A total of 110 General Nurses who completed a three-year training programme graduated at the
weekend at the Hwange Colliery Hospital.
The graduation ceremony which doubled with a prize and award giving ceremony ran under the
theme “shaping our future health care in transforming the world through quality human
development.
Speaking during the graduation, Dr Nhamo Chivhuru the Provincial Maternal Neonatal Child Health
officer who spoke on behalf of the Matabeleland North Provincial Medical Director Dr Admire
Kuretu, congratulated the graduates saying they persevered in their studies during the height of the
global pandemic.
“We give credit to you the nurses for a war well fought during the pandemic. Training under such
circumstances was not easy, however we remain confident that the times made you better equipped
for any eventuality in your practice and your daily life”
Hwange Colliery nurse’s graduation was last held in 2018, a year before the world was hit with
COVID-19.
“Part of the reasons the last graduation was in 2018 was the COVID -19 in which gatherings were
banned as part of efforts to control the spread of the disease” he explained.
Hwange Colliery company trains General Nurses as part of Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) -a
way of ploughing back to the community in which mining operations take place.
Dr Kuretu implored other companies around Hwange to emulate the efforts by HCCL and consider
the communities in which they operate in.
“We take pride in HCCL as a mother company, doing so much more than just mining coal, especially
now that it has been reeling under the right financial space-the reconstruction administration. With
the natural resources available in Hwange, it should be a thing of the past to have no major training
institutions of higher learning in Matebeleland North Province. In the coming five years we should
see changes, as the current government mantra of leaving no one behind.
HCCL Managing Director Blake Mhatiwa, also congratulated the graduates and said the company will
continue supporting the community of Hwange.
"As HCCL we take pride in providing training as this is part of Human Capital Development which
seeks to increase quality personnel for the country's workforce. This effort is meant to compliment
government as we strive for an upper middle economy by 2030
Dr Nairos Deredzai the Chief Medical Officer said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the nurse training
schools were expected to brace for transformation and produce more and quality nurses.
"I urge you to advance your skills to shape our future health care service delivery in a transforming
world. This qualification will help you develop yourself, families, communities and our great nation,
as we focus towards vision 2030,”he said.

Chief Hwange echoed similar sentiments and encouraged the Hwange community to take advantage
of such training institutions in order to capacitate their children.
“Community members, send your children to school like the Hwange school of nurses, this will help
us develop our communities because an educated community is a developing community,” said
Chief Hwange.
Wendy Ncube who was one of the best students appreciated the efforts made by HCCL in providing
the school of nursing in Hwange.
“This is the best day for most of us graduates, we really appreciate the HCCL management in helping
us develop professionally, we are surely going to change the community of Hwange,” said Ncube, a
graduate who scooped five awards.
The Hwange school of nursing has already enrolled 93 students-21 males and 72 females. The
student nurses undergo a blended learning structure which include study block session, clinical
placement and practical assessment and state final examinations with summative evaluation under
NCZ.

Wendy Ncube (Centre) flanked by Dr Nhamo Chivhuru the Provincial Maternal Neonatal Child Health
(Left) and the HCCL Managing Director Blake Mhatiwa