That experience, coupled with the death of her sister at the age of 42, shaped Sibanda’s life and inspired her to work towards restoring Mtshabezi Hospital to its former status as a place of life and hope. She is the founder and main benefactor of Hope for Mtshabezi – a humanitarian organisation that has helped to resource the mission hospital in which she was born.
“When I was born, health care was still very good and our lives were saved,” she told The Zimbabwean.
“By reviving the hospital, I imagine many Hlengiwes being born there. No child should lose their mum at birth and vice-versa. The thought of that always chills my blood. But there is still a very high maternal and child death rate in Zimbabwe. HFM is part of solving that problem.
“My only sister died at the young age of 42 due to lack of health care. I was so angry at God and angry at everyone around me. I was also angry at the government, but I finally decided my anger was non-productive and it was literally killing me and making me a bitter person. I knew my sister would have wanted better for me and I did not want her death to be in vain. I also got so fed up of hearing my fellow Zimbabweans in the Diaspora complaining about how bad things were back home, yet not doing anything productive to change things,” she said.
That was how HFM was born in 2005. Sibanda visited Mtshabezi Mission in 2004 for the first time in 26 years and found the 120-bed hospital in near collapse.
“The trash cans were old paint buckets. The mattresses on beds were so old the nurses were using pieces of card board to create some cushioning for their patients. I was convinced that the delivery bed and mattress were the same on which my mother delivered me 46 years ago. The toilets were not functioning, the theatre had not been used for a long time because all the equipment was outdated and the laboratory had no equipment.”
HFM has to date received donations from several US-based organisations like Compassionate Justice International, Vista Assembly of God Church, Rotary Club of Lajolla, South Bay Seventh Day Adventist Church, Longmont Seventh Day Adventist Church, Riverside Church and Rancho Santa Fe Foundation.
The hospital is still largely dependent upon volunteer workers. “We have not been very successful in convincing doctors to partner with us on a volunteer basis. We have lots of nurses, but doctors tend to want to be paid but we cannot afford anyone at this time. Zimbabwe is fortunately blessed with great nurses. If we get more doctors to join us we will be excited.”
Partnership with the Zimbabwe Medical Association and the Nurses Association has so far remained a pipe-dream, but HFM hopes to further its goals to get students to come for exposure to real-life problems in the community.
HFM has given hope and health to more than 5,000 people in the area.
“I get my inspiration from God. I also have a fiercely supportive family, my husband and my daughters are my greatest cheerleaders. I have an amazing HFM team in Zimbabwe and in the USA. The Zimbabwean volunteers have given me the greatest push because they are on the ground facing the challenges and doing an amazing job,” said Sibanda.
“Right now we are searching for funding to get a mobile clinic equipped with X-ray machines, Gynaecological equipment and a laboratory. This will allow us to diagnose people in good enough time to save more lives. We want to see all children getting vaccinated and proper medical care for all pregnant women. We want to see HIV/ AIDS numbers go down through education and safe sex. In other words, we want to help Zimbabwe achieve some of their Millennium Development Goals ahead of other African countries,” said Sibanda.
Having qualified as a teacher from Mtshabezi Teacher’s College and taught at Matopo Primary for six months, she left the country in 1978 and lived as a refugee in Botswana and Zambia. She won an academic scholarship to study abroad and did a BSc in Public Health at Central Michigan University and later a nursing degree at Hunter College in New York.
After working as a registered nurse for 23 years she went back to school for a Masters Degree in Advanced Nursing. She now works as a nurse practitioner in a medically under -served area in California.”
Post published in: News