Charity Work

FEATURED VIOMAK CHARITY BENEFICIARIES

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Simbarashe is a 4 year old Zimbabwe boy diagnosed with cancerous fibrous dysplasia. He lives in rural Murehwa with his unemployed father (Thompson) and mother (Maria). A well wisher, who visited his brother in for Christmas in Murehwa and saw Simbarashe by his homestead just waiting for his death day referred the parents to Viomak for help.

The aggressive tumour is covering Simbarashe’s mouth and nostril and he is in excruciating pain days on end and he struggles to speak, eat and breathe. The tumour which keeps growing has distorted his face, nose and eye. He has infection in his mouth which causes ulcers and he has terrible on and off headaches. Simbarashe’s doctor in Zimbabwe at Harare hospital did biopsies and when he last saw Simbarashe in September 2018 he said he cannot operate Simbarashe as the procedure requires specialised personnel and there is no money to get him operation facilities. The doctors in Zimbabwe said due to lack of resources they cannot do anything and advised that the family should just wait for Simbarashe to die.

On 31 December 2018 the family contacted Viomak for help and Viomak liaised with Simbarashe’s aunt and other well wishers to help the family seek medical help for Simbarashe. With the help of other kind hearted well wishers Viomak and the team raised money for Simbarashe to go for surgery in South Africa. They bought him clothes he left for South Africa in February 2019 where he had surgery. Unfortunately the surgeons made errors and failed to successfully do the operation. They admitted failure and in November 2019 they discharged Simbarashe back to Zimbabwe on a palliative care plan and using a breathing tube. Efforts to seek help in USA or other developed nations were hampered by the onset of covid19. Also as one charity organisation in USA that was willing to help said, it is very challenging if not possible to succeed in doing a second surgery after the first one was botched leaving no way to trace another route to do the surgery . Back in Zimbabwe Viomak and team are still supporting with meeting Simbarashe’s daily needs with the help of well wishers who donated to his charity appeal and cause. Simbarashe is in constant excruciating pain and is feeding on porridge and other soft diets such as potatoes and mahewu drink as he struggles to open his mouth and to swallow food. Zimbabwe’s health system is not functioning and there is no medical equipment or specialist service such that the hospitals are just walls. Patients who are admitted in the hospitals just get admitted as a formality and are then discharged after waiting for days or weeks for medical help to no avail. Zimbabwe leaders seek medical help outside in countries such as China, India, Singapore and South Africa while the ordinary citizens languish in the country with no medical help and eventually die. Many are resorting to fake prophets for healing hoping that so called holy water and oil can cure their ailments.

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Brave is a 14 months old Zimbabwe boy struggling with retinoblastoma cancer and the condition is deteriorating due to lack of medical care in Zimbabwe more so for children with cancer. Brave has since lost his vision in both eyes and pus comes out of the eyes. Brave’s eyes and head are swollen and he is in constant pain. He was officially diagnosed with the cancer retinoblastoma in January 2019 and the condition worsened in February. He was admitted with the mother at Gokwe hospital. After his condition further deteriorated in February Brave was transferred to Gweru hospital and then Bulawayo United hospital and further transferred to Mpilo hospital. The mother, Chipo said her husband Joseph deserted the family in August 2018 following demanding family commitments mainly resulting from Brave’s deteriorating health. Joseph just said he is going to his sister’s place and Chipo has not heard from him ever since he left. After Joseph ran away from the family, Chipo’s health deteriorated as she has no way of fending for the children more so fending for Brave with demanding health needs. Chipo is currently struggling with depression and she needs support too. Chipo struggles with using a mobile phone such that it can be challenging to communicate with her on mobile and she also has fluctuating hearing problems. Apart from the depression her mental capacity in regards to making complex decisions is good so the child is very safe with his mother. Chipo has three (3) children, Fungai a girl aged six (6) years old, Wilson a boy aged four (4) years old and Brave a boy aged 14 months. Chipo was also very concerned about her other two children she left with some sort of neighbour in Gokwe as she sought medical help for Brave in Bulawayo. She has no idea how the neighbour and children were coping during her absence. Living in acute poverty coupled with Brave’s deteriorating health it is very tough for the loving mother who is seen in videos feeding her son with Omega, the helper to meet her children’s needs.

