RC Diocese of Mutare, St Paul’s Secondary School, Chinhenga, Zimbabwe
St Francis Mission Hospital in Katete, Zambia www.supportstfrancishospital.org
St Paul’s Secondary School, Chinhenga, Zimbabwe – Community water project
Through our links to the Catenian Association and the Irish born Bishop of Mutare we have been able to support a project that has provided a secure source of water for the pupils at St Paul’s Secondary School and the surrounding community in Chinhenga Village, Manicaland, Zimbabwe by installing a brand new borehole and solar pump (see photos below). Chinhenga is located deep in a rural area about 60km from the nearest tarmac road in the Province of Manicaland. Eastern Zimbabwe. The local people eke out a living from subsistence farming and save hard to send their children to St Paul’s School in the hope that they will have a better future. In October 2024 Dr Nick and Claudine visited the village in person and stayed with Father Trymore the parish priest. Whilst there, they were able to see for themselves how the new, safe and reliable water source will improve the quality of life for everyone and reduce the burden of water borne diseases especially amongst children. The match funding we provided enabled the project to proceed without undue delay and it is hoped that we will be able to help fund additional development projects at the school in future.
We also have a longstanding and ongoing relationship with the St Francis Mission Hospital in Katete, Eastern Zambia where for many years we have contributed to the running costs of the Children’s Ward and Special Care Baby Unit.
St Francis’ Mission Hospital is a busy general hospital that serves the local population of Katete District (over 200,000 people) and receives specialist referrals from all over Eastern Province (about 1.5 million people). It is especially focused on providing treatment to the most vulnerable in society and also provides clinical training for health professionals such as nurses and midwives. The hospital is recognised by the Government as a centre of excellence but remains financially dependent on charitable donations to supplement the funding it receives from both the Anglican and Catholic Churches. Although it predominantly employs Zambians, it still relies heavily on volunteers from overseas because of a national shortage of clinical staff. Dr Nick has twice spent time working there himself.
The hospital’s 350 beds are divided into adult medical (male and female), paediatric, maternity and surgical (male and female) wards. There is also a busy Labour Ward (delivering over 2000 babies each year), a basic Special Care Baby Unit and 2 operating theatres performing more than 3000 operations annually. Accidents and injuries are seen most commonly with Malaria and HIV/AIDS following close behind. Altogether 22,608 patients are admitted each year (62 per day). This reaches a peak during the malaria season (February to April) when an average of 30 children are admitted every day. The Outpatient Department is the main point of access to the hospital’s services and 93,038 people are seen and treated there annually (on average 255 per day).
overseasaidalliance.org 