The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmycock@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 500 senior citizens from Grand Bahama attended the 21st Annual Luncheon for Senior Citizens hosted by Dr M R Kavala in Eight Mile Rock on Thursday.

The event continues to draw a large crowd every year surpassing previous attendance records, making it one of the largest gatherings of senior citizens fellowshipping.

Melanie Griffin, minister of social services, and West Grand Bahama MP Obie Wilchcombe, minister of tourism, were in attendance and commended Dr Kavala and his family for their act of kindness each year to the elderly.

What started as a family tradition 20 years ago by Dr Kavala and his wife Nalini with initially nearly 100 senior citizens gradually became an annual community event in Eight Mile Rock.

“It is good to know there are people are like Dr Kavala in this world. He and his family have shown all of us that it is not the location, nor the circumstance of your birth, but what is in your heart that makes you a truly worthy,” said Mrs Griffin.

Pledging the government’s commitment to the expansion of programmes for older persons, Mrs Griffin said “for the very first time in Grand Bahama the Department of Social Services will be launching on Friday a unit for persons with disabilities and for senior citizens.”

“While we always offered services to you, you will have your own unit and you won’t have to go to the community support centre; you will be able to go straight to the Senior Citizens Unit which is staffed to deal with you directly,” she told the elderly.

Dr Kavala was very pleased with the turnout and said that invitations were sent to every settlement in Grand Bahama.

“We sent out 500 invitations – not one settlement was left out - and today we had to bring out extra chairs,” he said, adding that transportation was provided for some residents.

“This is the biggest ever so far, and I want to say that this is not a one man show; it is a community effort because it is no way we would have been able to do this alone. Every year we want to make it bigger,” he said.

Dr Kavala, a native of India, came to the Bahamas over 30 years ago working in the public heath sector. After his retirement, he opened a private clinic in Eight Mile Rock where he lives with his wife. His daughters, Gita and Latha, who live in New York, travel home every year with relatives for the annual event.

“Two decades of celebrations is something I could never imagine. And the success of these events would not have been a reality without dedicated efforts of so many people,” he said.

Mr Wilchcombe praised Dr Kavala as “a special man.”

“He does not have to do what he is doing,” Mr Wilchcombe said. “When he came to our country 33 years ago, he came to help us build our healthcare services. But he has stopped and reached back and he said the senior citizens are his heroes - he respects them; he loves them and when he gives to them annually.”