On the winding path to equality
Marie-Thérèse and Josef Jeker
A role model in the fight against HIV
Nurse Euphrasia Gwanyanya
Born 65 years ago in the Zaka district, Nurse Euphrasia Gwanyanya became a key figure in the fight against HIV/AIDS in rural Zimbabwe. Once a patient close to death, and later a pioneering nurse, her life story is inseparably linked with the work of SolidarMed and the hope it has brought to thousands of affected people.
Born and raised in the Zaka district 65 years ago, Sister Gwanyanya embodies the incredible story of the HIV/AIDS work carried out by the Swiss NGO SolidarMed in this corner of Zimbabwe. Her Catholic primary school, St. Antony's Primary School, was just a stone's throw away from the Musiso Hospital walls. After completing the second grade, she was forced to drop out of school.
But Euphrasia was lucky. The sisters at St. Antony's Mission. helped her find a job as an assistant at Musiso Hospital. She then successfully applied for the internal training programme for nursing assistants. Before Zimbabwe's independence, this programme was offered without certification. The management of Musiso Hospital negotiated with the government in 1981 for official recognition of the training programme. Euphrasia Gwanyanya and her colleagues travelled to Harare and took the medical assistant exam. Later, she took more training courses to become a midwife, anaesthesia nurse and finally a general nurse.
Without SolidarMed, I wouldn't be here anymore
Nurse Euphrasia Gwanyanya, nurse in Simbabwe
Switzerland on the dissecting table
Her ability to put patients into a blessed sleep before surgery was in high demand in Musiso. Euphrasia Gwanyanya was the only anaesthetist in a rural hospital. She played a key role in the hospital's busy surgical activity. And in this small community, she inevitably came into close contact with Swiss doctors. She proudly recounts that she has worked with over 30 Swiss doctors during her long career.
Her relationship with Swiss doctors deepened when Euphrasia Gwanyanya was on the brink of death: in 2004, her husband died of AIDS. She was also diagnosed with the deadly virus. “It was Christian Seelhofer and, in particular, Renate Albrecht who stood by me during those dark hours, educated me about HIV/AIDS and advised me to join SolidarMed's therapy programme,” she says. Euphrasia Gwanyanya, who had already lost two husbands to HIV/AIDS, knew that she too was carrying the virus.
Nurse Euphrasia Gwanyanya at SolidarMed's office
And indeed, her health was deteriorating day by day. On the advice of Swiss doctors, she decided to start a therapy programme at the specialised Newlands Clinic in Harare. Christian Seelhofer took on the task of providing close medical care. “The treatment in Harare saved my life,” says Sister Gwanyanya. “Without SolidarMed, I wouldn't be here anymore.”
Cheating death
After making a full recovery, Sister Gwanyanya used her own experience to campaign against the HIV epidemic. She was one of the first healthcare professionals to be trained in HIV/AIDS management when SolidarMed launched the programme in 2005.
The more widely my life story became known, the more I became a prime example of someone who had cheated death
Nurse Euphrasia Gwanyanya, nurse in Simbabwe
When Sister Gwanyanya began to speak publicly about her own medical history, SolidarMed employees also contacted her with a request to publish her recovery story in magazines and on the website. “The more widely my life story became known, the more I became a prime example of someone who had cheated death, who could show all HIV-positive people a way to overcome their prejudices and fears about medication and the social consequences of a diagnosis,” she says.
From knowledge to independent care
SolidarMed's pioneering work in HIV control in rural Zimbabwe did not fail to have an impact. “SolidarMed helped to fill the gaps in our knowledge,” says Euphrasia Gwanyanya. SolidarMed trained health workers, who then spread out across rural Zimbabwe to educate the population affected by the disease about the devastating virus. As a result, rural health centres began to treat patients independently.
“HIV treatment has improved significantly since then,” says Gwanyanya. But she adds that, unfortunately, the HIV control model has not been consistently extended to other non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. These conditions, which are also becoming widespread in rural Zimbabwe, are currently the focus of SolidarMed's work in Masvingo Province. “SolidarMed is investing heavily in diagnostics, but unfortunately the programme to combat non-communicable diseases does not provide a sustainable supply of medication, as we have seen with HIV/AIDS,” Gwanyanya laments.
People who have shaped SolidarMed
Since its founding in 1926, people with commitment and courage have shaped the history of SolidarMed. In this portrait series, we highlight individuals whose dedication has had a lasting impact on the development of SolidarMed and on healthcare in Africa.
This portrait is an extract from a series of historical eyewitness accounts, which were compiled on behalf of SolidarMed by Marcel Dreier and Lukas Meier. The historians’ complete work is available as a book.
