By Takura Zhangazha*
There are certain oddities to Zimbabwean life at the
moment. And it takes lived experiences
to be able to explain them. Even if our
country is neither at war nor tittering at the brink of it.
I have a good comrade that I know that survived a car
accident. He was not driving. Nor was he a passenger. He was a pedestrian. And he missed death by a whisker in Harare’s
central business district. And this was
close to a church. Three vehicles had
collided as he was walking toward an intersection and one of them missed him by
a whisker. To say it missed him may be
an understatement. He jumped out of the
way just in the nick of time.
Invariably road accidents happen. But the reason I am citing this particular one
is because of what happened in its aftermath.
The first dilemma we faced was getting an ambulance. Initially using our mobile phones we tried
the emergency numbers and not surprisingly they were not working. We then tried to get actual numbers of
ambulance services and they too were not working. A colleague then went to one of their offices
which are close by and upon arrival he called us to say they wanted to ask if
we had not already called another ambulance.
Slightly surprised at the oddity of the question, we confirmed we hadn’t
and they then advised that they are deploying one.
After ten or so minutes, and at least an hour after the occurrence
of the accident, the ambulance arrived.
The medical personnel asked the slightly shocked comrade as he sat on
the ground what medical aid scheme he was on and to which hospital he wanted to
go on the same basis. Again, odd
questioning. We insisted they check him out first before asking such evidently
misplaced first questions. They took him
into the ambulance (with equipment that was quite rudimentary), after finally
asking the relevant medical questions.
Then the first questions came back again. ‘Which medical aid scheme are you on?’, ‘Which
hospital would you like us to take you to?’.
The comrade said he was not on any medical aid scheme since he does not
have a regular salary though he does part time jobs. He also said he was shaken but felt fine and
that he would probably be able to go to a doctor the following morning. We then asked the ambulance crew what all the
questions were in aide of and they replied its routine and that those that are
not on medical aid are taken to the country’s biggest state hospital
(Parirenyatwa).
We asked whether this would be for free and the calmly delivered
but shocking response was it would cost US$40 to transport him there.
The comrade who was fine (and is fine) insisted on going
home first. But we knew that we didn’t have
the amount required to take him to hospital let alone any extra money for
whatever the hospital would require. And
the ambulance driver, all along acting in the most calm manner, excitedly stated that
there has been another accident and that the victims there were on the Public Services
Medical Aid Scheme. And they hurriedly left.
What was apparent though not said was that the ambulance services
were there for the money. And that they were willing to only commit if there
was some form of proof that payment would be made (medical aid or anxious
relatives/friends forking out whatever they had).
Luckily our comrade was ok and the following morning undertook
the necessary visit of a check up at his preferred clinic (after again looking
for some money overnight).
So its an odd life to be a Zimbabwean. And its advised that you do not fall sick or
find yourself in a road traffic accident if you do not have money but can still
talk. All of which you cannot avoid because
they are inevitabilities of modern human existence.
What is happening in our country is a silent but painful dehumanizing
of our being. And perhaps it may not
happen to you in the immediate but when it does, you will not miss its feeling of
depravity and powerlessness.
If there is a solution to this it will have to start with
all of us recognizing the importance of valuing human life over and above
profit (monetary or otherwise). And to
treat each other with the deepest of affection which essentially recognizes that
all Zimbabwean lives, no matter class or race, must be enabled to be lived with
dignity and respect. And I am not even
going to go into a tirade against privatization of health and other social
services.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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