Where were your babies born ? - 6/ 11/ 2005 <--Prev : Next-->
Where were your babies born ?
My three babies were all born at the Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo.
I will always remember those delicious cups of milky coffee served
with the Lobels ginger biscuits that you could dunk in the coffee if
no-one was looking !!
The maternity floor was quite high up in those days and one could
look across the city at the magnificent display of purple jacaranda
trees. One of my fondest memories were those tranquil and beautiful
Sisters who wafted in and out of the wards in their starched crisp
white habits.
And then there were those tiny little grey trollies on wheels with
the pink or the blue wraps, in which the Nuns would bring the babies
to their mothers every morning ......
Our own personal amazing blessed miracles arrived safely thanks to
the dedicated staff of the Mater dei Hospital.
I left my tonsils and my appendix at the Mater dei Hospital, Mum had
her thyroid operation there, and my Mum-in-Law recovered from her
stroke there...
The Head of Our Household was even carted there forcibly in an
ambulance during a particularly severe bout of malaria one year.
I must have gone in those vast elevators many times, visiting various
friends and acquaintances. When the doors were opened at the start of
visiting hours you would have a quick look first at the quaint notice
board on the ground floor - a veritable Who's Who of what was
happening medically and surgically in the city !!
Those notice boards were a fount of information. You could see
exactly who was in the Men's Surgical Ward, Women's Surgical ward,
Men's Medical, Women's Medical and Maternity or Paediatric Wards.
You could also establish who their doctors were and what religion
they were, and so it was a very congenial place to visit.!!
You could hop from friend to friend and spend a couple of interesting
hours in an ER environment every day if you were that way inclined.
The I.C.U. wing of course was taboo and you never knew who was tucked
away there unless you were unlucky enough to be invited in personally
!!
The Mater dei has always been there. Tall forbidding, austere, but at
the same time comforting and solid, a kind of bastion within the city
walls where peace has always reigned and stability is paramount.
The fire on the fifth floor this year was a shock to us all, but
although the devastation was horrifying, the way in which the city
folk gathered round like a great protective blanket and sorted it all
out in no time at all, shook us all to the very warm cockles of our
hearts.
The rains are now threatening, the builders are working frantically
to get the new roof back on before the rains come in earnest.
Where were your babies born ?
The Mater Dei needs you now ......
One day YOU might need the Mater Dei .....
Please help us to rebuild the Mater Dei hospital.
email the fund raising co-ordinator for more details of how you can
help - magskriel@mac.com
visit the Mater dei Website
http://morningmirror.africanherd.com/materdei/
