “It’s been great working with patients that have been both very young and very old. That’s great practice”.

A second-year medical student, M. Kenan Rahima, said that it had been interesting to work towards overcoming language-barriers with the mainly Cypriot patients, and also blocking out the surrounding noise. In this case it was the happy noise of the fiesta, but one day it could be the noise of a bustling hospital emergency room.

Accompanying the medical students, Medical School Communications Officer Argyris Evangelou explained that they had been divided into two groups throughout the day, one canvassing the crowds to invite prospective patients and the other actually performing the blood pressure tests. “The fiesta visitors, and Cypriots in particular, have really embraced the effort,” he added.

It was not only the fiesta visitors that appreciated the students’ efforts, though. Speaking on behalf of the Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society’s Executive Committee for 2017, Dr Marlen Demetriou noted the Medical School’s presence along with other University of Nicosia departments.  Also an Associate Professor of the UNIC School of Business, Dr Demetriou noted that UNIC was a long-term supporter of the Society’s efforts and its Holiday Season Fiesta.

“The medical students were here today to perform blood pressure tests,” she said, adding that students from other departments had performed other tasks, from Interior Design students creating crafts to teachers in training treating young visitors to their expert face-painting skills.

Students volunteers:Tima Battah, Joy Guha, Lee Madi, Frank Ofoezie, Amarinder Ruprai, Ayishwarya Sivalingam, Elsie Sowah, Charbel Chediac, Ghida Owayda, Ioannis Balanos, M. Kenan Rahima, Singey J Lhendup, Maria-Christina Siouli, Rami Abdelrahman, Yogmaya Bakshi, Khadijah Boujettif

Staff volunteers : Dr Chloe Antoniou, Argyris Evangelou, Eliana Christoforou, Marianna Koutrakou