Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
TIRED of walking more than 20km to seek health services in neighbouring communities, villagers in Lubu Ward in Binga have mobilised resources to build a clinic.
They have pooled 2 000 block bricks, river sand, cement and quarry stone and have started constructing a 13-roomed structure which will provide basic primary health services. Lubu Ward 11 is located between Manjolo and Lusulu, near Muchesu where a new coal mine is being opened.
For decades villagers have been walking about 40km to and from the nearest clinic in Muchesu, a situation that was causing high default rates on chronically ill patients, home deliveries for pregnant women, limited access to safe reproductive health services and other related services.
The ward has 11 villages and up to 63 village heads with a combined 1 712 households and a population of 6 463 people, according to officials from the area.
Malaba and Siantibule areas have nine and five village heads, respectively. Lubu Ward 11 Councillor Mackson Mudimba said construction of the clinic could have started five years ago, but was stopped after the Seventh Day Adventist Church approached Binga Rural District Council with an intention to build the clinic on behalf of the community.
After realising that nothing had been done by the church, villagers then resolved to take the initiative and build on their own.
“There is no donor for the project at the moment,” Clr Mudimba said.
“The villagers resolved to build on their own and so far 2 000 block bricks, river sand and quarry stone has been mobilised. For cement, each village head was tasked to buy a bag of cement, which means we mobilised 63 bags of cement.”
He said construction is underway and the building is at window level. Villagers are voluntarily providing labour. The nearest clinic is in Muchesu, about 20km away.
Cllr Mudimba said villagers hope to have maternity, safe reproductive health, family planning, counselling and other primary healthcare services at the new clinic once completed.
He said Lubu is one of the least developed wards in Binga and some villages, like Nkonkoye, had no access to clean water.
Some villages have no borehole and people share water sources with domestic animals putting the whole community at risk of water-borne diseases which have affected the area before.
Cllr Mudimba said the community was appealing for help from well-wishers and Government to build more social amenities.
“We appeal to Government to assist people of Lubu, particularly villages like Nkonkoye. There has been no clinic in Lubu Ward and cases of malaria are always high.
People with chronic illnesses like HIV, diabetes, cancer and hypertension usually default in taking their medication because of distance to the nearest health facility, which is about 23km from the furthest village,” he said.
Binga is one of the districts that have benefited from devolution funds allocated by Government to the local authority and the funds have been used to rehabilitate health facilities and schools among other infrastructure. – @ncubeleon
Online Reporter