VILLAGERS in Dambashoko under Chief Mbiko Masuku in Gwanda, Matabeleland South province, have mobilised resources to construct a local clinic after years of walking long distances to access health services.
The Dambashoko community was relying on Gwanda District Hospital, Stanmore Clinic and the recently constructed Silikwe Clinic, all which are between 10km and 25km away from the village since independence in 1980.
Due to the distances they travelled to access health services, especially in times of emergency, one of the village’s diaspora members Jest Moyo came up with an idea to construct a local clinic.
She sold the idea to the community, which immediately took it up and embarked on necessary procedures to get the project off the ground.
In an interview, the clinic project deputy chairperson Sikhululiwe Dube said construction of the clinic was mooted in 2021.
“The community decided to build its own clinic because the nearest clinics, Silikwe and Stanmore, are more than 10km from Dambashoko and it’s expensive to travel to Gwanda Hospital, which is more than 20km from Dambashoko village,” he said.
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Dube said the idea was shared with ward 2 councillor Zwelibanzi Mpofu, who took their proposal to Gwanda Rural District Council (RDC), which approved the project.
“We then started contributing bags of cement as villages and moulding of bricks started. We also get monetary donations from those in the diaspora.
“We have great challenges in sourcing the building materials. The nearest dam where we source water for constructing the clinic is more than 3km away from the site of the clinic,” Mpofu said.
“We surveyed for water and the water was detected within the site of the clinic, now the challenge is raising funds to drill the borehole. So far, we have raised US$330 towards the drilling of the borehole. We have no money to pay the bricklayers, we just give them a token of appreciation when we chance it.”
He said villagers were not receiving any assistance towards the construction of the clinic.
“At times, the Gwanda RDC provides us with a tractor to source water and river sand,” he said.
Dube appealed to the government and donor community to chip in with funding for the construction of the project so as to speed up its completion, amid indications that the provision of health services at a local level is paramount, especially during emergencies.