Chikombedzi Mission Hospital Support
Chikombedzi Mission Hospital was established in the late 1940s by Free Methodist missionaries in the remote southeast corner of Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The hospital played a significant role in providing healthcare for over one hundred thousand people while sharing the gospel of Jesus with those it served. Over the years, the hospital has expanded from its humble beginnings in a small building to a large complex providing out-patient and in-patient care for various medical conditions. A busy obstetrics department delivers over 100 babies a month. The hospital also serves as the referral center for 14 rural clinics, hosts an HIV clinic, has a center for youth and provides daily chaplain visits for all patients.
Since the country achieved Independence in 1980, Chikombedzi Hospital has continued to function under the authority of the Zimbabwe Free Methodist Church but has faced numerous challenges. The most pressing current need is for a reliable source of pure water. The water project will bring water to the hospital from the Mwenezi River through a six-kilometer-long pipeline. A solar-powered pump will be embedded in the river to provide sand-filtered water, avoiding the high salt content of borehole water that has ruined much hospital equipment. The water project will cost $47,000.
Future projects to renovate existing buildings, increase solar power production, provide special medical equipment, and build new staff houses are anticipated. Training for radiology technicians is in the works and there is great need for establishing a nursing school.