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Valerie Mpundu
She might as well be Florence Nightingale incarnate. Through her hard work and dedication spanning about five decades, she has given life its real meaning.
She has given nursing its depth of character and, indeed, through tutoring thousands of nurses she professionalised nursing in Zimbabwe.
Today, thousands of midwives working in most of Zimbabwe’s clinics, hospitals and little everywhere else locally and abroad, passed through her hands.
To her be the glory!
Welcome to the world of the effervescent Mrs Margaret Nkomo (nee Bwerudza), the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals principal midwifery tutor, who has left an indelible mark. After 47 years of dedicated service to the health sector, she calls it a day on July 31.
Her name will certainly be entered in the referral hospital’s history books as she retires with her dignity intact, having served generations.
She welcomed us with a contagious smile upon arrival at her offices. The golden-haired, slightly tall, fairly light in complexion and dressed modestly, Mrs Nkomo gave us seats in a neatly decorated office complemented with a nosegay. She took us through her history.
“I am a 65-year-old woman born and bred in Chipinge, Manicaland.
“I started my education there, but got disrupted as the war escalated when I was at Chikore Mission School.
“I was later transferred to Kwenda Mission to further my studies.
“We had no idea where the place was hence sought police assistance to move from one camp to another.
“I was coming from Chibuwe enroute to Enkledoon (Chivhu), moving in a Santana to avoid the landmines.
“I sat for my Ordinary Levels in 1976,” she reminisced vividly.
In 1977, she enrolled for nurse training, courtesy of the Ministry of Health.
“Back then, we were only limited to teaching and nursing professions.
“I was headstrong on becoming a nurse after having failed to proceed to St Augustine’s Mission for Advanced Level due to financial constraints.
“I was instructed to go for an interview at Mpilo Hospital, which I successfully aced. I received an offer to start training in September 1977.
“I always say to people I have trained in three different countries — when I started it was Rhodesia, then it became Zimbabwe-Rhodesia before finally becoming a graduate in Zimbabwe.”
She got married in 1982 to the first Zimbabwean Ambassador to Algeria, Solomon Rakobe Nkomo. The two met while briefly working at a Government hospital. After getting married, she was roped into diplomatic services in Algeria till 1987.
Besides language barriers she faced in the Francophone country, Mrs Nkomo pursued her passion.
“Realising the gap, the Ambassador of Great Britain sought services from within us being Anglophones.
“We got a room from the British Embassy thereby gaining access to a small room with two doctors, two nurses and a therapist,” she recalls.
She also pushed consultative practice from 1983-1986 yet yearning to be a nurse.
When the diplomatic mission ended, Mrs Nkomo returned to Zimbabwe together with husband.
She spent a year job hunting, and eventually secured employment at Silveira Mission in Masvingo.
Mrs Nkomo rendered her service at the mission hospital for 10 years.
“I lost my husband beginning of 1997. Silveria was a Catholic Mission and I belonged to the Reformed Church where my late husband had been serving as a Reverend.
“The gap he left, somehow affected me as I longed to be in church yet could not have anybody take me there.
“I kindly appealed and got transferred to Gutu Mission Hospital, where I worked till 2006.”
Continuing in her great endeavours, she started working at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in 2007 and has been there to date.
Her first port of call was a general nurse training tutor in 2009, tasked to pioneer the Midwifery Training School.
“There was no infrastructure then, we started in the Kangaroo Ward and later moved to these offices in 2014,” she said.
But what is midwifery according to her?
“Being with women. All the care women require before, during pregnancy, and after delivery. The care continues throughout the life span as it supports the family setup and all family members. It also involves issues that affect women, for example, environmental and reproductive health,” highlighted Mrs Nkomo.
Her parting shots were an echoing significance of Florence Nightingale, whom she believes was divinely called as a nurse.
“The burnout will always be there. Be the light, do not plunge patients into darkness. Remember the significance of the light through the pledge you made to serve.”
Many greats have passed through Mrs Nkomo’s hands with former students appreciating having been nurtured under her wings.
School of Midwifery (SOM) educator, Esther Hazvinei Pfigirai, expressed her deepest gratitude for having worked with Mrs Nkomo.
“My first contact with Mrs Nkomo was in 2006 as my tutor.
“I adored everything about her since she was very punctual and quite professional. She taught me humility and prioritising patients,” she said.
Pretty Ndaramba, a sister-in-charge at Mbuya Nehanda Early Labour Ward, echoed her colleague’s sentiments.
“I am a product of Mrs Nkomo. My first encounter with her was in 2011.
“She had this unique way of visualising her explanations, helping me understand better. She had a motherly way of reprimanding us,” Pretty said, before breaking down overcome by emotions of gratitude.
Bernadette Nyarai Mandaza, a senior nursing officer, shared her journey with Mrs Nkomo.
“I was among her first midwifery students at Pari. She imparted great knowledge to us. I would understand midwifery effortlessly.
“I have a strong passion for it now, which she triggered. She is a very down-to-earth being and we appreciate her,” she said.
Mrs Nkomo is a mother of four and is blessed with seven grandchildren.
When all has been said and done, she seeks to retire into poultry farming somewhere out of Harare.
“As you saw, my office is full of plants, I want to focus on nature. Probably open a plant nursery. I am a lover of nature,” she said.
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