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Zimbabwe Medics Care for Ailing Guests

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — The clinic on the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds buzzed with activity during the Mennonite World Conference assembly held here Aug. 11-17. Fortunately, the clinic was only a few hundred metres from the main worship hall, so medical staff on duty could at least hear the lively music while they worked.

Florence Ndlovu, a nurse educator at a Bulawayo hospital, planned to take some vacation time to attend the assembly. She expected to volunteer a few hours at the clinic.

Instead, she managed the clinic and its staff of 10 nurses, a task dropped onto her shoulders only about a month before it began when the person in charge left the job with none of the preparations completed. The job meant ordering equipment and supplies, finding and organizing staff and being at the clinic during virtually all its hours of operation.

Rather than the expected 20 patients a day, handled in 2- to 3-hour shifts, the clinic ran for 11 hours a day and treated 1,500 minor injuries and illnesses from Tuesday through Sunday. A local doctor checked in daily and several international doctors and nurse practitioners attending the assembly, but not licensed to treat patients in Zimbabwe, volunteered consultative services.

A few patients were sent to the hospital for x-rays or diagnosis, mostly for sprains or possible respiratory infections. One Canadian was refused admittance to the hospital because she came from near Toronto, an area known worldwide for its cases of SARS, a serious respiratory infection.

The clinic served many Zimbabweans at no charge, though no free medications were dispensed.

Communicating with people who spoke only German, French or Spanish proved the biggest challenge for the staff.

"It was a good experience," said Ndlovu, a member of Brethren In Christ Central Church in Bulawayo, who spent almost all her time in the clinic and only a few scattered minutes in worship services.