The hospital experience is a little bit brighter for patients thanks to new Head Candy Striper Kenyari Ingham.

Ingham, 17, from Hamilton, was awarded the Penny Ray Achievement Award after displaying the dedication, compassion, and leadership skills that embody what it means to be a candy striper.

The MSA graduate has been candy striping at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for the past three years.

She told The Royal Gazette that although she initially got involved to prepare herself for medical studies, it grew into something more important than mere work experience.

“There’s some elderly people who live in the hospital, and they don’t have family — or there’s not many people who come to visit them — so when you go and visit them and take the time out to deliver them flowers or whatnot, you can tell that it brightens up their day that somebody cares to come in and take the time.”

Like all candy stripers, Ingham’s role at the hospital has been hands-on and technical based. She has spent most of her time visiting wards and delivering flowers to patients, but she has also worked on reception, prepared and served meals, done dialysis work and delivered “baby-bags” to new mothers in the maternity wing. By the time she graduated high school, Kenyari had amassed 300 volunteer work hours.

Ingham’s hard work with the volunteer programme won her, alongside five other girls, the Proficiency Award in her second year. These girls, representing the top six candy stripers of their year, all became eligible for the Penny Ray award.

When the time came, it was Ingham’s determination and compassion that ultimately earned her the award and title of Head Candy Striper.

“I was excited, but it was kind of like ‘now I have a huge role to fulfil’, which I know I could do,” Ingham said.

As head Candy Striper, Ingham will continue to volunteer at the hospital, but with the added bonus of being a studied role model for the upcoming stripers. From there she will go away for university before coming back in June and delivering a speech at the next ceremony.

Candy striping has taught Ingham many life lessons, particularly the importance of consistency, dedication, and selflessness.

Putting herself in the position of the patients, she said: “Most of the time people are alone and don’t have families so, if there was someone who could visit me and make me feel better, then that’ll make me feel better in the hospital rather than feel alone.

“As young people we’ve been given so many opportunities from our elders, and to give back to the community and to pretty much say thank you — it feels good.”

Aside from volunteer work, Ingham spends her weeks playing for her school’s volleyball team and sitting as president of her student council. The young candy striper has since graduated from MSA, but is set to attend Mount Allison University in September for Health Sciences. She plans to stay in Canada for a few years for medical school and work, but wants to return to Bermuda as an obstetrician-gynaecologist: a doctor who focuses on women’s health and childbirth.

As for boys and girls who are candy striping or other forms of volunteer work, Ingham urges them to keep doing what they love.

“If you love it, it definitely reflects in your work, so if helping people and doing candy striping is what you love and that’s the type of person that you are then it’s going to make the job better for yourself and the others that you’re helping.”