Agatha Manutza

Posted: March 21, 2005

Agatha Manutza, a 46-year-old mother of six and proud grandmother of two, lives in a village just outside the Nyadire Mission Station. She has been a regular patient of Nyadire United Methodist Hospital for many years.

At home in her small, smoky, round thatched-roof hut, Agatha sits on a mat on the cool cement floor. Her youngest granddaughter sits quietly at her side. Like many Zimbabweans, Agatha's corn meal staple from the United Nations World Food Program ended in September 2004. She is now completely dependent on her small farm, where Agatha and her eldest daughter grow maize and peanuts, to support the family.

Recently, Agatha has been experiencing chills, fever and body aches - all symptoms of malaria, which has reached alarming levels in this region of the country. The hospital outreach staff is concerned that in addition to malaria Agatha is suffering from tuberculosis; a disease that could cause her chest pains and respiratory problems. Agatha's condition is further compounded by the fact that she is HIV-positive. Her body is visibly weakened by the effects of her multiple ailments.

Agatha is monitored by community outreach nurses like Sister Rut Lindgren, who pick her up and transport her to the hospital for chest x-rays and a check-up. Assuming that supplies are available, the hospital will also provide Agatha with medication to address the malaria and respiratory symptoms. Anti-retroviral drugs, to combat the AIDS virus, will be harder to come by.

Despite her challenges, Agatha values the outreach and quality of service offered to her by NUMH - for herself and her community. "Our village relies on the hospital and on the workers who come out each week to help us."