Good Samaritans surprise Nakuru mortuary staff with Christmas gifts
Ms Teresia Njeri Magenda (C) and other members of Nakuru Catholic Online and Hospital Chaplaincy give gifts to mortuary attendants, Ms Sarah Nyambura and Mr Rufus Mwangi, during a surprise visit on December 22, 2019. PHOTO | FRANCIS MUREITHI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The visitors, members of the Nakuru Catholic Online and Hospital Chaplaincy, were not there for their services but to share holiday cheer and give them Christmas gifts.
- They distributed items including bread, milk, fruits, toilet rolls, bar soap and handkerchiefs to all the workers at the mortuary.
- Ms Magenda said they chose a mortuary because attendants are hardly appreciated during holidays.
Mr Rufus Mwangi and Ms Sarah Nyambura, attendants at the Nakuru mortuary, had just finished working on the body of a child killed by a speeding motorcyclist when a group of visitors walked in with a pleasant surprise.
The visitors, members of the Nakuru Catholic Online and Hospital Chaplaincy, were not there for their services but to share holiday cheer and give them Christmas gifts.
They distributed items including bread, milk, fruits, toilet rolls, bar soap and handkerchiefs to all the workers at the mortuary.
“The white handkerchief we gave them is a symbol of love during this Christmas festive season,” Ms Teresia Njeri Magenda, the organisation's administrator, said during the surprise visit on Sunday.
WARM GIFT
Mr Geoffrey Alubale, a guard at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital County mortuary, said, “This is a very warm gift, no matter how small.
"Mortuary attendants are never recognised and are blamed and accused of many ills yet they do a tough job."
Ms Magenda said they chose a mortuary because attendants are hardly appreciated during the holidays.
“They do the special job of receiving the dead and preparing the bodies for burial. We thought it a good idea to appreciate and encourage them to continue serving the community,” she said.
REGULAR VISITS
Nakuru Catholic Online was started in 2016 and has about 350 members including clergymen, nuns and faithful from all the parishes under the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru.
They work closely with the Nakuru Catholic Diocese of Nakuru Chaplaincy, which assists the sick in public and private hospitals.
The group held a mass at Nakuru Level Five Hospital before giving food and clothes to mothers at the Margaret Kenyatta babies wing.
Nakuru Catholic Online visits the maternity wing at the hospital every fourth Sunday of the month to distribute milk to new-born babies and their mothers.
“We started this initiative because we realised some of the mothers have very humble backgrounds and no money to buy essentials,” said Ms Magenda.
At least 1,000 babies are born at the hospital every month.
The hospital serves as a referral facility as it receives patients from the neighbouring counties of Baringo, Narok, Nyandarua, Laikipia and Kericho.
