Emmanuel OyierI have heard people on the internet casting aspersions on socializing at the workplace throwing around quotes like “I am here to work, not to make friends.”
“Not everyone at your workplace is your friend. Do your job. Get paid. Go home.”
While it is admirable that one can be so focused on meeting company targets, making money, or creating impact, the truth is most of these ambitions remain a mirage if we do not foster social ties in their pursuit.
Coffee breaks that saved lives
The company I work for, a nonprofit that saves thousands of lives of women and children in rural Kenya, was conceptualized in 1995 when three colleagues- a nurse midwife and two obstetrician-gynecologists would meet over coffee breaks and have banter on the kind of cases they were seeing in Kenyatta National Hospital’s maternity ward.
As their social ties grew, they realized that most of the critical cases they were handling at one of East Africa’s largest hospitals regarding birth complications and other reproductive issues were emanating from the larger West Kenya where they all hailed from. They were in agreement that something had to be done back home.
That is how Kisumu Medical and Education Trust was established to offer interventions that integrate reproductive health in all community development issues and improve the quality of care offered by primary health facilities.
Business and Friendship
Orals East Africa, though conceptualized by friends who met in college, the platform has modeled a financial lifeline that is largely fuelled by networks and social ties that were made in the newsroom and the development sectors where we have worked for a decade.
Two weeks ago, while on assignment I was homesick and exhausted. I had spent two weeks away from family in two different counties and was staring at two more weeks in Marsabit County, but all for a good cause-saving lives from preventable causes of maternal deaths.
As if they knew of my predicament, my colleagues who reside in the County invited me and two of us who had traveled from the headquarters for a Saturday lunch at the Marsabit National Park & Reserve.
We gladly obliged, taking a break from our laptops, report jargon, training slides et al.
Surgeon, chef, deejay and a bag of beans
I was awed. Humphrey the clinical officer in the team single-handedly slaughtered and skinned a goat with a surgeon's precision before proceeding to make a delicious soup of it that we used to accompany the nyama choma, mutura, and liver fry that we nibbled on throughout the day into the night.
Oburu the Data Officer, turned out to be a great chef and disk jockey. Having spent only one year in the region he treated the crowd to a mastery of Borana, Rendile, and Ethiopian hits occasionally throwing in a Prince Indah and Odongo swag at the behest of our hosts who included a Ministry of Health official, community health promoters, and some of the medics we partner with.
During the session, we had eye-opening conversations that deepened our understanding of each other’s cultures, individual beliefs, and personal aspirations, and some members got to learn certain aspects of the work we were primarily assigned to do in the region in newer and better perspectives than they have never in the office.
Through the conversations, we learned that one of us had business ties in the cereals industry and gave the three of us a referral to purchase a bag of beans that costed us less than half the price they are sold at in Nyanza. Another colleague, Beatrice while having a conversation on farming connected me to a supplier and transporter of dairy cow silage in Eldoret at an unbeatable price and competitive transport costs.
We ate, had fun, and took a few pictures for the memories. If you have a team-building activity or social events you should consider Seamless Frames Studio- the photography wing of this platform for your coverage.
We closed the day in high spirits temporarily forgetting our weekend blues and ready for the task that awaited in the coming weeks.
All in all, I believe it is inevitable to have social ties and make friends at the workplace, everyone just needs to establish boundaries to create healthy and productive relationships while at it.
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