The friendly and ever smiling, Phylls Zondani, a health promoter at Site B clinic in Khayelitsha, has made it her mission to change the negative perception many patients have about the clinic.
Ms Zondani, who grew up in Gugulethu but now lives in Khayelitsha, has been praised for her endless efforts to educate patients about health matters, going as far as taking the gospel of health awareness into her social media accounts.
The 52-year-old mother of two has started health Facebook groups in an effort to discuss health matters with a wider audience.
However, her message is not only focused on promoting healthy lifestyles and encouraging people to take their medication; she also wants to motivate people and offer her patients support when they need it because her relationship with her patients does not end at the clinic.
Last year, Ms Zondani was named employee of the year in honour of her unwavering dedication to her work.
Ms Zondani started working for the clinic in 2011 as a breastfeeding peer and in 2016 she was then promoted to health promoter.
But her journey has not been an easy one.
She worked on farms in Stellenbosch for years before she joined a health organisation called Phila in 2004 where she worked until 2010.
Ms Zondani told Vukani she had always been passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles, which is what prompted her to quit her job on the farm to join the organisation. Little did she know that her hard work and perseverance would land a her full time job at the clinic.
Ms Zondani said this job has afforded her a rare opportunity to change people’s lives.
“My work style is flexible. I can easily communicate with the youth and also communicate with old people.
“I speak tsotsi taal with youngsters and that makes it easy for them to talk to me about their issues. My mission was to ensure that patients are not scared to talk about their problems.
“I want patients to feel free at the clinic. I’m here to serve people. Patients should not leave the clinic because of my bad attitude or I have failed to render a service to them,” she said.
Ms Zondani said she hoped patients recognised the efforts of the entire clinic staff to render quality services to patients.
Acting facility matron, Masaka Mdludlu said Ms Zondani had gone beyond the call of duty to bring about much needed change at the facility.