After a long and stressful day at work, sometimes the nicest thing is to unwind – to read a book on a comfy chair, to sleep well on a comfortable bed, to feel at home in your home.
But for many of our nurses at Asili clinics, this just isn’t really possible. All our nurses live in the communities where Asili clinics are located – even if they’re not originally from those places. They spend their weeks away from family and friends, only going home on the weekends. We have four clinics in four different locations, and our nurses rotate through them all.
So for day 310, we’re turning one staff house into a home.
We sat with Rachel, Valerie, and Pierre – all nurses – to talk about they needed. “Our living room is not very comfortable,” said Rachel. “We need someplace to sit at the end of the day.”
“Somewhere to put plates would be good,” added Pierre. “Right now they have to stay on the floor.”
We took notes – then we figured out a game plan.
It was easy – they just needed simple things. Like mirrors, hooks to hang their jackets and clothes, rugs, cushions for the living room couch, a shelf for the kitchen, new towels, bedsheets, and more.
“Yes, I am so happy!” said Rachel as we handed everything over.
“It’s not often that organizations care this much about where we live and want to improve it,” said Valerie. “It’s a rare occasion. Even the improvements you want are extremely valuable to us. It makes us feel that you care. It’s like we’re bringing the beauty of our clinics to our homes!”
The staff housing still needs work. But it’s a really big step toward making sure our nurses know that we see their hard work, and that we want them to always feel at home.
