Online Reporter
Fadzayi Maposah
Correspondent
As I turned to get to the clinic, I saw them there, seated on the bench, the three of them.
After exchanging pleasantries, they must have noticed my diary because they told me without being asked that they were waiting for their results.
I congratulated them for taking the step of being present.
That was important because they could not assign someone to do that for them. There is no one who can take care of our bodies better than us. While we can assign people tasks around the home or the workplace, the body is a do it yourself territory.
When I walked into the clinic waiting area, what awaited me was beyond my expectation. I have walked into that waiting area on many occasions, but what I saw on Wednesday was a totally new and different view from the door way. I could have walked away thinking that I had gone to the wrong place. I did not walk away. I walked towards the unexpected.
It took a lot of guts as the eyes from the waiting area were all glued on me. I had attended the meeting that had shared what I was walking into. While the levels of optimism were high among those at the meeting, matching those levels of optimism with what prevailed on the ground was truly amazing. Given that at the end of the planning meeting, the parting words were to encourage one another and ensure that all hands were on deck when the chairperson said: “Let us do our best and then see how it goes!”
The flyers were done and then the distribution was for everyone and everywhere. Each and every person who came in contact with the flier did their part.
There is power in talking about something. Someone I met yesterday at the clinic did not even see the flyer, but was there yet I am sure that there are some who saw the flier who did not even come.
Walking into that clinic and seeing different age groups all at the clinic was a “wow”moment for me. All the benches were full. On this day, it was the women who were outnumbered at a place where the males are a rare species. Men were in the majority and happily chatted. I looked at them and was just happy to see men taking control of their health.
I walked around the waiting room, congratulating the men who had made time to take care of their health. I jokingly said to a group that I had thought that there was a soccer screening and I had missed the announcement. The group laughed and said that if it was a soccer screening, the voices would be louder as everyone would be a coach and would be barking instructions.
The day was a platform for men older than 40 years to access free prostate cancer screening services. To qualify, one had to be male and be at least 40 years old. Prostate cancer (a non-communicable disease) is one of the major causes of death among men. Screening for prostate cancer and any other cancer is important and people should make time for screening services.
Health education talks were done by seasoned service providers with a wealth of experience in the area of SRH. Prevention of sexually transmitted infections and condom promotion issues were also discussed. The contraceptives that are available in the country were also discussed and men were encouraged to support their wives and partners as male involvement is very important for contraception. Besides the prostate cancer screening, the men also received free random blood sugar tests.
I had a short talk with Pastor Tapiwa from one of Zimbabwe’s biggest churches. When the message reached his church, he was determined to get the screening done and when he came to the clinic he had not anticipated that there would be such a huge turn out.
He was pleased to see other men taking care of their health. Pastor Tapiwa told me that men were not patient like women.
He said that women would have come prepared to see many others and would have planned accordingly. I was informed that probably the majority who had come had told themselves that there would be a few men.
Pastor Tapiwa’s suggestion was that in future the free screening services could be done during the weekends and also at places most frequented by men so that many could benefit from the services. He added that it being a working day, some men may not have been able to attend due to work commitments.
Next to Pastor Tapiwa was Mukoma Tawanda, who said that he had gone to the wrong clinic at first, but that did not stop him from getting the services as he simply got onto another commuter omnibus.
Mukoma Tawanda said he could think of many men who could have benefitted but had been unable to attend.
Men can be anxious about many issues, including their health. Having safe spaces where they access non-judgmental services with respect and dignity is critical for improving health outcomes.
It is about allowing them to be human with no expectation of “manning” up!
