(The material and photos for this article were kindly supplied by Catherine and Barry Collins, and by Fr Ned Ward, O Carm)

About the Mission|The Needs|The School|The Hospital|Home-based Care
Bare Necessities | Letter from Fr Ned | Fr Jimmy's Visit

About the Mission

The Regina Coeli Mission has been twinned with St Colmcille’s Parish, Knocklyon since the early 1990s. The Mission is located in Zimbabwe in sub-Saharan Africa. As you may well be aware this entire region is currently facing a food-shortage crisis due to droughts and flooding. The problems in Zimbabwe are further exacerbated by political unrest, national strikes, inequities in land distribution, an HIV/AIDS epidemic, and a sharp economic decline. International credit lines have been closed off since May 2000 due to the country’s failure to meet its repayments. This in turn has given rise to a shortage in foreign exchange reserves making it impossible to import essentials such as fuel, electricity and food.

The fortunes of Ireland and Zimbabwe stand in stark contrast – for example

All of this may make depressing reading, but it is the existence of places like the Regina Coeli Mission, and the resolve and courage of the people there, that provide the seeds of hope for ordinary people. What follows should bring our ‘twin’ a little closer to home.

The mission of Regina Coeli is situated in the diocese of Mutare, in the east of Zimbabwe, 360 km from the capital Harare. It is under the direction of Carmelite fathers Ned Ward from Moate, and Michael Hender from Ashford, Co. Wicklow, who, although he has been in the country for 30 years, has only recently moved there. The mission contains accommodation for the priests, a convent (currently being reconstructed for the Dominican sisters), a 120-bed hospital, and a secondary school with 420 pupils. Within the mission compound there are 20 bungalows which house teachers and 60 bungalows housing nurses and their families. The Mission serves a population of 2,000 within a five-mile radius, and is a very important centre.

Regina Coeli has always been seen as a “flagship” mission having been there for over 50 years. Nevertheless, its age means there is a lot of rehabilitation required. Because of the Mission’s success in the past, the Bishop of Mutare requested some years ago that it be extended to allow the school to teach courses up to A-level, in spite of the fact that there are a number of state secondary schools in the area. However the Bishop in his request made it very clear that there were no funds available to finance the construction of the necessary additional facilities, hence it would be up to the Carmelites and the local communities to raise the money. Return To Top

The Needs

A survey in January 2001, by the local health authorities indicated that the facilities, in terms of dormitories, kitchen and toilet facilities were not up to an acceptable level and would have to be upgraded. They reported that the seven boys’ dormitories, which accommodate 122 boys, have only capacity for 76, while the girls dormitories with a capacity of 107, actually accommodate 120. They recommended that the ceilings should be replaced, redecoration was needed as were new windows, new lockers and mattresses. One 14-bed unit was described as unfit for human inhabitation.

New kitchen equipment, new fridges and new food storage facilities are needed, while toilets need to be renovated and improved. And all this to be done before increasing the school size! Hence, the dilemma facing the Carmelites there is to try to both upgrade what they already have and at the same time to build more for the future as requested by the Bishop, and to do both with very limited means.

The School

The school is a secondary school, which at present caters for forms 1-4, up to O-levels, the equivalent of Junior Certificate in Ireland. In size, it has approximately 420 pupils, of which 120 girls and 122 boys are boarders. Efforts are now being made to expand the school facilities to include Form 5 & 6 in two year’s time, once the funding can be found. This would require additional classrooms (three are under construction at present), living and dining accommodation for both students and additional teachers.

Fees for boarders amount to Zim$1,700, equivalent to €30 per term, but this is not within easy reach for many of the families concerned. Class sizes are high, up to 50 students and this creates quite crowded classrooms. Many of the day students have to walk for up to 2 hours to reach the school, and since classes begin at 07.15, and do not finish until 15.45, it can mean a very long day indeed!

Subjects include the usual academic subjects, together with commerce, agriculture, fashions and fabrics, science and until recently, typing. However there has been a recent donation of 16 computers to the school and the typing room has been converted into a computer classroom. A new teacher for this class is expected to join the staff soon. Return To Top

The Hospital

The hospital has approximately 120 beds, there are male and female surgical wards, a TB ward, a maternity ward and an Outpatients Clinic. Children under 5 years old, and pre-natal patients are catered for in the Maternity ward, to save them waiting time in the general outpatients clinics. In addition, there are a number of round houses, recently thatched, where expectant mothers can come to the Mission before they are due, to await the births.

