A Medical Facility near you that truly cares for your safety at this time.
I am now totally convinced that with the measures that some medical centres have put into place during this pandemic, I may be safer inside a medical centre where all government and world health organisation guidelines such as social distancing, cleanliness, and close monitoring of staff for any Covid 19 symptoms are strictly adhered to at all times. I have even seen extra measures being taken into consideration especially for sensitive patients who may not be comfortable to visit the medical centres at this time and they are able to call medics from the comfort of their homes and get the medical help and support as well as medicine delivery.
Having seen my friends take memorable photos wearing a mask, I also figured, what a better way to do the same as I appreciate one of the medical facilities that is carefully guarding the patients and staff safety at this time. I definitely felt safer in here (see photo) than I did in a supermarket a few minutes earlier.
My comparison between a supermarket and a medical centre came about as I was having a chat with the cab driver who drove me home earlier today. I was so hungry yet I could not dare open the soft drink I had picked from the supermarket near my work place as I remembered the queer shopping habits many shoppers including myself have of picking an item, reading through the name for the hundredth time and checking the ingredients like I just turned scientist overnight despite having bought the same item many times before.
Despite having all the back seat to myself, I was carefully holding my laptop bag so that I could have less parts to sanitise when I got home. My amazing signature urban phunk ankara bags are safely stored but I am eagerly waiting for one of their leather totes or backpacks that will be easy to sanitise at this time (I hope you hear this Alvin). So as you can tell, I had to deal with hunger and fear of my bag getting Corona germs.
Back to my story partner for this trip, there was a lot of human traffic around the area and I could not help but notice that many people in the area were still not adhering to the basic government and World Health Organisation guidelines on Covid 19 prevention and that sets our conversation for the rest of my journey home. The mask has become something to cover the chin, not the nose and mouth and everywhere you look, a huge percentage of the wearers are clearly doing outrageous things with these poor masks.
When the government announced the curfew measures as a way to prevent the spread of Corona Virus, I had to beat the time every evening as I had a parent admitted in one of the major hospitals and I never felt safe any day I went there apart from the time I was around my loved ones’ bed (and I guess that was just false hope to make sure my loved one felt safe). Many beds within the hospital were empty and so was the casualty department. The security guards and nurses could recognise my sister and I from a mile away. I remember we would walk to the main hospital gate, queue along other patients/visitors on the hand washing line, press on the soap dispenser that every one else had pressed and open the water tap that those ahead of us had touched and then dry the water in most cases with our jeans, something that many supermarkets and communal places are still doing to-date. We did not feel safe enough and like everyone else those first weeks after the first case was announced in Kenya, we would carefully remove the sanitiser bottle that was easiest to reach and add that extra cover of protection.
Remember my soft drink bought earlier, I had gone through a similar hand washing queue that I noticed a few shoppers skip the soap and inside the premise, shoppers kept bumping onto each other as they picked items to read the labels and return them waiting for other customers to buy them. I am not innocent too as I bumped onto a few people whose minds seemed to be focused on aisles so far away and also picked an item that was too expensive and returned it for a cheaper one.
Back to my cabby story. With everyone on the road seeming to rush home to beat the curfew hours, we were now stuck in traffic and I decided to start a hygiene crusade to digress from the mask story as well as forget my hunger as I salivated on my Fanta orange soft drink (the colour is too enticing when hungry). I decided to share my story about how I had visited a Penda Medical Centre, a group of medical facilities that’s literally everywhere in Nairobi. I am sure you have seen one near you. The facility I had visited was near Kangemi and a lady in a blue blouse branded Penda Health had introduced herself and welcomed me to the medical centre as she advised me the need to wash my hands and dispensed some nice smelling liquid soap onto my hands while opening the water tap for me. There is no way I could have said no to that. She had then pointed to a pack of serviettes for me to use to dry my hands and requested to take my temperature while asking some basic questions such as if I had a cough or exposure to a Covid 19 patient just to mention a few. By this time, I had assumed that it was one of those days that a medical centre was not busy and so there’s a resource trying to keep busy, but I was wrong because it suddenly hit me that the uniformed security guard I had met before getting to the screening point had also said a very warm hello. What impressed me the most was that this same lady who screened me had quickly picked a clipboard whilst asking me the questions and I realised that she had done that with other patients that had come in before me and that alone had made me feel safe inside the facility. First, because I realised many people had visited the medical centre ahead of me and that Penda cared enough to ensure I was safe inside their medical centre. It was clearly, healthcare I could trust.
My trip came to an end before I could complete my hygiene crusade and the cabby who had engaged in every sentence of my crusade commented that the world needed more doctors like me. Apparently, midway though my crusade, he had mentioned that there was a Penda Medical Centre near his home as well but had never thought of going there though he always admired the pink clean paint at their entry way.
Well, as you all know, I am not a doctor but thanks to my 2 amazing bible study partners, Dr Matilda and Dr Damaris, I get to enjoy the title when someone has to address the 3 of us together. Maybe!, just maybe, I could just take up the title of Dr. Customer Care because that is what I do best and my customer can be anyone that needs the right information delivered well, just like you just got to know where to seek help, if you are afraid of visiting medical centres and hospitals at this time and need some medicine delivered to your doorstep.
As we always sign off, If you need guidance and support to sail through this season with courage and come out stronger and better, talk to me!..if I can’t help, I will connect you to someone who can and above all, we will stand in faith and prayer together as we trust the God who is in-charge.
Share this to encourage someone and get more encouragement by following my blog here and liking my facebook page here
murugiblogs.com 