Vusumuzi Dube
Sihlobesihle Baffana, Sunday News Reporter
A GROUP of youths from the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) last Sunday held a health expo in Pumula North, Bulawayo aimed at availing the community an opportunity to partake in various health checks.
The youths who attend Pumula North’s Riverside SDA church, held the expo as part of the church’s Global Youth Day, which is commemorated annually, where young people from around the world join together to share love and hope to those who are alone.
The programme was running under the theme ” Caring for the body as a living sacrifice”, with over 150 youths and elders from Pumula attending.
In an interview with Sunday News, one of the event organisers, Mr Langathelo Mlilo, who is a nurse at Mpilo Central Hospital said the aim of the expo was to ensure that the Pumula community gets health services so as to know their health status.
“What we had today (Sunday) were Covid-19 vaccinations, Cervical cancer screening, BP checking, HIV tests, sugar test, and other health checks, which normally would be attainable in hospitals. We wanted to ensure that the Pumula North community as a whole gets health services for free.
“We had partners like New Start who came on board and we are extremely grateful for their support. In total, we had over 150 people that came through hence we are satisfied with the outcome,” said Mr Mlilo.
One of the participants at the event, Mrs Sibongile Mhanje said the expo had availed them an opportunity to get certain health services that they would have normally paid for.
“This expo has been a resounding success because we got a lot from it, for example, some of us had not yet got the Covid-19 booster jab and today we got it. It is our wish that we could be availed with more of these opportunities,” she said.
Online Reporter