A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... :Lifeguard, mahad Edema

After the hustle of being a fisherman for three years, Edema ventured into a new occupation of a lifeguard at Imperial Botanical Hotel. A job that he finds much more fulfilling because of the ‘hero’ role that he plays by saving lives each day. He takes us through a day in his life.

6.30am
I wake up at this time, take a bath and brush my teeth before saying my morning prayers. After, I jog for close to 30 minutes to the beach. There, I do my routine swimming until I reach the deep end. As a lifeguard I have to ensure that I‘m fit and active.

7.30am
I head back home where I freshen up and go for breakfast at a nearby restaurant. After the morning workout, I’m usually so hungry. I take my time since I’m not expected early at work until 9am. After breakfast, I stroll to work where I find people concluding their morning workout in the gym. Then, I clean up both the pool area and gym before I’m ready to receive any customers. Between this time and lunch time a few people come in to be taught how to swim which goes for only Shs10,000 a session.

Noon
This is lunch time, my favourite meal is posho and beans to restore my energy. Lunch is provided by the hotel.
After lunch people start coming in for afternoon swimming. At this time my only job is to look around and ensure everyone is fine. If I see a person bouncing in and out of the water with hands up and on rare occasions shouting, I jump in to save them. But this is not always the case. At times mostly children, are just playing. So, I take a more keen look before I go in for the save.

7pm
Supper is brought in which is also provided by the hotel. After supper, I go back and keep watch because people are usually still around. We officially close at 8.00pm. I lock up the place and head back home. There, I take a bath, perform Isa prayers and go to bed.