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Conrad Mupesa Mashonaland West Bureau

A new clinic under construction in Hurungwe District’s Ward 7 is nearing completion and is expected to serve over 12 000 villagers.

Presently, the villagers are walking for about 10km to get to the nearest health facilities.

But in line with President Mnangagwa’s “Nyika inovakwa, nekutongwa nevene vayo/ Ilizwe lakhiwa, libuswe ngabanikazi balo” mantra, the Mahwahu Clinic is being constructed by a local NGO Carbon Green Africa (CGA), as part of its corporate social responsibility activities.

CGA has released over US$60 000 towards the project so far, and the excited community has been contributing bricks, sand, quarry stones and labour, as they seek to be involved in the development of their area.

The clinic is now 80 percent complete.

Attention has now shifted to fitting doors, glazing of windows panes, floor tiling, and flushing and water reticulation system.

Given the pace at which works are going on, the clinic is expected to open its doors to the community soon.

Hurungwe District has been lagging behind in terms of health and education infrastructure, and construction of Mahwahu Clinic, which falls under Senator Abel Mbasera (Chief Chundu)’s jurisdiction, is in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS-1) and Vision 2030 of an empowered upper middle income society.

Beneficiaries spoke highly of the project, which they said would save many lives, especially as it would be offering maternity services too.

At the moment, some expecting mothers are giving birth on the way to Chitindiva Clinic and other clnics, given the distance they have to walk.

A village health worker in the area, Mrs Dorothy Zakaria, said once the clinic became operational, it would bring cheers to many people.

“People have been walking for long distances to access healthcare services,” said Mrs Zakaria. “As for us village health workers, we are glad that we now have a healthcare centre close by that will save us and the community.”

Mrs Enetty Gutu (67) said: “As the elderly, we have grandchildren that are under our care and it is very difficult for us to walk long distances to the nearest clinic with them when they fall sick.

“The coming in of a clinic close by was long overdue.”

She has had the painful experience of helping a young girl give birth by the road side as she was walking to the nearest clinic.

Clinic chairman and village head, Mr Alfred Mutungamberi, said about 12 000 people would benefit from the clinic.

“We have villagers from Village 4, 5, Mayamba, Kabidza and Karuru that are going to be helped here,” he said.

Chundu village head, Mr Hanz Chundu, said efforts from the villagers were now directed towards the construction of the workers’ shelter, which should be in place before opening.

CGA managing director, Mr Charles Dondo, said the organisation dedicated funds for the construction of modern workers’ accommodation.

“We have made sure that the clinic meets the modern standards that include setting up flushing ablution facilities, male and female wards, and maternity wards, among other services,” he said.

“On top of that, the staff accommodation is going to have state-of-the-art facilities so as to reduce workers’ turnover.”

The staff accommodation will be solar-powered with running water and standard ablution facilities.

Hurungwe Rural District Council chief executive officer, Mr Luke Kalavina, said the public-private-partnership existing between the council and CGA, will uplift the lives of ordinary people in the area.