Durham News Features - View Article - Nurses bring care to Zimbabwe

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Shirley and I are both long-time friends and Parish Nurses at Pickering Village United Church in Ajax, Ontario. We are seasoned ‘RNs’ who studied and practice this relatively new nursing specialty in answer to a call - to help others care for their ‘whole selves’, to be well.

It is a team ministry with the clergy to serve body, mind and spirit by empowering, counselling, offering health promotion, and guiding others through the health system. We work together with existing services and serve the church and the community it is in.

A year ago our church hosted a presentation by one of our local doctors, Dr. Michael Silverman, and several other volunteers of ‘Ve’ahavta’, a Jewish world relief organization. Dr. Silverman told us about the work being done at Howard Hospital, an 82 year old Salvation Army hospital in Zimbabwe, Africa. The Hospital is located an hour and a half ride north of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, in the hills and remote villages that are in desperate need of help.

After that presentation Shirley and I both felt a ‘call’ and the amazing thing was that we were both listening.

So you see the seed was planted in both of us and our church community. Ve’ahavta, friends and families watered, fertilized and loved that seed until it grew into a very large and generous flower.

I want to tell you a little about Zimbabwe. It is run by President Robert Mugabe and his friends.

Here are a few highlights:

- the government denies it has a problem with AIDS despite a conservative estimate that over 25% of the population is infected with the virus. This has Zimbabwe competing for the prestigious position of being “the AIDS capital of the world.”

- the government will not allow any non-governmental world health or relief organizations to enter the country. - the United States has put trade sanctions on the country.

- there has been a drought in Zimbabwe for the last four years.

- there is 80% unemployment.

- it is illegal to use any currency other than Zimbabwe dollars there and the Zimbabwe dollar is very unstable.

Shirley and I had the better part of a year to prepare for our one month medical mission to Howard Hospital and in that time we amassed enough medical supplies, drugs, 19,500 condoms, stuffed animals and crayons for the children to fill seven large hockey bags. We also carried in money belts around our waists over $10, 000 in small U.S. dollar denominations. All of these gifts for Howard Hospital were from many community churches and resources we spoke with throughout that year.

Remember that non-governmental world health and relief organizations are not allowed in Zimbabwe, so Shirley and I had to enter the country as visitors.

During our month at the hospital we were able to work with a large number of patients. We also travelled to a number of villages in the area, talking to the people and helping wherever we could.

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Nurses bring care to Zimbabwe

Aug 18, 2007 By: Joshua May

(Originally published March 26, 2005)

DURHAM - They're on a mission from God.

Travelling under the 'Ve'ahavta,' a Jewish Humanitarian and World Relief Organization program dedicated to responding to global crises through educational and humanitarian initiatives, registered nurses Shirley Guppy and Suzanne Blake are in the midst of planning a month-long trip to Africa to aid the understaffed employees of Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe. An institution funded solely by charitable donations, the Durham Region community health workers are hoping their medical expertise can benefit the nearly 300 invalids attended to on a daily basis.

"I lived in (Zimbabwe) nearly 35 years ago," said Ms. Guppy, an Oshawa resident. "I remember the (medically) insufficient conditions of the country then and it seems not much has changed since. When I heard of this program, I thought it'd be a marvellous opportunity to help a culture I was once a part of."

Founded by the Salvation Army nearly 82 years ago, the Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe is a large, adult outpatient as well as maternal and child care clinic that features 144 beds, a small lab, X-ray capabilities and ultrasound machine. However, the hospital's human resources are tremendously lacking as there are three staff doctors, trained in obstetrics, gynecology and general health practices, and 21 nurses.

The pair are parish nurses and members of Pickering Village United Church (PVUC), and Ms. Guppy and Ms. Blake first heard of the alarming need for more foreign doctors at Howard Hospital in a presentation last year at PVUC by the institution's executive director, Dr. Michael Silverman. Following the eye-opening evening, the two each received a personal phone call pleading for their assistance, which they are answering between April 9 and May 6.

"This is not a holiday," said Ms. Guppy, who is also the Parish nurse at Simcoe Street United Church in Oshawa. "We are travelling (to Zimbabwe) to offer any help we can to these underprivileged people. We are really hoping to use our services to the fullest potential on this trip and to help encourage others, upon our return, to lend any help they can to the cause."

A much needed supply travelling with Ms. Guppy and Ms. Blake will be 19,500 condoms. Costing a Zimbabwean family of five up to one week's wages to afford a single condom, the hospital is often inundated with cases of HIV and sexually-related illnesses. In fact, 25 percent of the Zimbabwean population is currently infected with the deadly virus.

"Zimbabwe is the AIDS capital of the world," said Ms. Blake, a Toronto resident. "(AIDS and HIV) are not just an epidemic there, they're a pandemic. However, that is a big part of our mission. The 180 pounds of supplies we are each allowed to transport will go to good use as we plan to bring condoms, antiretroviral drugs and the over $6,000 the PVUC has raised for this cause. We're just hoping all of this makes a difference."

Delivering more than 2,000 babies per year, Howard Hospital routinely handles cases of transferred HIV through child-birth and is working conjointly with the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Toronto to interrupt this process.

Those wishing to offer donations to Ms. Guppy and Ms. Blake's upcoming venture should call PVUC at 905-683-4721.