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YOUNIS
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On the 31st December Younis our caretaker leaves us, after 25 years in Bahrain, to return to his family in Pakistan. The following is a tribute to Younis from Shrimathi who has worked closely with Younis for many years. GOD SPEED YOUNIS PERVAIZ I am certain that if we were to ask Younis to articulate how he felt about leaving Bahrain after 25 years, his response would encapsulate the feelings of many of us who have spent the better years of our lives making a career, home and friends in Bahrain. How does one leave one’s home away from home? How does one say goodbye to those who have been family when family is on a far shore? There will be some sadness, some regret, great gratitude for what the country and the people of Bahrain have given us as individuals. He takes with him a sense of achievement, a broader outlook on life and financial security providing hope for the future. Younis arrived in Bahrain on the 17th of November 1978. A young man with aspirations for himself and those he loved. There must have been much trepidation as he faced the challenges of a strange country. He brought with him his Christian faith which was up to any challenge he would meet. That his destiny has brought him into the service of the church I know has been a particular joy for him. I have known him to be a man of strong faith who observed his obligations in respect of his tithe. Younis has served under four Provost’s/Deans at St.. Christopher’s beginning on 1st November 1988 when The Very. Revd John Parkinson employed him. I am certain he has in more ways than one contributed to the ease with which a new Provost or Dean has settled into their life and work in Bahrain by being the source of a wealth of information and by providing continuity in the day to day workings of Cathedral life. During my eight years as Secretary/Administrator I have never known Younis to back off from a challenge. I can assure readers that no two days on the cathedral compound are alike. Surprises turn up round every corner and I would find myself turning to Younis for his assistance to deal with various situations. His help was always forthcoming. Often a gentle suggestion from him would ease the way for a more sensible resolution to some strange and obscure obstacle that would be thrown our way unexpectedly. He was always conscious of his Christian Duty and amongst the many changes he influenced around the compound was the provision of drinking water to those who use our facilities. One could not draw up a Job Description for Younis for it would have to encompass not only a daily routine but far too many imponderables. I could not list all the extra jobs that automatically become his responsibility for they are too many. The success of the simplest social function to the most logistically demanding event, as the annual fete, truly depends upon Younis’s knowledge, (where is this that or the other) support (can you do this that or the other) and hard work (have you done this that or the other). What is essential for us to remember and celebrate is that during his fifteen years as a member of this community he has served St. Christopher’s well and to the very best of his ability. Younis returns to the home he has built in Pakistan where his wife Esther with their children Tina, Hepsibah,Trophena and Shamger Medad eagerly await his return. I join present and past St. Christopher’s communities in thanking Younis most sincerely for his hard work, dedication and for the many kindnesses he has shown to us over the years. We wish him and his family well in every endeavour in the future and assure them of our prayers for God’s blessing along life’s road.
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