Zimbabwe
The communion has been held this past weekend at Ingwenya. It would be good to have news of the services and those who were present and if there were any new members. It would have been the first occasion on which Rev Neil Ross preached in Zimbabwe and we trust that there was a blessing following all the services. It was disappointing that, by order of President Mugabe, the opening of the schools had been postponed for a week owing to the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Harare. Otherwise, there would have been an additional congregation of 600 boarding pupils. On the other hand, it gave the Headmistress, Miss Marion Graham, a week to recover after her flight from Scotland.
At Mbuma they are having a specially busy time at the hospital. The wards are overflowing. One third of the patients are HIV positive. Some are very ill and have to remain in the hospital for a longer period, which again leads to overcrowding in the wards. The nurse-aides deserve much credit for the work they do. The Sisters do the ward round in the morning and leave ‘orders’ for the day, and the aides are left to look after the patients until evening, unless they inform the Sisters of a problem. ‘We would like to see it done differently’, Sister Anne Zekveld writes, but it is just impossible at present. There are 100 to 150 patients passing through Outpatients daily. There are X-rays to be done, deliveries of babies, and all the other unexpected things that turn up, besides the administrative work, and there are only 24 hours in the day! (Is there none of you out there interested in coming to help us?) We are glad to have Dr Janetta Hak back again. She has brought her young brother with her and he is helping voluntarily with odd jobs on the Mission for a few months.
At the beginning of August, the Minister of Health, Dr Stamps, sent word that he was coming for a three-day visit. Anne describes the visit: “Dr Stamps arrived by car with a driver at the wheel. They had come all the way from Harare, a six-hours journey. We were very apprehensive about this visit as we were wondering what he would do for three whole days at Mbuma and we were very busy. Dr Hak had not yet come. However, we were very pleasantly surprised. He had come to work, not to be entertained. We were to tell him what to do. We were glad of a doctor’s advice. On Friday he did a ward round and also saw some outpatients. Of course, an important man like him cannot go anywhere secretly and a crowd of newspaper reporters arrived from Bulawayo to interview him, which took two hours. He had a problem with our stand
on family planning, so we invited Rev P Mzamo and Mr Mziya, our Administrator, to discuss matters with him. Though we still did not see eye to eye with him we were glad to find Dr Stamps is a man of high moral principles and is not afraid to make his views known to those in authority. That same night he performed an operation on one of our patients. The next day, Saturday, he visited the district hospital at Nkai and went to see two local clinics. That evening he met with all our hospital staff and asked if they had any complaints! The next day was Sabbath and the Rev P Mzamo was present. He preached in English in the morning. Dr Stamps knew a little Ndebele but could speak Shona as he worked among Shona people. He attended both services and the worship in the hospital in the evening. Dr Stamps is a South African Presbyterian and we are glad to have someone like him in the Government. He had to leave at 6 am the next morning as he had an appointment at 12 midday in Harare. The whole staff, perhaps with few exceptions, were at the gate to see him off.”
J.N.
Letter from Kenya
Sengera, 9/9/95.
Dear Friends,
I was looking out of the window of the manse in Raasay the week before I left and saw two geese followed by a lone goose flying steadily and purposefully South down the Raasay Sound. There will be three weeks since my own flight South by the time you read this letter. My journey out overnight was comfortable enough, though having been given a seat between a mother and her 7-year-old daughter — part of an American missionary family — I did not sleep all night. I was met by Mr Donald MacDonald the mission Administrator, whose wife’s sickness and return home was the occasion for my coming to Kenya. We completed the 6½ hour journey to Sengera in two stages over road, where the surface was frequently poor and the driving adventurous to say the least.
Compared with a year ago, the Hospital is now fully functional, and though the peak of the malaria season has passed, the beds (40), are full and there are some very sick patients.
As I write there are 4 cases of typhoid, 2 of diabetes, and many of malaria, and there have been 4 deliveries within the past 24 hours. Until the children develop a resistance of their own to malaria, they are very prone to the disease, and many arrive at hospital with very low blood
counts, needing a blood transfusion as an emergency. The saddest cases are, of course, those of AIDS. Three adults were diagnosed in the past week, and a girl of 16 died of the disease in the arms of her brother. Apart from ward rounds, and outpatients, the day begins and ends with worship on the verandah of the hospital, with a short address in the mornings. Sabbath starts with the same morning worship at 8.00 am followed by Catechism in the Church at 9.00. The first service is at 10.00 and after a short break, the second service is held at 11.30. The last service of the day is on the hospital verandah at 2.00 pm.
Mr MacDonald returns home on Monday (DV) to be united with his wife and daughter. They have had their share of difficulties and disappointments over the past three years. At one (of several) farewell meals many spoke with affection of their efforts over the past three years in establishing the work here. As for their 18 month old daughter Sarah, one of them said they would willingly start paying cows for her now! Sister Coote, whom some of you will know, leaves on 28th for furlough. The nurses had an exhausting time after Dr Christine left, and she needs and deserves a rest. A week later I expect to travel to Nairobi to meet Rev. N. Ross, Dingwall, who with his wife and two of their family will be coming up to Sengera while I fly home. I look forward to being among you again and hope you are supporting the elders in my absence with your presence in Church.
The sight of those geese, driven by a God-given instinct, and ploughing South regardless, set me thinking of the Lord’s promise to Israel. “For I will take you, one of the city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jer 3:4). Are you among them; Is there any more important question?
Your affectionate pastor,
J. R. Tallach