UNSUNG HEROES
- 3/1/2011 <--Prev : Next-->
There are many unsung heroes in Zimbabwe, and one of those very special people is Matron Mary Winifred Brewster who was on Thursday awarded an MBE!
In Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's New Year's Honours List, (Diplomatic Service and Overseas) Mary Brewster was bestowed as a Member of the British Empire for services to the sick and the elderly in Zimbabwe.
Mary Brewster was born in Yorkshire and came to Rhodesia in 1049 as an SRN, and her first posting was Enkeldoorn (Now called Chivu) She arrived on the train from Cape Town and then went by Donkey cart to Enkeldoorn accompanied, on his bicycle, by the Rev Shearly Cripps a most famous Rhodesian character.
Matron worked in Chipinga (now Chipinge), and Shabani (now Zvishavane)
She was the Matron in Charge at Bulawayo Central Hospital from 1977 to 1983 when she retired.
She came back into service in 1988 to Edith Duly Nursing Home in Bulawayo where she was the Nursing Matron and in charge of the Home.
Edith Duly Nursing Home is a geriatric Nursing Home in Bulawayo, the only one in Matabeleland. The home is now taking in many patients from other institutions which have been forced to close due to the economic climate in Zimbabwe.
They now take in Downs patients, Alzheimers, the terminally ill, the mentally ill and many patients who cannot be cared for elsewhere. The Home has beds for 76 of which at least half are occupied by the the less fortunate.
Matron has worked tirelessly for her fellow man for 61 years and retired from the nursing Home in 2010 aged 84 !
She was at the Home by sunrise and left at sunset, her every Christmas, Easter, Sunday and Saturday was the Home as well as the working days in between.
Thank you Matron Brewster and congratulations from us all in Zimbabwe.
It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely. --Leo Buscaglia
