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| Dr Katsamba (right) attends to a patient at Jena Rural Hospital |
Brighton Chiseva
RENCO MINE – The Nyajena
community is happy with the move by the Community Based Aids Programme (CBAP) to
bring doctors to Jena Rural Hospital to attend to villagers free of charge.
CBAP, a faith-based
Non-Governmental Organisation under the auspices of the Reformed Church in
Zimbabwe (RCZ), has rolled out a programme by which it regularly brings doctors
to different clinics in Masvingo Rural District to attend to poor villagers.
On Monday,
November 30, 2020, a doctor worked for the whole day at Jena Rural Hospital where a number of
patients drawn from the local community braved the weather to get medical
attention.
Muchibwa village
head, Benard Muchibwa praised CBAP for the initiative which he said was saving
many lives.
He said most
people in the outlying areas could barely afford to travel to see doctors in
Masvingo or at Morgenster Mission.
“CBAP is doing
us a great service in this area. We are saving on a lot of expenses of
travelling to town or to the mission to consult medical professionals. People often
die because they have been referred to a doctor yet they cannot afford to
travel there and pay the consultation fees.
“Today I have brought
my mother who is not very sick but needs regular check-ups. When she heard that
the doctor, was coming she was happy. That’s what elderly people want and I am
happy that they are getting health care courtesy of CBAP,” said Muchibwa.
Chiedza Chirehwa,
a 79-year-old from Maramba village which lies about 10km from the hospital,
said she was pleased and satisfied by the services she got from the doctor.
“The nurses that
here takes good care of us but having a doctor makes everything better. This is
important to us elderly people who have numerous issues with our health. We
need them to come more often because we the elderly need check-ups regularly. We
thank CBAP for this and should not tire,” said Chirehwa
Nyasha Gotosa, a
youth from the Mashapa area, said when she came to the hospital some time ago,
nurses told her that doctors would soon be available locally to attend to her.
“I could have
been referred to Masvingo Provincial Hospital because of my condition but I was
told to come and see the doctor right here. It saved me time and money, and I
greatly appreciate that,” said Gotosa
Jena Rural
Hospital nurse-in-charge, Emily Mutisi said the initiative had proved to be
critical for the well-being of the surrounding community.
“This is just
one of the many initiatives that CBAP has begun for us but I should say this is
perhaps the most important because it deals with the health of the people. You
need to be healthy first for you to be able to get involved in any other
initiative. From a medical perspective, yes this is a very important programme
for us and we appreciate it a lot,” said Mutisi.
CBAP executive
director Samuel Mhungu said as a Christian organisation, CBAP was doing its
part in contributing to the wellbeing of communities as expected of it.
“Our
organisation works hand-in-hand with the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe, so we have
to practice what we preach. Mobilising doctors for this cause is one of the
many ways by which we can reach out to needy communities that do not have the
adequate means to support themselves in all respects,” said Mhungu.
He said the
organisation intended to widen the programme’s reach by working with all
clinics in Masvingo Rural District before moving to other districts of the
province.
