Villagers in Maboleni, Umguza district in Matabeleland North have welcomed a new state-of-the-art Maboleni clinic saying it will improve access to primary health care services, especially for pregnant women.
The clinic which was constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was commissioned recently.
The closest clinic, Nyamandlovu clinic is approximately 20km away from the area.
CITE visited the health facility on Tuesday afternoon and met two women who had come to the clinic around 5 pm to seek health services.
Sanelisiwe Ncube from village 1 Maboleni said the clinic has helped the elderly who were forced to travel long distances to seek medical attention.
“This clinic has assisted us a lot, especially the old people who struggle to walk and have no money to go to the clinic in Nyamandlovu. We had to look for transport to go there and it is expensive,” said Ncube.
She added that the clinic is assisting pregnant women who need constant check-ups during the term of pregnancy.
Another villager, Loveness Ncube also added that the clinic is assisting women seeking family planning services.
“As women, it was difficult to access family planning tablets but now it has made it easy even for us to access injections. Even those who were sick and couldn’t afford to go to the hospital are now able to access the clinic,” she said.
The president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, Mzingaye Ndlovu said the clinic is part of the initiatives that the church has been doing in Umguza District.
“We built the clinic from the ground, we have put the waiting mothers’ area and there is a kitchen with hot water, a bathing area with showers and generally a clinic that can cater for all the medical needs of the community,” said Ndlovu.
“These are the initiatives where we are looking out for the people because you will find out that there is no other nearest clinic within maybe a 50km radius.”
