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Souls Mission Hospital corridors.
She negotiates her way from the canteen to her office.
Clad in a white dress, navy blue jersey and a comfortable pair of shoes, the old woman seems to be in a hurry to get to her office.
Meet Dr Mary Elena Pesaresi, who is of Italian extraction, and is the longest-serving doctor at the mission hospital.
She greets us as she limps to her office.
The nurse at the reception area tells us to run after the old woman and talk to her before she starts attending to patients.
“She values her patients and I bet that she will attend to them before talking to you if you delay.
“You will have to wait until lunch time if you miss this opportunity,” the nurse warns.
Following the nurse’s advice, photographer William Mafunga and I race to Dr Pesaresi’s office and introduce ourselves.
She tells us to wait as she opens a door which links her office to a waiting room to make sure that there are no patients queuing outside before she attends to us.
“I do not like patients to wait outside while I am talking to you two,” she confirms what we have heard earlier.
“I want them to be treated because this is the reason I am here,” she says as she looks for her cellphone from underneath a heap of papers and makes what she says is an important and urgent call.
Our eavesdropping tells us she is angry and wants to know why one of the hospital officials has not yet made a certain important application with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.
She makes it clear that she wants the job done.
After being satisfied that there are no patients outside, and that she has attended to all important matters, she lets us in on her now legendary life.
Dr Pesaresi says she left her native Italy for Zimbabwe in 1963 as a volunteer soon after her qualification as a doctor, and her first stint was at Harare Central Hospital where she was a surgeon in the maternity department.
Another Italian doctor who came to Zimbabwe alongside her was the late Dr Maria Grazia Buggiani who died last month at the age of 80.
Dr Buggiani was a paediatrician who at the time of her death was based at St Michael’s Mission Hospital in Mhondoro as the resident doctor.
“I was doing the maternity ward surgeries during daytime and at night I was on call in surgery.
“I enjoyed the job because in Italy I concentrated on theory, but never had any practical experience. I came to Harare Hospital purely for training,” she said.
She worked at Harare Hospital before moving to Zambia in 1970 working there until 1982.
“Dr Buggiani and I were in Zambia for 10 years treating people who had been attacked by lions in the wilderness,” she said.
Both Dr Pesaresi and Buggiani were to come back to Zimbabwe in 1982, after the late Roman Catholic Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa told them that the Government was looking for doctors to work in rural areas.
“I did not think twice about relocating, though I knew exactly what lay ahead of us, judging from past experiences. I moved to All Souls Mission at the end of 1982 and have been here ever since,” she said.
She said she left Italy for Africa to help people because she believes the best thing to do in life is to assist others.
“She said because of her passion to help others, she is doing a lot of work to help poor children in need of heart surgery.
“We are doing a big project of helping children who have heart problems.
“Since 1985 more than 200 children have gone to Italy for heart operations free of charge. Their only worry is getting a passport.
“The last group that went to Italy left on June 8, 2011.
“There were two mothers and four children.
“We used to have heart surgeons coming from America, but they no longer come,” she said.
She said All Souls Mission was the first hospital to use anti retroviral treatment on people living with HIV and Aids.
“There was a donor who gave us the first medicines, but now most of the treatment we are giving is coming from the Government,” she said.
Because of her religion, Dr Pesaresi has never been married.
“You think a husband is coming to Africa. I am still not married and have dedicated my life to helping others,” she said lightheartedly.
Despite having never married, the nun is a proud mother of three adopted children.
“I have children given to me by the people. For example a mother was dying and gave me three children to look after 20 years ago.
“The mother was coming from Mozambique and was very sick. She had three children and I sent them to school.
“The boy learnt carpentry; the two girls studied how to be good wives by taking embroidery and sewing classes. The three are all working at the hospital,” she said.
Dr Pesaresi said when she came to Zimbabwe the language barrier was a problem.
For instance, she did not get sufficient time to learn Shona because she had to quickly move to All Souls Mission.
“Dr Luisa Guiddotti who was the resident doctor here died three years before I arrived and there was no resident doctor.
“They had to bring me here urgently. I learnt a bit of Shona and now I know how to greet people and ask if they are sick or not.
“Initially I needed an interpreter but between July 1963 and January 1964 I would travel to Musami Mission to learn the way of living of Africans.
“They believed a lot in witchcraft and whenever they fell sick would say they had been bewitched especially when they were in the bush,” she revealed.
Asked if she has a role model, Dr Pesaresi takes the opportunity to speak of her own achievements.
“I have a lot of prizes, 12 of them and I am a very important person,” she said with a wide smile. Below are her achievements:
- 1982 accorded the title of “Cavaliere” (knight) of Italian Republic.
- 1993 received a nomination of “personaggio riminese dell’anno” (Rimini character of the year)
- 1994 was accorded a national “laica missionaria dell’anno” (lay missionary of the year) from the organisation “Cuore Amico”
- 1995 she had the title of “Cavaliere Ufficiale” (official knight) of Italian Republic.
- 1997 the Rotary Club of Rimini gave her the title of “Paul Harris”
- 1999 she won the price of “Sigismondo D’oro from her home town and the title of DAMA of S Silvester from the Vatican
- 2001 given the prize “Premio per la Vita a Valverde, Sicily (Award for life in Valverde).