While this was traditionally a hospital where TB was a problem, the development of HIV/Aids has meant that most of the patients now are suffering from Aids-related illnesses, including pneumonia, while malnutrition, thought to be related to Aids, is also increasing. Malaria is also a major problem.

Nursing staff is lead by five Dominican sisters, of whom Sister Carina, a Swiss sister, is the senior. There is also a medical officer in the hospital, and two ambulances to cater for the large area it serves.

In addition to the wards there is an existing operating theatre, and a new unit comprising two operating rooms and all the necessary facilities will shortly be opened. The building itself, which was financed by Irish Aid, is just complete, and some of the equipment has already been installed.

Home-Based Care

This is one of the most exciting developments in the area of health care in the country in recent years. In 1993, a home-based care unit was formed in the hospital focusing its attention on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the region. The unit is staffed by a co-ordinator, her assistant, a local trainer, a nutrition educator, and an orphan care member. Now the project, which has as its vision “An AIDS-free community by the year 2020” is thriving, to the point that the members of the unit say that awareness of HIV/AIDS in the communities is no longer a problem and they can now concentrate on workshops to change behaviour.

When the project started 10 years ago, there were 45 villages with a population of 13, 000 people involved, but now this has risen to 99 villages, and a total of 42 000 people.
The unit offers counselling, before and after HIV/Aids testing, offers workshops in raising community awareness and in behavioural change, in quality home care, in nutrition and infection control. The unit trains people in the various communities to carry out the work locally, and to date there are 550 care workers trained in this way.

One of the problems associated with HIV/Aids has been the number of children that have been orphaned as a consequence of the disease. In many cases children of as young as 12 years old became family heads, looking after their siblings. The Home Based Care Unit is tackling this problem and they are in the process of rehabilitating many of these orphans. They have also educated and encouraged communities to take care of them, together with the sick and the dying, which was not the case in the past.

Of course all these activities require financing. Funds have been allocated from the “AIDS levy” (an additional levy of 3% payable by taxpayers) and in addition, the Home Based Care Unit has been developing fund raising schemes among the villages where they are active. These schemes include groups crocheting, knitting; sewing and carpentry, while AIDS victims themselves are involved in gardening, making tools and axes, and in bee-keeping. Return To Top

The Bare Necessities - Power and Water

Electricity from the national grid was introduced in the summer of 2000, a very welcome development in an area where previously power could only be obtained from a diesel generator. Even now, with electric power available on tap, there are still a variety of fuels being used - gas, coal and wood are used for cooking and solar panels for water heating.

In earlier years, water supply was a problem, as water was taken by pipeline from a river 10 kms away and was subject to frequent breakage, especially in the rainy season when flows were high. This has been alleviated by air-valves along the line. However the recent health survey also measured contamination in the water supply as being in excess of acceptable limits, and as a result, it will be necessary for a dedicated drinking water supply to be found.

In an attempt to meet some of the financial burden involved in this necessary refurbishment, St Colmcille’s Parish staged a concert in March 2001 to raise funds. Entitled “Imba Kutamba” the concert was compered by Mary Kennedy and Seamus Moran, and included performances by the Knocklyon Church Choirs, The Knocklyon Concert Band, Barber Shop, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Eveness (Ruth Cahill) and Knocklyon Community School. The evening was a resounding success. Since then the parish of St Colmcille have continued to make financial contributions to the Regina Coeli Mission.

At times communications with the Mission are difficult, but during the Summer of 2003, Fr Ned Ward returned to Ireland on holiday. He took time out to address the Masses in Knocklyon on Sunday, 6 July, to bring us up-to-date on the situation in Zimbabwe and give us some idea of the everyday hardships being experienced there at this time. Below is a brief letter received from Fr Ned, just prior to his return.

Letter from Fr. Ned Ward in Regina Coeli

Here is an update on the programme of building facilities for Form V and VI (A level) at Regina Coeli. We have now built 3 hostels, 2 for boys and one for girls leaving one girls dormitory/hostel to build.

We have built 3 classrooms and we are at present completing 3 houses for extra teachers. All building will stop while I am in Ireland from June to September.

We still need to increase facilities in the kitchen to accommodate 70 extra pupils in 2004 and another extra 70 in 2005. You see we begin by opening Form V next year who will be form VI the following year.

There will be many extra costs for books etc. We have already bought 70 desks and chairs and 70 matresses. Looking forward to seeing you in June.

God bless,

Sincerely
Fr. Ned

In 2006 the Carmelites returned the care of the parish to the Diocese of Mutare. However their involvement in Zimbabwe continues. The parish of St Simon Stock in Rusape was twinned with St Colmcille's, Knocklyon in 2006.

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