
Chronicles of a Caregiver In Nigeria
Chronicles of Caregiver in Nigeria
I am Anthonia, a caregiver in Lagos, Nigeria. As a child I had thought babies were the only ones that needed care; all that changed when my father was sick and bedridden my mindset changed. I became exposed to a whole new world of elderly care.
As a caregiver working in Nigeria where structured caregiving for our senior citizens hasn't been fully embraced, I would say it has been a very bumpy road with few obstacles on the way, so it was important to work for a Care company that was futuristic and aimed for international standards, then came St. Michael's Care Services Limited.
Working for St. Michael's Care Services Limited has been a worthwhile ride I do not have to struggle with getting any equipment to work with or struggling with communication on the job or been heard or having to wait 24 hours for a complaint to be resolved it's always immediately (Marvin’s Flash lol).
Starting with St Michael's Care Services Limited was cut clean with the Companion Care with clients in different sides of the State which I feared may be a problem for me then my Company with its organized team came through for me by making it easy to navigate and accommodate all clients and it's been a smooth ride all the way. One would think they have seen it all but like the saying in the Care world goes "NO TWO DAYS ARE THE SAME".

Live-in care is Care given to a client in their own home. I was excited when the opportunity to provide full live-in care became open.
Met my client's family member and the service user and I got entrapped by their cool and happy welcome. A week into the job and the big challenge materialized abusive family members and I said to myself that was a challenge am willing to beat. My client was easygoing and fun to be with despite the difference in language we got on so well also drawn into family membership then I reminded myself I had to be professional and remembered the boundaries.
The following weeks didn't get better, each day came with one hurdle or the other which had nothing to do with the execution of my duties. There were nights I got so scared to sleep or I got up in the mornings shaking with fear of which verbal abuse I would face, a month looked like a year. I suffered both emotional and mental meltdown but for the love, patience, and passion of the job I kept going till my duty time was over and it was a very big relief and I said to myself "if living in care is like this, then it's not for me" then the word "NO TWO DAYS ARE THE SAME" hit me and I said that was a challenge I passed if I could take all that without it affecting my job as Caregiver, then "bring it on".
I had some meltdown that took me time to get over but for the love of the job and the smiles on my client's faces healed me. Bouncing like a new ball I am back to work after a month of rest and healing. However, in all these challenges, one thing stood out for me, the constant support and encouragement from my management.
Working as a Caregiver is tasking, balancing emotions with professionalism, but we are human and cannot help being emotional. The same goes with boundaries, one lives with a client who could be one’s Grandparents, mother, father, sisters, or brothers who took you in as a family member and dealing with the struggles of the Nigerian society not ready for the role of this daunting yet rewarding profession. A boundary a Caregiver struggles with, but it gets better by the day.
Caregiving is a Passion that I have turned to a Career, and I am LOVING EVERY BIT OF IT.
Written by
Anthonia Bola Iriah