adminWITH a bucket of water on her head, she violently fell on the rocky ground and began to bleed profusely, only for some Good Samaritans to come to her rescue. They rushed her to the clinic which was just a kilometre away. Within a few minutes, she delivered a bouncing baby boy.
Apparently, this is the gruelling experience which Ntandoyenkosi Maseko from Matsholomotshe area in Gwanda, Matabeleland South Province will never forget after nurses at Silalatshani Clinic made her endure that ordeal after they sent her together with other expecting mothers to fetch water at a nearby river before they attended to them.
This was despite the fact that Maseko had not rested after having walked about 30 kilometres from her village to Silalatshani Clinic in Insiza Distrct.
“It is the day I will never forget,” she said with a sober voice, adding: “Life was just horrible. For one to get treatment we were told to bring 20 litres of water and when I was about to deliver, as the norm, I went to fetch water from the river which is about five kilometres away from the clinic and I didn’t know that it was my day of delivery.”
With her baby in her hands, she hailed her circumstance as a “Lazarus moment” and her voice eerily thin as she thanked God for the child which she nearly lost.
“To me that was my last day. I was nearly reduced to an animal which gives birth anywhere. It is a miracle that I am alive,” she said, with her eyes glued to her baby boy. “It is through the grace of God that I am alive and this is the reason why I had to name my son Siyabonga (we thank you). We are simply thanking God for our lives.”
However, Maseko is not the only one who went through a similar predicament as other villagers and expecting mothers from Matsholomotshe and other surrounding areas were forced to walk close to 40 kilometres to seek medication at Silalatshani Clinic which they were regarding as their nearest health institution.
Relief, however, came in 2013 with the construction of Silikwe Clinic in neighbouring Gwanda District, thanks to the Community Share Ownership Trust/Scheme, the brainchild of President Mugabe. Silikwe Clinic was built by Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust. Four staff houses with piped water were also constructed. The Trust received $5 million seed capital from companies in the area which are Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC), Blanket Mine, Jessie Mine and Farvick Mine all in Gwanda District.
The clinic provides all health care services which include maternal and child health, HIV and Aids, malaria, TB and non-communicable diseases. A total of 2 856 households with a population of 12 100 benefit from this clinic.
Through ownership schemes, the Government seeks to economically empower citizens and this ensures that the majority of Zimbabweans participate and benefit directly from the country’s vast natural resources.
While some clinics run out of medicines, for Silikwe, villagers are over the moon as they have never experienced shortages of medicines. With the scorching summer sun, chickens scurry for cover as the car approaches and close to 10 kilometres away from the health facility, the news crew met Mr Simbarashe Chinodakufa.
A seemingly relieved father of two from Zhukwe East, Mr Chinodakufa (41) said health care has been an area of primary concern for villagers.
“It was very disturbing to see pregnant mothers walking long distances to get treatment or deliver. Not all women who were travelling for those 30 or so kilometres came back alive or with children in their hands. Some women experienced or suffered complications after having walked the long distance to Silalatshani Clinic. Some even ended up dying along the way or at the clinic as there will be no specialist doctors to timely attend to them,” he said.
The clinic is one of the many projects which the Trust has built. The Ownership Trust also renovated Mapate and Sitezi Clinics. Silikwe, Mapate and Sitezi Clinics were built at a cost of $279 847, $106 331 and $138 316 respectively.
In trying to improve food security, the Trust refurbished Guyu-Chelesa and Sukwi irrigation schemes which officials says are operating at full capacity. Guyu-Chelesa and Sukwi irrigation schemes were rehabilitated at a cost of $229 818 and $153 480 respectively.
On the education front, five schools, Ntepe, Mzimuni, Selonga, Sibona and Gungwe High schools got new state-of-the-art science laboratories with each costing $161 000. Classroom blocks were also built in five schools at a combined tune of $170 000 while two schools got furniture at a combined value of $44 000.
However, construction of clinics has been the biggest project the scheme undertook which had a multiplier effect as 10 more schools were electrified. Of all their projects, Silikwe Clinic stood the ground as a life saver.
“Many lives have been saved by this clinic,” said Mr Sithembinkosi Sithole (53) from Ward Two in Gwanda South Constituency. “Our children have been walking for close to 25 kilometres to either Gwanda or Silalatshani. They would wake up at 4am and arrive at 10am and will be expected to return the same day. There are many children I know in my ward who were born by the roadside after their mothers failed to arrive at the clinic on time. Some women were dying along the way due to complications which needed specialist doctors.”
Latest statistics provided by United Nations in Zimbabwe say the country has done well to reduce child and maternal mortalities. The country reduced child mortality rate from 94 deaths per 1 000 live births in 2009 to 75 deaths per 1 000 live births in 2014, and maternal mortality ratio by about one third from 960 per 100 000 live births in 2009 to 614 in 2014 against a target of two thirds by year end.
In a round hut with the sun streaming through the two-layered brick-sized window and cocks crowing in the yard, village head Elijah Ndlovu said, however, most villagers were not aware what community share ownership schemes were all about until the work began.
“This is the day we have been looking for, the day where we could look back and rejoice. We were once treated as slaves but all that is history. Women are now safely delivering, which is good for the community and nation as well. I have been at the clinic on several occasions and I am yet to be told that there is no medication. We are grateful for this clinic because it is addressing most of our needs. During immunisation programmes, due to distance and long, winding queues in both clinics which we used to go to, some were not taking their children for immunisation. At the moment, we are just getting everything we need at our door steps.”
The chairperson of the trust, Chief Mathe said the Trust will continue spearheading developmental projects in line with the country’s economic blue print, Zim Asset.
“Health care has been an area of concern in the province hence we are moving with speed to address that matter. It was hard for people to get treatment and this is the reason why we built three clinics to address the crisis,” said Chief Mathe.
“As you are aware, recently we commissioned a laboratory at Ntepe High School with the aim of improving the science pass rate. In fact, there are four schools with such a state-of-the-art laboratory and that is not the end. We are yet to sit down as the community and come up with plans for projects to be rolled out next year.”
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu