What our dad taught us…

As we continue to celebrate the Inter-American Year of Women, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs places the spotlight on professional women who continue to make a significant contribution to society. Their successes, they say, can be attributed in part to the mentorship received from their fathers.

Dr Racquel Gibson Onyonyor

DR Racquel Gibson Onyonyor is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist. She is also an associate lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Gibson Onyonyor is a member of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston, which she joined recently to facilitate the process of her giving back to those who are less fortunate. She is the fourth of five girls and is a wife as well as mother of two beautiful children.

She said the woman that she has become is owed largely to the care, love and patience her father contributed to the parenting of his five daughters.

Gibson Onyonyor devotes considerable time to advancing women’s health. She is not only concerned about the particular medical condition, but also for the social, psychological and mental well-being of her patients.

“I pride myself in the knowledge that I am considered very approachable,” she said.

As it relates to her obstetrics practice, the delivery of an infant does not always simply end there, as on many occasions she has been asked to be their godmother.

She had an extraordinary relationship with her father, the late Selborne Chester Gibson, whom she describes as the “father of all fathers”.

“Even though he has departed this life, his children are still grateful for all the invaluable lessons he taught them, not only from what was said, but by the exemplary life he led,” she said.

She said her father taught her the very first and basic life lessons, which included learning to read. He constantly encouraged his girls to read, as he was an avid reader. This lesson she said, “I have mastered quite well as to this day you can be sure that whenever I’m spotted I will always have a book in hand”.

She said her dad not only stressed the importance of education, but also self-reliance. He taught three of his five girls to drive as well as how to change a flat tyre. Her dad always impressed upon them that they could do anything they set their minds to.

“Our dad taught us humility, that we were never to discriminate, and that we were to have respect for all persons. He gave of himself time and time again to help family members and others in their times of need,” she said.

She said she has now applied these principles to her everyday life and has found herself imparting all that she has learnt from him to her children.

Dr Joyce Graham-Royal

DR Joyce Graham-Royal is assertive, determined, forthright and persistent and exercises a sense of fair play and justice. She balances this with her jovial spirit, sociable personality and contagious humour which she said she inherited from her father.

Currently an education officer in the Ministry of Education, this Westmorelander has made a significant contribution to the education system and has served in several capacities, including training teachers of physical education and sports.

She has provided instruction in academic subjects at all levels in several educational institutions in Jamaica. In addition to working in the public service, Graham-Royal is involved in activities and programmes at her church as well as a number of national sporting associations. She enjoys her work and considers it a very important part of her life.

The driving forces behind her choice of career path are her deep interest in the way people learn, her attraction to the aesthetic beauty of the human body, and her personal involvement in sporting activities from an early age . She strongly believes in the development of the whole person.

Her major concern is the failure of men to father their children as her father fathered her.

It is not surprising that Graham-Royal became an educator because her father taught her the value of education and personally saw to it that his children attended school and were on time. She believes that her knowledge base has broadened because of her father’s contribution to her development. Her father spent quality moments listening to her read and play music. He also taught her to ride a horse, play cricket and dominoes.

Having spent a lot of time on the farm with her father, Graham-Royal is no stranger to farm and agricultural practices.

While growing up, attendance at church was compulsory for Graham-Royal and her siblings. Her father loved God and also taught her to do the same. One of the things that her father always said was, “It doesn’t matter where you land; just take the leap,” she reminisced.

She overcomes her challenges by reflecting on the practical situations that she had shared with her father and tries to see situations through his eyes.

Graham-Royal said if she had just one wish, it would be to see her father’s qualities manifested in her own son. She encourages fathers to spend time fathering their children, especially their daughters, and to give them a sense of security. She firmly believes that their relationship with their daughters influence, to a great extent, the kind of men the daughters will attract, and the way they will relate to these men. It could also determine their strength of character and their values as balanced women of society, she said.