Tinotenda Zamchiya, 4, was playing on the Nyadire United Methodist Hospital playground three days after she began treatment for a serious case of malaria
Tinotenda Zamchiya was seriously ill with malaria when a friend brought the child and her mother to the Nyadire United Methodist Hospital.
Three days later, the 4-year-old was climbing the monkey bars on the hospital playground at the Nyadire United Methodist Mission, the oldest United Methodist mission in Zimbabwe.
“I am so grateful for the care she has received,” the Rev. Clara Zamchiya said of her daughter. That care included the Rev. Nyaradzai Matonga, chaplain for the primary and secondary schools at the mission, going to get them.
The little girl is typical of patients treated at the hospital in northeastern rural Zimbabwe, according to Dr. Ronald Nyabereka. “Children under 5 are the most vulnerable. If you did random testing of most people in the area, many would have malaria, they just aren’t all sick,” said Nyabereka, one of the hospitals two doctors.
Malaria, tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS and related illnesses, pneumonia and meningitis are among the most common diseases treated at the 175-bed hospital, although children are often seen for diarrhea and malnutrition, Nyabereka said. The hospital serves about 150,000 patients a year, with an annual budget of between $120,000 and $130,000 – depending on income and donations.