In July 2019 a helper and well wisher Omega saw Brave’s unemployed mother Chipo walking aimlessly , helpless and homeless in the city centre and desperate in Bulawayo with no bus fare to go back to her rural home in Nembudziya Gokwe. Upon discharge from hospital Chipo was seen by Omega loitering in the streets of Bulawayo with baby on her back, hungry and having slept rough the previous night, hopeless with no help in sight. Chipo had gone to Bulawayo to seek medical help for her son and another well wisher who saw the trio at the bus stop referred them to Viomak for help. Omega explained to Viomak that Chipo and Brave were discharged from hospital on the 18th of July 2019 having stayed in hospital for 5 months. The hospital discharged her homeless, without money for transport back to her rural home. Omega took Chipo and the child to her house and provided food, bath and shelter. The following morning Omega accompanied Chipo to the bus stop to board a bus back to her rural area after Omega assisted her with getting a travel warrant. Having met Chipo roaming the streets, Omega took Chipo to the social welfare offices in Bulawayo where Chipo got a travel document for free transport. The medical team advised Chipo to go home and come back to hospital in case they would be able to do something for Brave in future. It’s a hopeless situation. Chipo said she did not get much medical assistance from the hospitals due to lack of resources so no much treatment to talk about was administered on Brave. The medical team administered some sort of chemotherapy but the treatment did not help Brave.Chipo continued to travel to Mpilo hospital with Brave hoping one day her son will be helped .Viomak donated cash to Chipo for her upkeep in Bulawayo and for transport to go back to Gokwe and she also supported Omega with cash to cover her transport costs and food for Brave and his mother.

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Professor is a 6 year old Zimbabwe boy struggling with retinoblastoma cancer which has eaten away his face. In June 2019 Viomak faced the greatest challenge of her charity work when a desperate couple Mashoko and Divine approached her to assist their 6 year old son Professor who had been living with retinoblastoma cancer since he was 2 years old. A cataract started growing in his right eye and at that time the cataract was not painful and the parents thought it was just an ordinary cataract. They used traditional medicine to stop the growth to no avail. Professor is in constant pain and one time he was put on first and second stage cycle of chemotherapy but there was no change. The parents went to Masvingo Morgenster hospital for medical treatment but no help was rendered as the hospital has no resources .They were referred to Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare and the mother spent almost a month in hospital without any effective treatment for Professor. The mother voiced her concern after which Professor was illicitly operated and had his right eye removed and he was unconscious for three days. The hospital staff almost took him to the mortuary before he gained consciousness on the fourth day. The parents complained about the treatment and Professor was discharged from hospital with no help. Within a short period of time another growth developed from the same eye and the family again tried traditional medicine prescribed by traditional healers but nothing changed. They just watched as their child’s health deteriorated. The family relies on handouts from well wishers in the squatter camp they live in Epworth. The parents are unemployed and the father sells firewood and does some other piece jobs. The couple had to sell their livestock and household goods in order to raise money for Professor’s medical care and upkeep. They have nothing else that they could sell and could not even afford us$10 to buy one of the drugs needed to ease Professor’s pain. The couple who have other children, two (2) girls, Tsitsi nine (9) years old and Princess four (4) years old also sought help for Professor in Zimbabwe from citizens but no one offered to make an effort to help the desperate family. Viomak helped them with the money for medication and arranged that Professor go to South Africa with his father in case he would get medical help there. Viomak funded the journey and the father left for South Africa. Professor was admitted for one day in a South African hospital and discharged with a prescription for palliative care at home.

