The Avenues Clinic donates hospital beds to LCBL Sisters

The Avenues Clinic today (Friday) presented 35 hospital beds to the Little Children of our Blessed Lady, a Roman Catholic religious order, for use in institutions the LCBL sisters run.

The Clinic recently acquired new beds and decided to give away the old beds, which are still in good condition, to institutions that have a need for them, such as those run by the Little Children of our Blessed Lady (LCBL).

In May it donated 60 similar beds to the United Methodist Church for use in its homes for expecting mothers at Anoldine Clinic in Makoni District and Old Mutare Mission.

Some of the beds presented to the LCBL sisters will be going to Chichester Convent in Chishawasha, a retirement convent for elderly LCBL sisters, many of whom are unwell and in need of care.

The other beds are going to a new clinic that was built at Martindale School near Selous,  Mount St Mary's Hospital in Wedza and the LCBL Herbal Project, which was initiated by the LCBL sisters in 2008 to provide herbal remedies for those who, in the harsh economic conditions of that time, were unable to afford or obtain prescription medicines.

The LCBL Herbal Project, which is run by Sr Yullita Chirawu, its executive director, has a clinic at the Harare Exhibition Centre, which offers herbal remedies, massage and reflexology. It has a herbal remedies processing plant at Makumbi Mission in Domboshawa.

The Avenues Clinic chairman, Mr Pearson Chitando, praised the work of the LCBL sisters. He said he was pleased to learn that the beds would be put to good use.

"It is evident that the LCBL Sisters are doing a lot of good work in caring for the sick, whether it is for their own elderly sick sisters at Chichester Convent in Chishawasha, those visiting their clinic at Martindale, those treated at Mount St Mary's Hospital in Wedza, those visiting their herbal clinic in Harare or those visiting other health facilities that they run or assist with," Mr Chitando said.

"It would certainly seem that the good Sisters are going to make maximum use of the beds we are handing over to them today," he said.

Thanking The Avenues Clinic for the donation, the superior general of the Little Children of Our Blessed Lady, Sister Illumina Katsukunya, said that the new clinic in Martindale, St Barbara's Clinic, had been built in the heart of a farming area.

She said the people it would serve were poor farming people who could not afford other health facilities. They were in particular need of maternity facilities.

"Yesterday there were 35 mothers who want their babies delivered at the clinic but the clinic does not yet have beds. The maternity ward has not yet been completed," she said, adding that they are also intending to build  a waiting mothers' home at the clinic.

She praised The Avenues Clinic for its generosity in donating the beds, which, she said, would go a long way towards helping further improve the quality of service the LCBL sisters were able to deliver at the various institutions.

"The Catholic Church is this year celebrating a Year of Mercy. You have demonstrated that you are reaching out to the needy and sharing what you have," she said.

The Avenues Clinic managing director, Mrs Merissa Kambani, said she considered the beds donation more than just a donation. She said she hoped it would mark the beginning of a close relationship between the clinic and the LCBL sisters.