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Patients and their relatives arrive at Karanda Hospital (left) while Dr Stephens monitors a hydrocephalus patient and gives a touch to a visiting patient (right)

Tichaona Zindoga Senior Features Writer
The idea of “miracles” has, at the moment, permeated the Zimbabwean psyche as a good number of people are turning to the supernatural for solutions to personal lives and crises.
It could be the search for material prosperity and breakthroughs or deliverance from health problems.
In fact, a phalanx of churches has emerged, and grown, on the wave of this new belief.

On the other hand, the idea of miracles was even invoked by authorities recently when conjoined twins were successfully separated at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare a couple months ago.

The incident threw fresh light on the capabilities of local doctors and institutions to carry out complex, life-saving operations, surgeries and procedures.
However, for many people, Karanda Hospital in Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central province, has for the past decade been the home of miracle operations as people from all over the country are flocking to the remote hospital for life-saving procedures.

Located some 200km from Harare and deep in the rural Mt Darwin, on the surface the hospital does not appear to be a typical behemoth, yet a snap survey of the patients reveals their diverse backgrounds: the patients come from surrounding areas in Mashonaland Central and neighbouring Mashonaland East while others come from Chinhoyi, Kadoma, Kwekwe, Gweru and as far afield as Beitbridge.

The hospital previously enjoyed an obscure existence, for all the great work it was doing dating back to the days of the liberation struggle.
“It was not until the 2007 /8 economic collapse that we started receiving major cases of surgery because hospitals in Harare were not functioning,” Dr Daniel Stephens, the medical superintendent at the Hospital told The Herald this week.

“We started receiving cases from all over the country. In 2000 we had started hydrocephalus (water in the brain) operations and many patients came because it is a delicate procedure requiring neurosurgery which most doctors can’t do,” said Dr Stephens.

Ironically, Dr Stephens himself has a background, he says, of working in the community and performing general surgery, orthopaedia, prostrates and neurology.
When Dr Stephens came to the institution in 1991 (his father Roland, was the founder in 1961), the institution was not performing prostrate operations.
Then something sad happened.

Some years ago, he referred four prostate patients to Harare but with the referral centre having a two-year backlog, three of the patients died.
“That is when we decided to do open prostate surgery,” says Dr Stephens.

Today, there is an ever growing demand for prostate cancer operations from all over Zimbabwe. Prostate cancer affects men as they get old.
Apart from the cases of hydrocephalus, obstetrics, gynaecology and eye operations as well as HIV/Aids and TB which constitute the bulk of demand, there are emerging health challenges as well. The hospital is now seized with emerging trends of cancer.

“We are now doing screening for cancer of the cervix and we are increasingly seeing cases of the cancer of the bowel. This is because of urbanization of our clientele because traditionally we did not treat such cases as people in the rural areas because of their diet are not prone to it. So, we are now doing a lot of abdominal surgery as well,” said Dr Stephens.

When one crunches the numbers, a shining example in Karanda beams through.
The hospital handles about 20 major cases a day and performs eye operations triple the number done in Harare due to the efficiency of staff and equipment as well as the commitment of the staff. The hospital has 150 beds and treats 200-300 outpatients per day.

Patients do not have to remain on waiting lists for long, unlike in Harare, as they can secure a date within two weeks. Dr Stephens attributes this to the fact that, being stationed full time at the mission, the doctors and staff do not have other commitments and obligations and distractions and that the small size of staff.

The institution, which has missionary doctors as well as local professionals, has since received a boost with the arrival of Dr Thistle from Howard Mission who came here last year.

And critically: “I am in charge,” says Dr Stephens whose work is largely also informed by his Christian practice.
The hospital operates under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance Mission and states that, “Our goal is to provide an authentic Christian witness by: demonstrating the compassion of Christ through medical work; establishing and strengthening the local church through participation in spiritual ministry to patients and in outreach to local communities.”

Dr Stephens says he is not driven by money, having worked here for 25 years, and believes he can change lives by helping people and “make them understand that God loves them.”

Poor man’s hospital
Such compassion by hospital staff and leadership, coupled with its success, are a sure attraction.
However, it is the cost that has drawn people to the institution, with consultation fees as low as $10 and such operations as eye procedures costing as little as $75, far less than it costs in Harare.

One of the people who have been relieved is Susan Rupayo (30), from Mitchell Farm in Beatrice.
Pregnant with her second child, Rupayo was told by her doctor in Harare that she would have to undergo Caesarian surgery for her to successfully deliver her child. Her first delivery had been Caesarian birth.

The costs that came with her anticipated delivery were just too high.
“The doctor said he required $200 for the delivery, the hospital needed $100 and the cost of the Caesarian procedure was pegged at $600,” said she.
The cost was just too high for the wife of a petty farm official.

“I could not afford the cost so I decided to come here where I was told that the procedure would cost not more than $250,” she said.
Then the “miracle” happened.

Through the efforts of the staff at the hospital, the woman underwent a normal birth and delivered a healthy baby girl weighing 3,4 kg. She was very relieved.
“At the end of the process I paid only $26: $10 for registration, $10 for the scan and $6 for drugs,” she said.

Many women are seen flocking into – and out of – Karanda hospital for such miracle babies.
In general, a lot more wait for their turn, or the turn of their relatives, at the waiting shelters provided by the hospitals.

Locals speak highly of the institution which has changed lives.
A woman from the nearby Chironga village, who identified herslf as Amai Zvavamwe, said having stayed in Norton and witnessed the health systems there, she was full of admiration for Karanda, where she said doctors cared and had a good work ethic.

She said the fact that people came from many parts of the country bore testimony to the good work of the institution.
But Karanda also faces challenges relating to access as the roads leading to the institution are bad and sometimes impassable.
A river on the foot of the hospital in summer cuts off access, forcing people to take a 22km circuitous route.

Authorities here say that because of the remote location of the hospital, it may take days and weeks to get vital equipment repaired in Harare.
They are also affected by a shortage of drugs and feel challenged by the ever increasing numbers of patients.

Dr Stephens says the hospital wants to increase equipment for bowel and cervical cancer treatment and double the size of the operating rooms to four.
There won’t be major changes, though, says Dr Stephens, as this may require more infrastructure and resources.

Just: “We want to continue what we are doing,” promised Dr Stephens.