adminDOGS, no matter the breed, wild or domesticated, remain man’s best friend.
The adage: “A dog is a man’s best friend”, may not just be a saying but an honest truth.
Although whoever coined the adage may not have had African wild dogs in mind, parts of Hwange district in Matabeleland North province today testify to the wild creatures fitting the description implied in the saying.
The African wild dogs also known as painted dogs or Cape hunting dogs have brought massive transformation to lives of many Hwange villagers, thus presenting themselves as more than just man’s best friend, but a saviour too.
While for many other communities wild dogs may be nothing more than ordinary untamed wild predators, villagers in Hwange’s Mabale area ward 17, have the dogs to thank for their improved access to primary health care.
African hunting dogs are endangered and faced with shrinking room to roam due to human expansion activity, threatening their continued existence in the process.
The dogs are also quite susceptible to diseases that are spread by domestic animals and sometimes fall victim to lions and other wild predators which also prey on them, particularly the injured and old.
An international non-governmental organisation, which aptly called itself Painted Dogs Conservation, is working on preserving the wild dogs by setting up a rehabilitation centre for the animals in Hwange.
The centre, situated in Hwange for the specific reason that the area is one of last strongholds of the species in the continent, provides refuge for old and injured dogs, against the cut throat dog-eat-dog nature of the jungle.
Injured and old dogs usually find the jungle a little harsh for them as they may not be able to keep up with the rest of the pack in hunting for food, neither would they be able to fend off attacks from other wild predators.
The painted dogs rehabilitation centre habours old dogs until such a time when they meet their natural fate, while the injured are treated and rehabilitated before being released back into the wild to join other dogs.
The Painted Dogs Conservation project also works with local communities, educating them on the importance of preserving endangered species such as the African wild dog.
Painted dogs are known for being very social, and packs sometimes share food to assist weak or ill members.
The Painted Dogs Conservation project in Hwange, perhaps emulating the African wild dogs’ altruistic disposition, has extended its benevolence beyond the wild creatures to the local communities which interact with the animals on a daily basis.
The organisation has embarked on a number of developmental projects in the district, some that have brought along massive transformation to the lives of the district’s habitants.
Among the projects the organisation has embarked on is assisting in the provision of primary health care to the Hwange community.
Painted Dogs Conservation has, with the help of Government and local community leaders, helped in the refurbishment of five clinics in Hwange namely, Makwandara, Pote, Songwe, Dete and Mabale.
The clinics which were in deplorable conditions were renovated, extended and equipped, and are now able to offer basic health care services to the respective communities they serve, thanks to the dogs.
Refurbishment and equipping of the clinics has saved the people from the area from travelling long distances to Lupane, Dete or Hwange town to get basic health care services and essential drugs.
The drugs are now right at the door step of the rural folk.
Travelling long distances by ox-drawn scotch carts to seek medical assistance is no longer a part of the lifestyle of rural folk in Hwange district as Painted Dogs Conservation recently bought an ambulance which services the five clinics and is used to ferry patients who would have been referred to bigger health facilities in Hwange or Bulawayo.
Painted Dogs Conservation Aids co-ordinator Mr Dominic Nyathi, told journalists during a recent tour of the area that his institution was now looking at expanding its community development work in the area.
“When we came in a few years ago the situation was really not pleasant. People used to travel for more than 100km to get medical attention because their clinics were not functional. With the assistance of Government and the local leadership we were able to renovate and equip the clinics that were existing at that time. We also constructed one from the ground.
“The lives of people from this community have improved a great deal and we are looking at expanding our work to initiate other developmental projects,” he said.
The NGO has also built waiting shelters at all the five clinics for expecting mothers, a development that has helped reduce home deliveries and consequently maternal mortality in the area.
Sunday News caught up with 20-year-old Ms Sithokozile Mpofu at Mabale clinic, who was waiting to deliver her second child, and she expressed gratitude at the gesture by Painted Dogs Conservation to build a waiting mother’s shelter at the clinic.
“I gave birth to my first child at home but now because we have a waiting shelter here I was able to come and wait for my delivery, while at the same time the nurses will be taking care of me. I think this reduces the risk of either me or the child dying during delivery.
“As a community we are really thankful and appreciate the work that Painted Dogs Conservation have done here,” she said.
One of the many noteworthy developments brought by Painted Dogs Conservation to the area, which also complements Government efforts in the fight against HIV, is that all primary care nurses at the five clinics now initiate people living with HIV on Antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Apart from capacitating nurses to be able to initiate people on Art, the organisation has also procured a CD4 count machine which is shared by the five clinics on a rotational basis.
With the availability of the CD4 count machine, ARVs, HIV counseling and testing facilities and broader primary health care facilities, Hwange’s rural folk now have one stop health facilities in their area, thanks to the dogs.
“We have assisted in upgrading drug rooms at all the five clinics and we still help in the procurement of drugs. We also helped furnish the clinics, buying critical equipment and buying linen, beds and stationery,” said Mr Nyathi.
Because of the painted dogs, the Hwange community will never be the same again.
The work being done by Painted Dogs Conservation could not have come at any time better than now when the Ministry of Health and Child Care is frantically working on decentralising the administering of ART by training nurses to start initiating the therapy to people living with HIV.
The Ministry of Health is also working on decentralising certain services from referral and central hospitals, down to clinics, in an effort to bring the services closer to the people and decongest the bigger health institutions.
Online Reporter