Nora Henriques (left), Governor-General's Achievement Award recipient for the parish of Kingston, accepts her plaque from Governor-General Professor Kenneth Hall during last Wednesday's awards ceremony, held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, for the county of Surrey. - Photo by Oliver Wright
The Governor-General's Achievement Awards for the county of Surrey were presented last week at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. Yesterday we highlighted one of the four parish recipients, Philip Hamilton. Today we introduce you to the remaining three.
Nora Viola Henriques copped the Governor-General's Achievement Award for the parish of Kingston because of her lifetime service in nursing and as a volunteer.
Mrs. Henriques has given more than 40 years of service to the nursing profession and as a volunteer at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Jamaica.
But for the Kingston-born native, the award was a surprise.
"It has come as a surprise to me because I am one of those persons who just does my thing and I am not really expecting rewards, especially ones such as these," she chuckled.
Mrs. Henriques was the first female to be appointed chairman of the Board of the YMCA and served in that capacity from 1985 to 1987 and from 1989 to 1991. She also served as president of the National Council of YMCAs in Jamaica from 1990 to 1991.
Determined that her career would be in nursing young Nora, shortly after graduating from the Kingston Technical High School, was not deterred when she was declared too young to be accepted by the Nursing Council of Jamaica.
Studying in England
She worked briefly at L.A. Henriques Jewellery Store, to save her fare for travel to England to study nursing.
She subsequently studied mid-wifery and district nursing at Queens Nursing School in England. On her return to Jamaica, she worked at the University Hospital and, during the 1960s, she carried out ground-breaking research in the area of child mortality.
She later joined Mead Johnson Limited to spearhead the Baby Nursing Service at the University of the West Indies Hospital where advice was provided to mothers.