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Duduza Khumalo is a 14 year old Zimbabwe boy who has a hereditary eye condition. A well wisher on 22 May 2018 asked Viomak for assistance after he saw Duduza struggling at a school with no help. Writing to Viomak, the well wisher said, I have a small charity program in which I pay school fees for some kids in Zhombe. One of the teachers at the school contacted me with a problem that is greater than I can handle. There is a young boy with an eye condition that needs special medical attention. I’m doing this in the hope that you can find help for this young man. He has this condition since he was 8 years old now he is 14 years. The father had almost the same condition but he says it was a bit different now the father has one eye. They are from a rural area and nothing is being done and the condition is worsening. His parents are unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. Duduza’s eye is dangerously out of the socket and he is in excruciating pain. He is struggling at school too as the eye ‘tears’. His face is swollen and the mother said Duduza is having bouts of on and off flue and struggles to breathe because one nostrill is now almost covered by the growth.

Viomak has been working on the case with the support of Makadho foundation. The intention was to arrange that Duduza seek medical help outside Zimbabwe and Makadho foundation assisted Duduza and his father to get passports and met all associated costs from offering Duduza and father shelter, food, transport money and medical costs as they applied for passports in Harare and at the same time seeing doctors in Harare the costs paid for by Makadho foundation. Viomak also donated cash to the cause. The journey out of Zimbabwe failed to materialise due to logistics challenges as family have no relative in South Africa to offer accommodation and also a surgeon contacted in South Africa was not forth coming. In November 2019 Viomak visited Duduza in Zhombe, Gokwe and met him and his mother .The immediate plan was to go to Karanda mission hospital with Duduza and his father, in case he could be helped there hoping for a breakthrough. Unfortunately when Viomak visited the family, Duduza’s father was not around as he had gone to look for lost cattle. Then came covid19 challenges and all plans were put on hold.

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Bhekinkosi is a 5 year old Zimbabwe girl who was diagnosed with skin cancer. She is an orphan living with her maternal grandmother in a resettlement area in the outskirts of Shurugwi. In 2015 a well wisher approached Viomak to help the many vulnerable children and adults living in poverty in the area and facing many health challenges including Bhekinkosi . Bhekinkosi’s unemployed grandmother is looking after her other grandchildren and she survives on handouts from the community. On 07/09/2017 Viomak visited the area and also an orphanage in the area. Bhekinkosi needs help with clothing, food, bedding, medication. Viomak assisted Bhenkikosi’s grandmother with groceries and money for medication.

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Knowledge is a 16 year old Zimbabwe boy from Jiyazi village Chiredzi lowveld of Zimbabwe. Knowledge had a minor injury at school after he mistakenly bumped his right leg on a desk. After a few days the leg became so painful and swollen and also a growth was noticed on the leg. He was taken by the school administration to St Peters hospital in Chiredzi where he was seen by an orthopaedic doctor but nothing materialised. Knowledge was transferred to Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare where doctors are currently on strike. He was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma. A biopsy examination was done and due to machines breakdown and not working the results are not yet out and chances of getting the results are very slim. Knowledge has been waiting for his results since several months ago. He is a brilliant young boy who attained six (6) units for garden seven examinations. At the moment Knowledge is out of school and struggling at home in Hopley where he is temporarily staying with his uncle (mother’s brother) with not even a pain killer to relieve his pain. His father works as a security guard in Harare and his mother is in the rural area where she looks after another child who is mentally challenged. Knowledge is currently being accommodated in a small room where his uncle stays with his two wives and fourteen (14) other children. The family lives in poverty .A well wisher who saw Knowledge struggling in the city centre referred him to Viomak for help. Viomak arranged visits to Hopley farm and in November 2019 Viomak visited Knowledge and his family and offered help. A journey was planned to Karanda mission hospital believed to be better equipped than other hospitals in Zimbabwe. A day before Viomak was to travel with Knowledge and his uncle to Karanda hospital he was admitted at Parirenyatwa hospital. A doctor cut off his leg in a botched operation leaving him lying hopeless in hospital with no after care and was finally discharged back home with no treatment and he never recovered.

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