Bulawayo's Nkulumane Clinic Receives Windfall

These sentiments were uttered by the city’s leadership and echoed by several members of the community at a handover ceremony that was organised by the Local Authority to show its gratitude.

Path to Health is an initiative of the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen - part of Rotary International District 5040 in western British Columbia - and is headed by a Zimbabwean based in Canada, Kevin Conway. Path to Health incorporates the activities of a number of Rotary clubs in Canada and Zimbabwe and its mission is to provide support for the delivery of primary health care to thousands of needy Zimbabweans.

Addressing delegates and community members at Nkulumane Clinic, the City Mayor, Cllr Thaba P Moyo, said the donation will go a long way in enhancing Service Delivery at the institution and will assist in the reduction of the maternal and infant mortality.

“While the clinic continues to deliver a high number of babies each month, the city’s maternity units face challenges in terms of resources. Ladies and Gentlemen, in July last year, the Government directed that fees for maternity services be scrapped in an effort to reduce the maternal mortality ratio quoted at 960/100 000 live births."

“This noble intervention was unfortunately not matched by injection of requisite resources that would have ensured a positive outcome for the mother and child. Council was left with no resources to improve the health worker complement to purchase additional materials and equipment to service the increased workload. This is why the donation from Rotary is viewed as a Godsend.”

Above: W22 Volunteers unloading the container at Ionela warehouse.

“The medical equipment received, will go a long way in replenishing our stocks, and I want to mention that the availability of linen will improve, thus help avoid compromising infection control standards. The donation of blankets is particularly welcome in the cold weather. The needs are great and every donation received fills a gap and is welcomed on behalf of the residents who are the beneficiaries,” he said. 

Echoing the Mayor’ sentiments, the city’s Acting Chief Nursing Officer, Mrs Catherine Banana, added that the gift will motivate the staff who have had to donate working materials on a number of occasions in order to effectively carry out their duties.

“We are very happy and really excited about this donation because it will go a long way in saving lives. By this donation we are given a lifeline and it will motivate the staff as they will now have adequate materials and equipment with which to conduct their duties,” said Mrs Banana. 

The consignment was handed over to the City of Bulawayo by Bulawayo South Rotary Club, who thanked PTH programme organisers and all the stakeholders that made it possible for the project to be a success.

“We would like to extend our thanks to Path to Health in Canada for this kind donation. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Rodney Beadon, a member of a Rotary Club in Harare, who approached us with this project and asked us to partner with him to make it a success. We would also like to thank The City Council’s Director of Health Services, Dr Zanele Hwalima, for making sure that we got the necessary papers for duty exemption. It is because of her efforts that we did not incur any extra costs to get the equipment here. We would also like to thank ZDDT, particularly Angela and Florah, for the effort and time they put into this,” said the president of Bulawayo South Rotary Club, Leslie Williams.



Above: The Mayor the officially unveills the PTH plaque while Leslie Wiilims and Dr Zanele Hwalime (Director Health Services) look on

The donation to Nkulumane Clinic is part of twenty foot shipping container , which was dispatched from Canada early this year, full of medical equipment worth an estimated US$350 000 and was destined for Nkulumane Clinic, Mzimuni Clinic in Gwanda Rural and Mvuma Hospital near Gweru.

The medical equipment, includes beds, mattresses, bedding, an operating table, weighing scales and thermometers.

A local Civil Society Organisation, Zimbabwe Development Democracy Trust (ZDDT), which played a pivotal role in the identification of these health institutions, was also actively involved in organising the shipment and the unpacking and sorting of the goods and equipment on arrival at warehousing, through the assistance of its Community Action Group and community volunteers from Nkulumane (Ward 22).

A local businessman, Neil Rix, donated the storage space for the equipment at his Ionela Warehousing, before the equipment was dispatched to its final destinations.

The Mayor also presented Certificates of Appreciation, which were prepared by ZDDT, to the 20 community volunteers who offloaded and sorted the equipment on arrival and loaded the Nkulumane equipment for dispatch.