Juma's Journey: A Decade of Dedication, Bringing Patients to FAME
Juma* has been bringing patients to FAME for close to a decade now. He drives these patients in his car from Mto wa Mbu, a distance of about 28 miles. “I used to come here when the hospital had only the outpatient clinic. None of these buildings you see here had been built then.”
Juma adds that his love for FAME was birthed by the quality services he has always received from FAME. “The services at FAME are so good. The doctors and nurses here are very kind. How they receive you, care for you and talk to you has always captured my heart. For them, it's patient service first and not money.”
In the community where he comes from, as with many other communities in FAME's catchment area, access to quality healthcare has always been challenging. This is partly due to poverty levels as well as poorly resourced health facilities. “Whenever someone within my community needs medical attention due to various conditions, they bring them to me. The numbers have been growing because they keep telling each other that if you go to Juma, he will take you to the hospital. And it has also built a community of responsibility because when someone ill is brought to me and I bring them to FAME, if they struggle to pay their hospital bills, we collaborate.”
However, Juma's sacrifice to his community has not been without challenges. “The main challenge I face is finance, because I have to share the little I have with the community. Sometimes I get patients at a time when I am unable to fuel the car to bring them to FAME,” Juma recalls.
During one of his visits, Juma began feeling ill while waiting for the patients he had brought to be treated. “I was diagnosed with diabetes and was admitted for almost a week. I received the best care. I was given a team that advised me on how to change my lifestyle, including my diet. My health has since improved. I have also been disciplined in taking my medication and attending clinic checkups.”
Juma says that with the kind of awareness, knowledge and education he got from the team at FAME about his diabetes, he has become a diabetes health champion within his community. “I have met people in my community with diabetes, and I have been sharing the knowledge I learned at FAME with them and giving them hope. I use myself as an example, and they wonder how I am very healthy and active with my condition. I encourage them to be disciplined with medication, diet and lifestyle, and they can lead healthy lives.”
Despite the personal health challenges and those encountered in his community, Juma says he is determined to continue helping patients access healthcare because he feels it's his purpose. “Whenever I bring a patient to FAME and they get healed, I feel so happy and fulfilled.”
“Given a chance, I would still choose what I am doing to be my service to the community. I thank God because even my wife has the same heart. As a family, I believe it is our purpose here, and it gives us joy.”