Good-bye my friend!

Today, our dear friend Ahmed Wajeeh, the health worker, said good-bye to us from this world forever . The recent years of suffering he endured from a not-so common ailment took its final toll in the bright and early hours of a beautifully sunny Maldivian morning. This is the irony that life sometimes thrusts on us. That Wajeeh, who worked indefatigably to bring health to our Maldivian population for almost four decades of his working life should succumb to ill health himself in so untimely a manner is the contradiction in this our left-brain dominated rational world of ours. Yet, we must know that Allah works in mysterious ways, perhaps to show us that linearity is really not the way of the world. That age is not the factor that determines our life-span. That He can take us when He wants and how He wants. That what happens must have unfathomable and hidden meanings that our shallow minds cannot comprehend.

But dear Wajeeh, we all who have worked with you, quietly admired you. We know that your life spent in the service of health to the hilt was spent in selfless dedication. You were patiently modest and your “for-ever-helpful” attitude was the spark of admiration that drew us to you so strongly. You were jovial, and matter-of fact, yet so committed. Your role during those formative days of the mobile health team that thrust you to the surface of notice in my mind and among your colleagues, and your role after that you spent in quietly leading the juniors in the nurturing of their commitment, is the stellar example that we would all like to emulate. You showed us that dependability is not impossible when your heart is given to service, and you exemplified this strength of modesty throughout your short life -- perhaps it came so naturally to you. Our lives take us along many paths, and although for me it has been a long time spent away from the friendship we share with you and those of your colleagues whose past is in so many ways intertwined with mine, I never felt far away. My heart was and still is with all of you Unsung Heroes. And you were a special one Wajeeh that stood out in my mind, even though to those everyday masses you were just another health worker of a bygone era whose work had not been remembered fondly enough.

And today, you have traversed the boundary that we all must indeed traverse one day. And so, I pray to Allah Almighty to give you the honor and blessings you so deserve in the Garden of Delight. Good-bye my dear friend! This is a wish from all of us dedicated to the health of our Nation, who love you and who will remember you always. You will always remain in our hearts!