- 2003 became “Donna dell’Anno” (Woman of the Year) in Val d’Aosta.
- 2005 awarded the prizes of “Mimosa d’oro” a S Giovanni la Punta (Sicily) and Soroptimiste ‘Donna dell’Anno’ (Soroptimist ‘Woman of the Year’)
- 2006 she won the prize of Pio Manzu from her town
- 2007 she had the title of “Commendatore” (Commander) of Italian Republic.
- 2008 she received special recognition in the Auxilia Chimusoro Awards.
“The last prize which is like an Oscar, and was given to me last month in Italy and my brothers collected it for me because I could not go there. They are all for the good work I do,” she said.
Since she came to Zimbabwe and did the same work with Dr Buggiani, Dr Pesaresi said the latter’s passing on made her sad.
“But, when I saw her for the last time I prayed to God that she died because she was suffering too much.
“She was really sick because she had cancer of the liver and went to Italy for chemotherapy but there were no good results.
“I admired her, she was a very strong person but very humble,” she said.
Dr Pesaresi revealed that her family comes to visit her regularly.
“For example they also bring people to come and see how the Africans are living and offer to help us a lot,” she said.
Her favourite place in Zimbabwe is the Mana Pools.
“I love Mana Pools because the first time I went to Chirundu I was treating patients near Mana Pools,” she says.
Dr Pesaresi is very secretive when it comes to her age. She lets her wisdom tell the story of the lifetime she has lived.
“I am like all women I don’t want to say my age. I cannot tell you. It is not nice to ask a lady how old they are. I am not telling you even if you trick me by asking the year I was born.
“I am not young. Actually it is time for me to go away from Zimbabwe and rest.
“I want to retire, it is time to retire, but I don’t know when, but anytime now.
“The community will be happy that I am going because they are not social. I like things done well.
“People especially nurses are supposed to do their job well.
“If you do a nursing job you need to love your work, the same as a doctor, you need to be like to be a doctor,” she joked referring to her strict regime which has not gone down well with some.
Dr Pesaresi is the third child in a family of nine.
One of her brothers is a medical doctor; the other a lawyer and others retired teachers.
If not at work, Dr Pesaresi spends her time resting and knitting.
“I love knitting and can knit very well. I also enjoy cooking and can make the best Italian dishes.
“My favourites are the Italian tagliatelle and chicken, roasted beef and pizza. My favourite pizza is magherita,” she said.
She says she has lost count of the number of patients she attends to per year and adds that most of them come from Harare and from as far as Bulawayo.
Elizabeth Mudzinyama who was adopted by Dr Pesaresi since she was eight years old described her as a good and fine mother.
She said Dr Pesaresi has been a mother figure to her and raised her to be a good woman, mother and wife.
“I have lots of praises for her as she made me what I am after our mother died.
“I thank her for opening her life to us and for the work she is doing at this hospital,” said Mudzinyama.
Locals also had a lot to say about Dr Pesaresi.
Retired teacher, 73-year-old Mr Alois Chimhanda of Chabvuta Village just opposite All Souls Mission said Dr Pesaresi is a good person who brought development to their area.
He said when Dr Pesaresi joined the hospital, it had only three thatched huts and she sourced money to develop it.
Mr Chimhanda added that as an individual, the community relies on the doctor, especially children with heart ailments.
“She has saved the lives of many children who she has taken to Italy for heart operations because of her good relationship with the community.
“We hear that Dr Pesaresi is respected in Italy that whenever she asks for money they give her. At one time, 17 Italians came here to visit and see if they could help,” he said.
He said they are happy she trained a lot of doctors now resident at the hospital and in the event that she has left, her legacy will live on.
“We will however be affected if she leaves and do not want to lose her. She loves our community that is why she is still doing her job despite being old,” he added.
Mr Chimhanda revealed that long back villagers put their resources together and held a party to thank Dr Pesaresi for her good work.
“Her relatives also came and we had a good time celebrating her good deeds. We are thinking of throwing another party for her,” he added.
Another local and former cook at All Souls Mission, Mrs Christine Katsande (70) of Gadzai Village also spoke well of Dr Pesaresi.
Mrs Katsande who joined the hospital as a cook for student nurses from 1994 to 2004 said Dr Pesaresi is someone who has helped her during her time there.
“She brought a lot of development to the hospital. I will cry if she leaves the hospital because even if you are sick and do not have money, she will tell you to bring a goat as payment.
“What I like is that the goats are not taken by any of the staff but are slaughtered for the patients admitted there,” she said.
A nurse who declined to be named said Dr Pesaresi is strict and wants people to do their work well. According to the nurse, Gogo, as they affectionately call her is particular about the way they speak, handle and relate to patients.
“She is a no-nonsense woman and will quickly correct you if you do something wrong. She wants us to treat all patients equally and give them the respect they deserve.
“But above all, she is the heart and soul of this hospital,’ she said.
The story of her work and life is aptly summed by Mother Theresa’s quote: “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”
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Online Reporter