Volunteers are digging into the renovation of the historic Sanyati Baptist Hospital so new generations of Zimbabweans can experience for themselves the love of the Great Physician. However, many more teams will be needed to complete the ambitious five-year project.
A 17-member team, made up mostly of Kentuckians, launched the renovation in May, replacing trusses and metal roofing on the hospital’s pharmacy and medical records warehouse.
They were followed by 11 volunteers from Tennessee and Florida, and a four-member team from Georgia is on the ground at Sanyati for the first two weeks of July, said project director Peter Sierson of Pleasant Heights Baptist Church, Columbia, Tenn.
As many as 60 teams will be needed over the next five years to complete the project.
While several team members worked on the roof and with the wiring, one team member did something a little different.
Tina Weitkamp, a clinical nursing instructor at the University of Cincinnati, spent time teaching nurses and the nursing students about techniques in neonatal resuscitation and how to help the newborns in distress, said Mark Byler, a physician from Kansas City, Mo., who serves at Sanyati.
The volunteers finished up their week touching up, applying cement and finishing repairs on hospital equipment.
Texas volunteers Gerald and Bobby Thornton served as onsite project coordinators from Feb. 1 to May 18.
Tennessean Don Smith, who recently retired after 22 years as a project manager in hospital construction, followed the Thorntons and plans to serve on site through August.
The five-year “extreme makeover” plan will greatly extend Sanyati’s renowned 60-year history of meeting both physical and spiritual needs, Byler said.
The hospital treats an average of 35,000 outpatients and 1,800 inpatients a year. The staff performs about 1,000 surgeries and delivers more than 2,000 babies each year.
Southern Baptist missionary physician Archie G. Dunaway Jr. was killed at Sanyati in 1978 by guerrillas fighting against the government of what was then Rhodesia.
“These generous, hard working, dedicated men and women did more than just put up roof and wires, they ministered to people they’d never met before in many ways,” Byler said.
“They shared words of encouragement and prayers with people of the community and patients. They shared devotions with the staff in the morning. They shared a meal at a local village of believers. They shared the Word of God at two different local churches.
“They unselfishly shared their skills and hearts in a way that will last long after the new ceilings start to fade and leak,” he added. “God’s love, shown in this practical way, is making an impact at Sanyati Baptist Hospital.”
For information about volunteering, e-mail psierson@pleasantheights.com. (Baptist Global Response)
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