November Rural Outreach Program

Though the government continues efforts to cambat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Zimbabwe is still one of the hardest hit nations. According to a recently released government report, HIV/AIDS infections are on the decline. But deaths due to the pandemic are increasing as the general health of the population declines, a result of a declining economy.

Health delivery systems have collapsed and affordable government hospitals and clinics no longer function. The ongoing foreign currency shortages make it even more difficult to purchase drugs and equipment. Most qualified doctors and nurses have left for greener pastures, leaving the skeleton staff overworked and disgruntled, thereby endangering the lives of the sick. Companies offering employment have either closed down or are operating below capacity, due to shortage of raw materials. As a result there has been a migration of of people from urban back to the rural areas. HIV/AIDS orphans are also transfered to rural homes once they lose their parents, further straining the rural clinics which are worse off than the city hospitals. It is common practice to transfer sick patients to their rural homes once their conditions deteriorate. Literally, to go and die there.

In Mutoko district we have targeted nine clinics, none of which have no water, electricity, medicine or the qualified personnel to attend to patients. Qualified nurses find it uncomfortable to work in rural clinics, as a result resulting, nurses aides staffing some clinics.

Many seasons of drought have left peasant rural farmers with no income to afford seeking medical attention. Many have died not because the diseases are incurable, but because of negligence
and lack of knowledge that they should seek medical attention as early as possible. Mutoko is a malaria prone area, yet there is not enough malaria medication to combat the disease. The cost of transport to the district hospital is too high for the ordinary villager. Instead, they stay at home
while their conditions get worse. Rural livelihoods are sustained by farming, for rural people to be productive and self-sufficient, they need to be healthy.

It is with this background that we have undertaken medical outreach programs in rural
clinics and hospitals. Rural Capacity Building Foundation (RCBF) in association with Zimbabwe Christian Medical and Dental Association (ZCMDA) held one such program in August 2007 where we visited nine clinics offering free medical treatment.

There were some cases which could only be handled at hospitals. These were referred to the weekend from the 8th to the 11th of November 2007 when a team of medical students, junior doctors and specialists offered free medical care at Mutoko District Hospital. The response was overwhelming
and many lives were saved. We had one case of 10 year old boy who had withdawn from school
because his peers laughed at how his teeth protruded and kept his mouth open all the time.
He had the two teeth corrected and  he left the hospital a  happier boy. We also treated a number of the elderly who could not see clearly. It was inspiring to see poor people's lives transformed. 
However, for this program to continue, there is great need for medication, spectacle frames, bandages, and other medical supplies.

Please contact us if you can help in any way.