Gloria Njiru is a mortuary supervisor at Embu Level 5 Teaching and Referral Hospital.
She rose through the ranks to her current position having started working at the facility’s morgue in 2013.
Njiru was posted to the department following a successful interview.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Njiru works alongside five others; a lady and four males.
In an interview with Citizen TV, she explained that she bagged the job following a successful interview in 2013.
Njiru had initially applied for a cleaner’s job but during the interview, she was asked if she could work in the mortuary department.
“I applied for a casual job but during the interview I was asked if I could take a job to work in the mortuary department, I accepted because I wanted to work,” she said.
She noted that the job is akin to any other and she wanted to give the last to departed people.
Njiru disclosed that she first visited the morgue in 2009 take her niece’s body, and she requested to dress the corpse.
“I managed to dress the corpse and while my relatives were crying, I had already made peace with that fact,” she recalled.
It was after this encounter when she applied for a job advertised by the hospital some years later.
While starting off, Njiru admitted that her parents, especially her father, were surprised by her decision but later supported her.
It only took her one week to go about all the activities in the morgue.
“Challenges that I face include the chemicals that we use here. It can harm you if not properly handled because it irritates the skin
“You have to be properly covered to reduce the risk of being harmed… The hospital provides us with milk which helps to clear the any form of chemicals in your body,” she explained.
On handling corpses, Njiru noted that attending to corpses of small children always moves her.
“I have a hard time attending to children because I take them as my own. Sometimes a kid might be brought in in school uniforms and it breaks your heart,” she said.
