President Mnangagwa meets doctors, church leaders

Harare (New Ziana) – President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday met members of the Rotary International and Indian specialist doctors who have been carrying out free surgical operations at Mutare Provincial Hospital.

Rotary International in collaboration with the Rotary Clubs of Chitungwiza, Mutare and Chandigarh (India) put together a team of specialist Indian doctors to provide treatment from February 26 to March 7.

Under the Zimbabwe-India vocational training programme, the mission which has so far assisted over 700 patients, is also training local doctors whom they are working with to equip them with requisite skills to use when providing similar services.

In an interview, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo hailed the specialist doctors for providing their services.

“This is the team which has organised a magnificent medical outreach in Mutare and they have seen so many patients so far, their assistance is highly valued, we really appreciate what they have done for us as Zimbabwe,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we are also very grateful for the gesture that they have made, all the equipment that they brought in the country is going to remain at the provincial hospital in Mutare for use by our local doctors, they are also leaving the medicines which they brought here, so we really appreciate that.

“Of major importance, is that they have also pledged to furnish a whole eye centre, if we identify a building in Mutare they are going to equip that whole building as an eye centre.”

Rotary International vice president Olayinka Babalola said this was the team’s second mission to Zimbabwe after the first one in 2015.

“We do carry out these missions, disease prevention and treatment is one of Rotary’s areas of focus and the other ones are water and sanitation and hygiene, peace and conflict prevention and child care,” he said.

“This medical mission is one of those ones under the disease prevention and treatment (programmes) and this is also a vocational training team so it is not just about coming to carry out surgical operations here, the intent behind vocational training teams is to make sure that local professionals pick up new skills from the experts that have come from outside the country.”

President Mnangagwa also met a delegation from the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a global communion of Christian Churches of the Lutheran tradition.

Led by the LWF general secretary, Reverend Martin Junge, the delegation was in Zimbabwe on a solidarity visit.

“We have been here to visit our member church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe, the church has been calling upon us because of the situation of drought that is affecting the people and after having prayed hard with the church, for the church and the people we wanted to be here with the people and this is what brought us to Zimbabwe,” he said.

“It was a great privilege for me to read as I prepared for my visit about the strong involvement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Zimbabwe with its people. This is not a church living on its own but it is rendering services (such as) health and education in particular and I was very grateful to see that.

“At the same time we see and also understand the current (drought) situation and in fact what we are committed to do is to seek ways of increasing our presence and our support through the church so that it can be with the people.”
New Ziana