Ngoni Donald Muzofa
Six Canadians will this month cycle 500km over five days to raise money for the construction of a maternal and infant health wing at Gutu Mission Hospital.
Dubbed ‘Ride For Gutu Mission Hospital’, the initiative is the brainchild of Dr Peter Agwa, the executive director of EMAS Canada – a Christian medical missions non-profit organization based in Burlington, Ontario about 50km from Toronto.
EMAS Canada was founded in 1948 and specialises in short-term medical mission trips and healthcare training among other activities around the world.
In Zimbabwe, EMAS Canada already supports the operations of Karanda Mission Hospital by deploying volunteers who serve on short-term medical missions trips every year at the Mt Darwin-based health centre.
Dr Agwa, who was a physician and surgeon in his native Kenya, is one of the six cyclists along with the only Zimbabwean on the team, Chi Mandivenga.
The other participants are Gary Aikema, Tracy Robb, Wally Boonstra, Wil Bartels, and Nick Scholtens.
The ride will start on September 12 in Burlington which is about 60km away from Toronto. It will end on September 16 about 500km away in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, at the Zimbabwe embassy.
Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Canada, Ruth Chikwira, is expected to welcome the cyclists upon their arrival.
Located in the sprawling town of Mupandawana in Masvingo province, Gutu Mission Hospital is owned by the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ).
With 165 inpatient beds, it is the referral centre for 250 000 people and serves as the first port of call for medical emergencies from 30 smaller satellite clinics in Gutu district.
Maternity is the hospital’s busiest department and it is the only facility in the area with a capacity for caesarean deliveries. The hospital handles one-third of all in-hospital deliveries in the district and has a nursing school.
Dr Agwa visited Gutu Mission Hospital in 2019 and the dire state of the hospital’s maternity facilities prompted him to action.
Zimbabwe is one of 15 countries on the Fragile States Index that still has high maternal mortality ratios (MMR). According to UNICEF and Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, the country’s MMR is estimated at 462 deaths per 100,000 live births as of 2019.
The maternal mortality rate in Zimbabwe is more than 40 times that of Canada which was estimated at 10/100,000 live births, while in South Africa it was about 120/100,000 as per World Health Organisation (WHO) data.
WHO Global Health Expenditure Database indicates that in 2019 Canada allocated approximately US$5,048 per capita for health while Zimbabwe’s US$103 per capita was significantly below regional averages. South Africa allocated about US$547 per capita.
“I am riding to help improve the health of mothers and their newborns in rural Zimbabwe. The 500-plus kilometres from Burlington to Ottawa over five days will be my toughest cycling challenge ever. I’m doing this to raise money for training hospital workers later this year: Like a famous king from long ago (Biblical King David): I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing,” SAID Dr Agwa.
For her part, Chi Mandivenga (who will participate during the first day) said she joined the ride for very personal reasons
“I am riding for mothers and babies in Zimbabwe to have a better chance at survival,” said Mandivenga.
She urged Zimbabweans and other well-wishers to support the initiative adding she was doubly motivated because her mother was born at the mission hospital, which is about 240km from Harare.
“To whom much is given, much is required, and this is one way to use the resources, skills and experience that I have to change the outcomes for mothers and their babies in my home country,” she added.
Meanwhile, EMAS Canada will co-host a medical conference with the RCZ in Masvingo from October 30 to November 6, 2022 as part of a 10-year strategy to upgrade the hospital’s services and facilities.
For more information, Dr Agwa can be reached on his email pe***@em********.org or the website. www.emascanada.org. Alternatively, Gutu Mission Hospital Infrastructure team chairperson Solomon Madondo can be contacted on the email sm******@ra******.zw
