One of my first jobs when we arrived was to turn Paul’s long sleeved shirts into short sleeved ones – extremely important in order to work all day in 30 degree heat.

Of course short sleeved shirts are really part of the dress code here at Kiwoko. All the doctors and male staff wear them, almost like a uniform. Which is in keeping with the fact that the rest of the staff all wear uniforms. The student nurses are in blue, the staff nurses are in white, the canteen staff are in purple, the maintenance team are in khaki, the security guys are in navy.

Wearing a uniform gives you a status. It is clear to everyone who sees you what you do…

Wearing a uniform gives you a status. It is clear to everyone who sees you what you do, therefore immediately giving you the level of respectability that comes with your job. When someone is trying to sneak into the compound and sees a security guard they run away. He does not need to shout ‘Hey I’m a security guard’; the perpetrator knows by his uniform.

So it was not surprising then that the housekeepers wanted a part of this action. They wanted the respectability that wearing a Hospital uniform gives. It says I am employed and I bring home a wage that looks after my family. It says I have worked hard to get where I am today. It says people think highly of me to give me this position of responsibility.

It says I am employed and I bring home a wage that looks after my family. It says I have worked hard to get where I am today.

I remember at School I hated my uniform, never quite grasping the practicality of it (well short skirts in winter in Ireland just isn’t practical!). But when clothes are not bulging out of your wardrobes, you can imagine the treat it is to be handed a brand new set of clothing. No longer do you need to wear the hand me down dress or badly fitting trousers.

Scovia and Rose are the housekeepers at Kiwoko hospital’s guest house where medical students stay when doing their elective. They look after the students like mothers. When I told them I was making them uniforms they clapped like children. When I told them how smart they looked, they beamed. The uniform is the same style as the others in the Hospital so now when they walk through town everyone knows they work at Kiwoko. They love that. But they got their own colour. And if I was making them – they were going to have to be Pink!