At the end of the long hallway was another huge waiting area that faced the Pharmacy windows. That was the end of the treatment line. You sat in that lobby and waited your turn. When you approached the Pharmacy window, you presented your treatment card to the Pharmacist and waited for your medicines. Tablets were dispensed in small brown envelops and the Pharmacist wrote 1×3 meaning 1 tablet three times daily or whatever the instructions were. If they were out of those envelops, they skillfully rolled ordinary paper into a cone shape, similar to those used by hawkers selling njugu karanga (peanuts) in town.
If your prescription was for liquid medication, the Pharmacist asked you for a bottle to pour your medication into. There were no manufacturer dispensed medicines in individual bottles inside some cute boxes like you find these days for Cetamol, Panadol, Calpol and others. Ours came in large quantities of 5 liters and more, and it was up to the Pharmacist to pour out the amounts prescribed by the doctors. Most people back in the day knew to carry a bottle with them whenever they visited the hospital. Those who did not bring one bought from the vendors outside the hospital gate. Those vendors sold all kinds of bottles for that very purpose and they did booming business. Talk of business minds. Provide goods or services that people need and get paid for it. Thats the definition of business.
