First Lady takes tree planting, medical outreach programmes to Mbire
ENVIRONMENT patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa last Friday led the planting of fruit trees at Chitsungo District Hospital and surrounding schools in Mushumbi, Mbire district, where she also took her mobile clinic to ensure people in hard-to-reach areas have access to medical services so that ailments are detected and treated early to save lives.
The programmes are a continuation of the First Lady’s all-inclusive national empowerment programmes, under which no place and no one are being left behind.
Distance is not a barrier to Amai Mnangagwa, who went with her Angel of Hope (AOH) Foundation’s mobile clinic and a team of health experts on the peripheries of Mashonaland Central province, where people benefitted from cervical, breast and prostate cancer screening, HIV testing and counselling, Covid-19 vaccination, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, routine immunisations, family planning services and hypertension checks, among other checks for non-communicable diseases.
There were other side stations assisting the mobile clinic.
Regular health checks, the First Lady told the community, allow for early detection of ailments and timeous placement of people on treatment. Dr Mnangagwa took the opportunity to address social issues and spoke candidly against domestic violence, teenage pregnancies, child marriages, promiscuity and harmful practices that cause cancer, especially cervical cancer.
She also spoke against deforestation, saying the country is grappling with the challenges of deforestation, where people are cutting down trees without replacing them, thereby disrupting the ecosystem and promoting many environmental challenges.
The First Lady started by interacting with scores of women who had queued to be screened for cancer.
“I am happy with your coming here madzimai in numbers for free health checks. Kubva kuvakuru kusvika kune vechidiki, mese mauya nehuhwandu hwenyu nekuti hutano hwakakosha,” she said.
Some of the women told the First Lady that it was their first time to be screened for cancer and thanked her for bringing the services to their doorstep.
The First Lady gave them words of encouragement.
“I have brought my Angel of Hope Foundation’s mobile clinic so that you can be examined free of charge. I want you to return home knowing where you stand and preserving good health. Let us be screened for cancer. It is not a painful procedure. I go through the same procedure. If I am doing it, you can also do it. You should always know where you stand health-wise, madzimai, kuti tizorambe tichigona kushanda tichirima muminda yedu takagwinya,” she said.
The women thanked Amai Mnangagwa for her medical outreach programme and for explaining to them what cervical cancer screening was all about as some of them were scared of being screened for fear of the unknown.
“What are some of the causes of cancer that you know?” the First Lady asked.
In response, one woman said: “Amai, women have since time immemorial used traditional herbs for various health reasons, but now, they have gone an extra mile, inserting herbs in the cervix, paving the way for cervical cancer. They are doing this to increase sexual pleasure.”
Amai Mnangagwa discouraged women from doing so and outlined the dangers of such practices.
“What you are inserting in your privates might not affect you today but in future you will suffer the consequences. Some said they are doing this to please their husbands, but if you die of cancer, the same man will move on with his life and marry another woman. Let us stay healthy and avoid such harmful practices,” she said.
Amai Mnangagwa then moved to the next tent where women where seeking various services, including family planning.
The First Lady explained that family planning did not translate to stopping child bearing, but promotes spacing and limits numbers to manageable levels.
She urged the women to discuss with their spouses family planning methods so that they move together on the same page.
Dr Mnangagwa encouraged those who had not completed their Covid-19 vaccination to do so. The First Lady, who has a passion for promoting healthy living among citizens, toured a stand where women from the community were showcasing a variety of traditional foods and drinks they had prepared, showing how her traditional cookout programme has reached even the most remote areas. The chefs were led by Mrs Shelter Chitsungo, who came third in the national competition last year. Amai Mnangagwa later addressed people who had gathered.
“I am happy that we have come to spend time together as a family. I am here because of the correct choice you made to vote President Mnangagwa back in office so that he continues with his development agenda. As his spouse, it also gives me the opportunity to continue with our programmes and projects. Ndinokutendai Mash Central. Today, I have brought the tree planting programme because this is the time. The whole way coming here, I saw that people are cutting down trees without replacing them.
“These trees beautify our country and help mitigate the effects of climate change, they give us fruits and medicines. The medicines we see in hospitals and clinics are made from these trees and if we cut them down, we are doomed.