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Leroy Dzenga Features Writer
Tales have been told of the cruelty suffered at the hands of the minority Rhodesian government during colonial times.

Some stranger than fiction stories happened before Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980.

The imbalance in resource ownership made thousands of black people suffer.

In an interview, Mrs Elina Maurikira shared tales of the heinous medical practices by the white settler regime to the black masses.

When Mrs Maurukira (77) joined nursing in 1960, she witnessed firsthand, the cruelty suffered by the majority.

“I graduated from Morgenster Memorial Hospital in 1959 as a state certified nurse.

“After school we would be rotated around the country for three months going to different hospitals,” she said.

After her probation period, she was deployed to Parirenyatwa Hospital then Andrew Fleming Hospital where she felt the pinch of racism.

“The time we worked at Parirenyatwa was difficult, the white staffers there did not want to get in contact with us.

“We would go for tea after they have finished,” Mrs Maurukira.

Despite the idea that the segregation was sickening to her, the passion to help people saw her endure.

When the “blacks only”, Harare Hospital was opened Mbuya Maurukira was transferred from Parirenyatwa so she could deal with her own.

“In 1963, I was moved to Harare Central Hospital and I used to work in the back rooms. This is when I found out how cruel whites were to black people,” he said.

Equipment and drugs deemed as waste at Parirenyatwa Hospital would be delivered to Harare Hospital for blacks.

“There was racism in the medical field. Needles that were used on white people were kept and sent to Harare Hospital to be used on black people,” she said.

Her job was to clean those needles for her kith.

“We would use a machine called an autoclave to clean the needles but in proper medical practice you can never be sure if the diseases and bacteria is completely dead,” Mbuya Maurukira recounted.

Bandages too were cleaned for blacks to use.

This, Mbuya Maurukira said, was cruelty more than cost-cutting.

“At the time we were juniors. In the 60s, the settler government had money and it was unjustified for them to send used needles from Parirenyatwa to Harare Hospital,” she said.

“If it was a genuine cost cutting measure, each hospital would have recycled its own needles.”

“I suspect health problems people are struggling with these days (such as HIV and Aids) came from that cruel practice. That is a possibility,” she said.

At one point she got frustrated of the salary imbalances prompting a brief departure from public health service.

“We were being ill-treated. White nurses were being paid almost twice the amount we earned yet we did the same job.”

In 1963, she was part of the contingent of black health workers who descended at the then government health offices in protest against ill-treatment.

“I remember one day we slept at the Health Department head office getting our message across that we were not amused by the way they were treating us,” she said.

Despite their efforts, there were little changes in the health system and she decided to quit.

“In 1969, I left Harare Hospital and went into private practice. I worked with private doctors until 1973.

“Most black nurses who had decent experience left public hospitals for private surgeries which were run mostly by foreign nationals,” she said.

However, the changes did not bring the desired results.

“I used to work at a surgery run by four doctors. We would work long hours but the remuneration was better than that we got from the government,” she said.

After five years, with the liberation fighters gaining ground in the struggle for equal treatment, she returned to Harare Hospital.

“When I returned to Harare Hospital, things were getting better in terms of remuneration and treatment since we were having more black doctors at the hospital,” she said.

Independence gave her full appreciation of her chosen profession.

“Around 1987, we started feeling like nurses who were important members of the society. Government told us that we will be getting houses and the money will be deducted from our salaries,” she said.

The venture saw her become a proud home owner in Kambuzuma.

This would not have been possible under the colonial government.

“If we had continued working under the colonial administration, we wouldn’t have been able to own these houses.

“The funny thing was that white nurses had properties bought through their salaries,” she said.

Mbuya Maurukira says despite the challenges they faced, they were passionate about their profession.

“We faced problems but never did we, for one day, abandon our patients or give a half-hearted service to those in need.”

She said it is unfortunate that the new crop of nurses sometimes abandon patients.

“The children today are becoming nurses because they do not have anything else to do.

“In our days we were driven by passion more than anything. Nowadays these nurses are always on their mobile phones.

“This other day I was at a local hospital waiting for my turn to get attended to. As we queued the young nurse placed a thermometer in this man`s armpit and went on her WhatsApp.

“She forgot that she was recording someone`s temperature and continued on her phone for about ten minutes.

“I asked her what the man`s temperature was and she tried to be arrogant that was when I showed her my nursing card and she started apologising.”

Despite retiring in 2004 due to age, she still feels she needs another dance within her beloved profession.

“After I retired in 2005 I went to England to visit my daughter and I ended up volunteering at Doncaster Hospital which was in the area I was staying,” she said.

After her return to Zimbabwe, she applied to get a part time job at Harare Hospital, but she hasn’t received a response yet.

As is the norm with most people her age, she has since retired to the rural areas.

“My husband died in 1999 and I don’t have a reason to stay in the city since all my children have grown up and are living their own lives,” she said.

With little prospects of her being officially readmitted into the nursing profession, Mbuya Maurukira intends to use her knowledge to help her community in Chiweshe.

“I am planning to buy a blood pressure machine and a few thermometers to assist those who fall sick at night.

“This will help in stabilising the patients before taking them to the hospital which is a sizeable distance from where we stay,” she said.

In assisting her community, Mbuya Maurukira wants to convert her commuter omnibus into an ambulance to assist those with emergencies to go to Howard Hospital.

Whether the authorities will allow her to fulfil her dreams or not, she hopes for another chance in her beloved profession.

The same profession which was characterised by racism and cruelty during the colonial era.

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