Paging Dr Anona Griffith
FROM the age of seven, Anona Griffith was emulating her nurse mother’s skills, caring for the children who would come over to play at her family’s home in St Andrew. Now she says she loves working with children, and gets immense satisfaction from seeing a child move from being very ill to recovery.
Griffith, a paediatrician assigned to May Pen Hospital, says her job is not just about caring for children, but by extension she also tries to empower parents to adopt better parenting skills.
“If you empower a parent it gives them more confidence in you, their health care provider, and it also gives the child confidence that you’re doing the right thing,” she explained.
“Parenting is stewardship over another life and a lot of parents don’t even understand their children. If you don’t get to understand them you won’t know their needs.”
It was after leaving Campion College and on the brink of completing a first degree in zoology and microbiology that Griffith applied to the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus, and started a degree in medicine before completing it at Mona and then specialising in paediatrics.
She said getting to that point was no bed of roses, as coming out of a single-parent household had its own set of challenges.
“I was one of many outside children for my father. I met him at age 17, but within my family nothing was beyond our reach. We were allowed to express ourselves and we worked as a unit. I was never in doubt that we were loved. I got whatever opportunities were afforded, and my community support, church, and godparents were my bedrock. I had good mentors and I had a full life,” she said.
She explained that she was also born premature at 24 weeks, and thus is able to walk mothers through a process that her own mother would have lived through with her.
“I think I’ve benefited from good health care myself and God has blessed me with the opportunity to pass it on,” she said.
“One of my most rewarding experiences has been taking care of a very small baby, a preemie who had a really challenging course, and seeing him today doing better than what was expected of him.”
Griffith also values community service and nation building and sees them as the way to propel Jamaica forward.
“I offer my services where I’m able to — through health fairs, community fairs, and talks at schools — whatever it is. I believe if as a country we stop trying to reinvent the wheel and modify what we have through volunteerism and everyone playing their part, we will get further.”
She added: “We’re training a generation of entitled persons. Hardships come with life and it teaches you how to make a balance. No experience is wasted for me and we should view every obstacle as stepping stones and not deterrents.”
Also an associate lecturer at UWI and member of the Paediatric Association of Jamaica, Griffith values her Christianity, her role models who include her mother, Nelson Mandela, and her godparents, and remains inspired by scripture and the adage that no man is an island and no man stands alone.
“I’ve learned from every experience, be it bad or good. They have served to make me stronger and more resilient. Right now I’m living my life like it’s golden, enjoying it, and looking forward to new adventures,” she said.
