Imagine…You are a Walgreens pharmacist and have about thirty people ready to have their prescription filled. However, you don’t know where any of the medications are to fill that prescription. This was similar to my experience working the pharmacy last week. Sister Blendina, the head pharmacist, was gone for most of the week, which left the nurses to fill in for her. She runs the pharmacy with such grace, and filling prescriptions is second nature for her. I was a complete novice and struggled to find the pre-marked medication bags. Normally, I would help Sister fill the bags or count out pills for prescriptions. Now, I stepped up to the plate and helped the nurses in the pharmacy scavenger hunt. It was a bit stressful in the beginning, but overtime, I acclimated to my surroundings and could find my way around the cabinets.
On Saturday, Sister came back and asked me to help her with filling prescriptions. She taught me “amodzi mawa masana madzulo” or “take one in the morning, afternoon, and evening”. It was a tongue twister at first, and I mistakenly said mwana (child) instead of mawa. Regardless of my lack of Chichewa, the patients were happy to see that I was trying pon gono pon gono (little by little).