“As women from the area we wondered what we could do to improve our community, and the first thing that came to mind was to help at the clinic, because there were a lot of things that the clinic needed help with and we are here to do that,” said Flora Nemufulwi, the leader of this group of women.

One of the volunteers, Adaziambei Mbedzi, said that they are driven by the love of their community. “I feel very proud to be one of the volunteers who are helping here at our local clinic. Even though we don’€™t get paid, we are doing this because of the love we have for our clinic,” said Mbedzi.

“As volunteers there are a lot of things we do at the clinic. Because this clinic also serves patients with HIV/AIDS, we plant vegetables and mealies to help these patients. It is important for them to eat lots of vegetables to always keep themselves healthy,” said Lufuno Nephembani, another one of the volunteers.

A 54-year old volunteer, Aidah Nyatheli, said: “Even though I am the elder amongst all the volunteers, I feel very happy to be part of the team of helpers here at the clinic. Each and every morning we come to the clinic and clean all the rooms so that when patients arrive, they find the place clean and smelling fresh. We also clean the yard by sweeping at picking up litter. We feel that it is what we should do because we are also patients of this clinic.”

The staff at the clinic are also very pleased with the help they are getting from the volunteers. “People like these women are hard to find these days and we are very grateful to have volunteers around the community who are willing to do something to make a difference in their clinic and not expect anything in return. They are doing this to show how important their community is to them,” said Donald Matshovhana, a junior staff member at Matavhela Clinic.

“I wish this was also happening at the other clinics because it is very important for a clinic yard to always be clean. I hope that somewhere someone is watching over what these determined women are doing for the community and by that hopefully they can get something to do that they get paid for. May the All Mighty God bless them on the wonderful job they are doing and may He give them strength to do even more,” Matshovhana said. ‘€“ OurHealth/Health-e News

Suprise Nemalale is an OurHealth Citizen Journalist reporting from the Vhembe health district in Limpopo.