"I work directly with patients every day." - Safi, RN

Based on interviews with Safi, FAME RN and Ward 1 Supervisor

Safi in our general inpatient ward, Ward 1.

Safi’s desire to become a nurse started when she was young, growing up in Same, south of Mount Kilimanjaro. “One day, I was becoming very sick,” Safi reminisced. “I was prescribed medicine to take orally. I hated taking medicine orally, so I chose to hide the medicine under my mattress instead of taking it. I was still sick because I wasn’t taking my medication, so I had to go back to the clinic. They prescribed me a new medication, but it was an oral medication again. I finally told them that I didn’t want to take any oral medication, which worked out because then they gave me an injection. Since then, I wanted to work in medicine so I could talk with patients about their needs and concerns.” Following secondary school, Safi attended school to become a Nurse Assistant. She met Frank and Susan while Dr. Frank was still practicing at a clinic in Arusha, just before they opened the FAME Medical Outpatient Clinic in Karatu. A friend of Frank and Susan had told Safi they were looking to hire nurses, so she applied to be a member of the original team. She helped open the outpatient clinic as a Nurse Assistant in 2008. In 2009, Frank came to her to tell her the good news that FAME wanted to sponsor her to go back to school. At that point, she was ready to go back to school to upgrade her degree. She went back to school for three years and returned to FAME as an RN. “My experience at FAME 100% helped me in school,” Safi said. “I really enjoyed the courses and I was performing well.” Safi came back to FAME in 2012 just as the Inpatient Hospital was getting started. In 2014, she became the Ward 1 Supervisor. “I like being a nurse because I work directly with patients every day,” she said. For over a decade, Safi has been working at FAME, listening to each patient’s needs and supporting her nursing team in the Inpatient Ward.