Mbuma Mission
SINCE the Mbuma Hospital ambulance was rendered useless by an accident, the Landrover has been used for this purpose, but it is not as dependable as the ambulance was in its heyday. It was good therefore when the Foreign Mission Committee decided that an ambulance should be bought, despite the high price.
Before the new ambulance was ready for use, a call came to take a woman to the hospital. The driver and a nurse took the Landrover and set off for the patient’s home. They had gone but a few miles when they stuck in a morass. Oxen seemed to come from every quarter, eleven of them altogether, driven along by local sympathisers who had heard of the trouble. Despite every effort the Landrover was immovable. The nurse, having gone on foot, discovered that the patient had already been attended to by a local midwife, so she walked back to Mbuma to tell the tale. Rev. P. Mzamo tossed some spades into his car, and with a driver went to the trouble spot. In a comparatively short time, with the use of the spades, the Landrover emerged unscathed and was taken home.
Mr. Mzamo celebrated his 80th birthday about that time. The hospital staff and church elders were invited to a much appreciated meal to mark the happy occasion. We wish Mr. Mzamo every blessing.
A medical student is going out to Mbuma to work in the hospital for six weeks, which will be part of her elective training. The student, Zena MacLeod, is a relative of Miss Margaret MacAskill, the Matron.
Ingwenya School
AT the John Tallach Secondary School a special presentation is to be made by a medical official in appreciation of the fact that the School has collected more blood each term for the Blood Transfusion Unit than any other school. It can be understood how much valued this effort is when the present AIDS epidemic is so severe in the country.
The end of year examination results have been good as usual a pass rate of 84 per cent. As the school was lacking a science teacher last term, Miss Rhoda MacKay taught the biology class. She was amazed at the great diligence of the pupils, and was delighted with the results a 98 per cent pass rate.
The Dutch member of staff, Mr. Teus Benschop, was the means of securing a new classroom for the school. Before he came to Zimbabwe, his employer in Holland suggested that a collection should be made at their place of work, for the school at Ingwenya. The result has been that a sum of money has been collected sufficient to build an additional classroom. The building of the foundation is already under construction, thanks to the Lord’s kind providence and to generous friends in Holland.
– J. N.
Return to Table of Contents for The Free Presbyterian Magazine – March 1998