Uncelebrated festive season heroes

Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
IT happens almost every year that on 25 December, many workplaces will be deserted with people celebrating Christmas Day with family, relatives and friends at home and yet no-one notices that there are people who have taken it upon themselves to be providing essential services to the country and cannot take leave.

At the country’s hospitals, charge offices, barracks and security companies, orders will be barked with unrestrained eloquence while those seeking services will either be milling around or running around.

And this year things have been a bit different because of the Covid-19 pandemic and still no-one seems to notice let alone salute those who forgo their time with family to serve the nation.

Christmas Day is a normal day at the city’s central hospitals, Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals as nurses and doctors do their rounds while the rest of the city is in a festive mood.

They also belong to families and would have loved to spend the special day with them, but they were bent on containing the situation in the country yet they are forgotten, they are not celebrated especially by those not in need of their services.

UBH officials said the busiest section of their hospital was the maternity section where women came to deliver.

“If you phone the maternity section, you would assume they are ignoring the calls or they are on holiday but that is an extremely busy section during this time and they will be doing an important job of bringing life to the earth. So, the telephone is sometimes left unanswered.

“Currently when women give birth, and they are fine we send them home in 24 hours in order to also contain the Covid-19 virus,” said a nurse who asked not to be named.

Nurses, doctors and even ancillary staff could be seen at the two hospitals doing their usual rounds during the Christmas despite desperately wanting to be merry-making.

A drive around the city’s suburbs revealed that police officers and members of the Zimbabwe National Army were on duty throughout the chilly Christmas night at roadblocks so as to ensure that members of the public were safe.

Police officers on patrol could be seen in many suburbs as they enforced Covid-19 regulations of dispersing gatherings, ensuring Covid-19 safety measures are known to residents and also dealing with unruly elements in the communities.

Several shopping outlets were opened for the better part of the day including pharmacies where the public were able to access medication and other emergency services.

The transport sector faced a number of challenges as volumes of people were high throughout the day, leaving a number of commuters having to wait long periods of time before accessing transport to their various destinations.

That, however, did not stop the operators from continuing with their jobs until the end of day so that others could have a great Christmas Day.

The local city fathers also played their role in ensuring the public had water running from their taps, this was one of the highlights for many who had envisaged a bleak Christmas without water.

“Mrs Loveness Ndaba from Newton West suburb said for her, having water was a relief.

“When I saw water running from my taps, I was very delighted as that was going to be a spoiler for the festivities had it not been restored. We managed to get uninterrupted supply and we are grateful to the Bulawayo City Council and their team for providing us with water. We hope they keep their promise of also supplying water on New Year’s Day,” she said.

The borders were also open for the people to exit and enter despite the massive congestion, delays and subsequent deaths of some travelers.

Immigration officers have been on high alert since the start of the festive season in a bid to ensure smooth passage for traveller.

Not to be outdone were members of the journalism fraternity on standby at their various duty stations ready to give fresh and accurate information to the public. It has been a normal festive season for many newsrooms as reporters, editors, photo and videographers were all at work to serve the public during this period.

While these men and women were not the only ones who provided their essential services from the frontline during the Covid-19 period, they form the bulk of heroes of the festive season as they sacrificed their family time to ensure the public enjoys their holidays. We salute you!
@NyembeziMu