I'm a dog. And I'm a member.

This Wont Hurt A bit

There was this talk earlier in the week of female nurses being authorized to administer the cut to men.

There are those who are looking at it as any other medical procedure, much like male gynecologists treating women, and as long as it’s delivered with utmost professionalism, they have no problem with it. But in some cultures, and to a large extent in the common order of things, it is taboo for a woman who is not a wife (no mention of mpango wa kando) to see a man’s privates.

I’d be the least qualified to opine on who should deliver the cut. Not to take lightly people’s cultures and the strong beliefs that surround circumcision though, me thinks a little professional TLC from a nurse of whatever sex is not a very bad idea. I tried to ask a few questions around the office but quickly gave up when I realized that many minds live permanently in the gutter.

I guess in the end it will boil down to cultural influences and personal choice. Such a thing cannot be forced on anyone. And before I’m done doing this article now I see that we can make babies without men! That’s an article for another day.

Archives: This time last year.

Do Not Adjust Your Monitor

Hi people.

Goodbye Blogger. Hello Wordpress. Goodbye .blogspot. Hello .butterfly.co.ke.

I’m building a new home on Wordpress, a move that I think is long overdue. One I’ve heard some good things about Wordpress, two I have a bit of a teeth pulling history with blogger, three change is always good. So if some time in the next few days you land on Wanjiku and don’t find the palms, do not adjust your monitor. We could do with adjustments to your blogrolls though.

At the same time I’ll be blogging closer home on the .butterfly.co.ke platform. Talk of killing a bird with two stones. Killing two birds with one stone. Which is it? I forget. I’ll take both.

Si you guys know you’re the best. Nuff respect. It’s been 1 year 3 months and160 posts although I doubt some like this one and this one and this one qualify as posts. Your support has been tremendous, your comments have been solid, civil, spot on, hilarious, and some bordering on crazy gone mad. Many a time they leave me in stitches. My journey through….…………. wait am I eulogizing us? Jeez it’s only a shift! Same blogger, same blogthren.

Let’s get outa here.

Quiet Please

I’m not writing this from a position of authority or experience but rather from hearsay from some reliable sources. Neither am I suggesting that the sick be left in hospitals to ail in loneliness. Every situation is different and it’s up to those close to the sick person to weigh and see. For now, hear me out.

Not every one wants to be visited in hospital when they’re admitted. It’s just that many people find it most unkind to come outright and say so. They therefore endure endless visits while deep down they wish they could be with the closest family and friends only. Some wish to be left alone to come to terms with their ailments and recuperate. Depending on the type of ailment, some patients suffer from phonophobia. In extreme cases it’s a morbid fear of voices including your own, but in milder and more common circumstances, it’s just the need for peace and quiet. As such, it’s common in, but not confined to hospitals.

I lost my workmate to breast cancer some time ago and at some point during her admission days, she made it categorically clear that she did not want any visitors outside of close family. Prior to that her room was always jammed with church groups, neighbors, chama ladies, family, friends, and workmates. She was sick. And then she was sick and tired of the endless chatter, the oh so predictable comfort messages and people gawking at the tubes and hospital contraptions running from her chest and urinary system to little bags on the side of the bed. She was tired of smiling nicely and shaking hands when infact the one thing she wanted to do was curl up and die.

She’s not the only person I know who has opted not to have visitors. When my sister gave birth to her first born, only a handful of people knew that her due date had arrived and that she had checked into hospital and given birth. That of course was for the purpose of ferrying supplies to the hospital and acting in case anything went wrong. The rest could go see mother and baby at home when they had been discharged and were in considerably good shape to welcome visitors.

Visiting a sick friend or relative is a gesture in utmost kindness. But let’s face something. There’s the lot that visits out of malicious curiosity. The ones who come to poke holes into the doctors’ prognosis – to concoct and give credence to their future speeches of ‘nilimuona. hiyo haikuwa cancer ni ukimwi. Alikuwa ameisha na nywele zimekuwa singa. (I saw her. It was not Cancer. It was Aids. She had lost weight and her hair had thinned). Duh! Of course she had lost weight and her hair had thinned!

I’d drafted this post some time back and buried it in my unpublished folder. It has now been re-inspired by this mega rant on the Muthaura visits. And speaking of Muthaura, there must be a few psychos who were visiting him in Hospital just to gauge the possibility of their kin and tribesmen succeeding him in office.

See also: Season for Bungling Doctors.