Dambashoko villagers from Gwanda 2 have embarked on a clinic construction project that is set to improve access to basic health care in the ward.
The construction project, which began last year, is currently at foundation level and is envisaged to have reached slabbing before the onset of the rainy season. The initiative to build a clinic has been prompted by the lack of a local health facility in the ward. The absence of a local clinic has bred a myriad of challenges for the local community. Villagers walk distances of over 10km to Silikwe or Stanmore in ward 4 to access basic health care. The clinic chairperson, Semolina Ncube, who is also the Habakkuk Trust Action Team Information Secretary said women have been disproportionately affected by the absence of a health facility in the community.
“At the beginning of the month of September, two women gave birth while on their way to access maternity health care services in the neighboring ward,” she said.
Semolina highlighted that the role of women in aiding access to antenatal care has been significantly compromised by the absence of a health facility in the ward. The initiative which has the potential to improve access to basic health care is largely self-funded although having received support from the diaspora. The diaspora community assisted with contributions towards the construction of toilets. To speed up construction, the community has since come up with a schedule of working days that has resulted in the participation of men, women and youth. So far, the community has moulded bricks and is currently appealing for support with cement and quarry to complete the foundation before the onset of the rainy season. The decision to construct a clinic was a key outcome in a Local Level Advocacy Program implemented by Habakkuk Trust a couple of years ago. Habakkuk Trust has in the past mobilized local communities towards the construction of Shale Clinic in Umzingwane, Jowa Clinic in Tsholotsho and most recently Mbimba Clinic in Bulilima.
