Short Term Worker Program

General Information:

Chidamoyo Christian Hospital is an 80-bed hospital located in NW Zimbabwe. It is a Church of Christ/Christian Church sponsored mission hospital that works under the government health program in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the hospital is to be an evangelistic tool for the building up of churches in the surrounding community as well as provide quality health care to people in Zimbabwe to improve their social positions.

Chidamoyo is located about 300 kms (200 miles) from the capital city of Harare. The nearest town is Karoi, located 107 kms away (1 1/2 hours away) by rough dirt road and some tarred road. This is where we buy our basic supplies and receive our mail. We usually send a hospital truck in once a week on Tuesdays for orders and mail.

We have no phone at Chidamoyo Hospital at this time. We are in radio contact with our nearest missionary in Chinhoyi (2 1/2 hours away), Dale Marshall. Any emergency messages can be phoned or e-mailed to him and he can contact us by radio. Phone from US 011-263-67-22670 and E-mail: dale@earth.co.zw (please send emergency messages only and put attention Chidamoyo in RE title)

Chidamoyo also helps to run another hospital called Makonde Christian Hospital which is located in Mhangura (Northwest of Chinhoyi) about 3 hours from Chidamoyo and 2 hours from Harare. This is a 120-bed hospital that has fulltime electricity and a phone. We go there at least once a month for a few days and we are also looking for people to do internships at this hospital. We have a 3bedroom house that is a guesthouse there. Even if you are based at Chidamoyo you may have an opportunity to spend some time at Makonde Hospital.

We now have full-time (24 hour a day!) electricity. All electricity here is 220 voltage (US is 110 voltage), there are transformers available here.

Short term work program:

Work permits:
We do have several short term work programs available to suit the needs of the hospital or mission and the needs of those coming to help. These can range from 2 weeks to 6 months. You will enter the country as a visitor and would help as a volunteer in order to avoid getting a work permit, which is a lengthy and difficult process. If you want to stay longer than 6 months or want to practice medicine while here you may need a work permit and or license. Nurses coming to help can work under my license.

Fees:
All of our money raised for the hospital goes into the hospital and so we do not have funds to sponsor volunteers. You need to pay $50/month for your housing (which includes laundry and cleaning of your house) and then buy and cook your own food. We have a four-bedroom guesthouse, which has a kitchen. Each bedroom has their own bathroom, sink and shower. There may be other interns here at the same time—although we try and limit to 3 medical interns at a time to make the experience more interesting. Count on about $200/month for food costs, depending on what you eat.

Clothing:
You will be required to wear acceptable clothing to fit into the culture here on the mission. This is a necessity and not an option. This means skirts and tops or split/skirts that are full—no pants or shorts, when at work, for women. Casual pants, shorts and jeans for men, long pants for church. If you are working as a nurse in the hospital you need to wear white uniforms—no pants. I do have some uniforms here that you can use, so don’t go out and buy things you won’t use again. There are lab coats here for others to wear to protect their clothing, if needed. Any type of shoes, sandals, tennis shoes is fine. When you are off duty and are at home women can wear pants or shorts—if called to the hospital, you must put on a skirt over your pants or shorts. In towns it is acceptable to wear pants and shorts, so bring some. No short skirts or dresses—please. No hip pants where your abdomen shows.All clothes are hand washed and take a beating (literally), so bring clothes that you might want to use to trade before you leave the country—don’t bring anything special, you might want to go home with.

We allow no alcohol or smoking on or off mission property. Couples who are unmarried will not be allowed to share a room.

Drinking alcohol is very offensive for Christians in Zimbabwe.

Type of work available:
Work that is available is nursing/medical, helping in the laboratory, X-ray, office work, maintenance work, working in the primary or secondary school or pre-school programs and evangelistic work. We will develop a work schedule for you based on your interests. If you are a licensed medical person, you must have a local licensed person with you at all times when you are doing procedures at the hospital and there may be some limitations as to what you may be able to do. You will be oriented when you get here.

Weather:
We are located in the Southern Hemisphere and so seasons are opposite from the US. We essentially have 2 seasons here—rainy and dry. Summer is from September until April, with rains from November to March (usually). Summer we have hot, rainy days with temps into low 100’s and into 70’s and 80’s at night. Winter is from mid to end of April to end of August, with day temps into 80’s and nights down to mid 50’s. In summer bring lightweight clothes and winter—lightweight clothes with a jacket or sweater to cover up with. In Harare and other areas in the country it is much cooler and can get down to 30’s at night in winter—so bring something to keep warm in, if you come in winter.

Application procedure:
Write or E-mail me as soon as you know you would like to come. Please answer:Name, qualifications, age, area of work wanted, length of stay, approximate dates you want to come, how many in your group (single, married couple, work party, etc.) and any special requirements. Include your physical address and E-mail where I can contact you. Since we do not have a phone we do not have instant E-mail, but whenever we get to town we do E-mail, so don’t despair if you don’t get an answer right away to your E-mails—we usually can do E-mail every 2-4 weeks.

Send your application by E-mail to: Kmccarty@mweb.co.zw or to: Kathy McCarty Chidamoyo Christian Hospital, P.O. Box 330 Karoi, Zimbabwe, Africa.

Travel: While you are here you should plan to do some traveling and see some sights. We can arrange travel for you, bring extra money.You will need a flashlight (called torch here) and batteries to last for your time here.Some places to check for cheaper flights:
RAPTIM:1-800-777-9232, 1-888-472-7846
SIAMA:Siama@Siama.antenna.NL or www.siama.nl 1-800-283-5133
Skyauction.com
FTI: 1-800-235-9384, 1-800-329-4384 mail@fellowship.com

Political Situation:
Things have been very unstable in the country and we never know from minute to minute how “safe” it is. We will advise you if things change and it is not safe for you to come