Fadzayi Maposah
Correspondent
“Kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi.”
I have no diction how best to really translate these three words into English without losing its complete meaning.
These words have been coming to mind many times this week. The three words have been coming both at good and at bad moments.
On Wednesday morning, I sat in a commuter omnibus and watched a young man approach the conductor and show him a five dollar note that he had. I heard the young man say that he wanted to check with the conductor if the note was good so that he would not have any challenges once he was on the commuter omnibus.
The conductor then referred him to another young man who stood by the commuter omnibus, who said that he would take the note as long as it was not torn.
He took the note, put it up and then examined it and when he was satisfied that it was not torn, he started giving the young man five one-dollar notes. No drama, just three young men helping out one another. Kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi.
Same day, one older woman probably my peer, complaining that she was not being attended to as fast as she had expected in a little booth where people sought to cash out their money.
It was hot, the woman said and continuing with the pace that the girls in the shop were going, someone was bound to faint.
One of the young women calmly apologised and said that the mobile phone network was slow and it required patience as they were doing the best that they could. So why then were the girls seemingly happy yet the queue was not moving, my peer asked.
One of the girls explained that one had to follow the prompts that would appear on the phone so as to complete each transaction.
The other girl politely asked my peer to step out and promised that she could come back as her position approached the teller for service. My peer still refused that offer.
A young woman walked into the kiosk and now we were five in the short queue. She asked if we had been waiting long and before she could even answer, my peer said that we had waited long and it seemed that both the girl serving people in the cash out queue and the network were committed to making all of us wait.
At that moment, the one who was being served, completed their transaction and as he was being given his money, an older man who was next in line, stepped back and beckoned to my peer to come forward and be served.
My peer quickly stepped forward. Suddenly she was bubbly and very cheerful as she thanked the man who paved the way for her.
The girl at the till did not even change her countenance, she continued to be friendly. Then the mobile network played up and my peer said “network iyi” (this network).
After waiting a bit her transaction was completed. Kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi. When she walked out the girls did not say anything about her, but continued to serve their clients. Kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi.
It seems that the girls in the kiosk are used to dealing with not so easy clients, the word to avoid is difficult. They continued with their work and with a greeting, smile and general casual talk as they served each client. Then a thank you and a have a good day when the service provision is done.
I was thinking of these words, kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi when I was seated with some women and the issue of breast cancer screening came up.
One asked where she could get breast cancer screening. One woman looked horrified as if a vulgar question had just been asked.
Then the next words that came out of her mouth threw me off balance. “Who does not know where to get screened in this day and age?” she asked. My mind screamed and I was happy that my mouth remained closed. I am always amazed at how people respond when others ask questions. There are always information gaps and when one has information they should never assume that everyone knows.
I was relieved when another woman with an expressionless face, began to share places where breast cancer screening services can be accessed. Kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi.
Another woman then shared that her aunt had gone for cancer screening and had been referred for further management. “So what did further management mean?” the woman who had been horrified asked again.
The one who had talked about the further management said that she had not asked many questions, but had assured her aunt of support should she need any. She said that what she had heard was that after the breast examinations or the first clinical consultation one can be referred for either a scan or mammogram.
The “horrified” woman then asked what a mammogram was. Kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi. It was surprising to hear her ask this given that she had been shocked that there were still some people who had no idea where to get screened. When she had gone for screening services had she not received health information that talked about referral and management after screening services? No one hit back with that question though.
Then one of the women began a free lesson on a scan that can be done after a breast examination. She had not participated in the conversation before that but when she spoke, she showed that she had a lot of information. As she shared the information she did not demean anyone as she articulated issues. She was humble in the process. As I listened, I was amazed. She had information at her fingertips. As she spoke I asked myself how many organisations are aware that they have people they do not know about who are taking their issues and their work further?
These people loaded with critical health information are contributing to information dissemination. As the month of October, Pinktober comes to an end, it is not the end of breast cancer awareness.
Women and men will continue to be affected and the issues around breast cancer are not time bound. People are affected differently and in reaching out to them, empathy and humility will take us far.
When people say kuzvara kwevamwe vakadzi, may it mean that they are happy and made comfortable by what you will have done!
Today is the last day of the 10th month of 2026, how are you taking care of your health?
