Women in focus

Female doctors working abroad were rare. The example of Renate Albrecht shows that there was more to it than just gender equality. Not everything that is fascinating about Renate Albrecht's reports on her work is due to her social position as a woman. Her words open a window onto a world that is otherwise rarely talked about.

Life for Zimbabweans in 2006 was a struggle. Rampant poverty was compounded by an AIDS epidemic of unimaginable proportions. Shortly after arriving, Renate Albrecht devoted herself to the fight against the devastating virus. Although new therapies were available, thanks in part to SolidarMed, only a small proportion of those affected were able to benefit from the life-saving drugs at that time. 

But the healthcare system as a whole was in a bad shape. The Zimbabwean state was in a deep crisis, with a lack of money, electricity, water, petrol, medicines and wages. But despite the many daily dramas, Renate Albrecht managed to keep her sense of humour.

Renate Albrecht arrived in Zimbabwe in August 2006 and moved into one of the Musiso Hospital's “doctor houses” in November. She was not alone there: the two employees Agnes Gwenhure and Rosa Mushiriwindi took her into their loving care, as they had done before with numerous Swiss doctors. They managed a household that was not yet dominated by convenience products.

The issue of women’s destinies also shaped Renate Albrecht's professional life. She did not view her medical work in isolation, but rather in a broader context. She was convinced that widespread poverty and patriarchal family structures were detrimental to the health of mothers and children. She criticised the fact that men often denied their wives and children support and made access to birth control difficult.

It was clear to Albrecht that she could not solve the problems as a doctor alone. “The greatest impact on the health of the population can be achieved when girls are able to attend school for at least six to seven years!” Her vision thus extends far beyond the medical care of individual women.

The steep learning curve in midwifery, but even more so the conversations she has with other women about their everyday realities, help Albrecht to “feel at home.” Renate Albrecht's place was among the women. During tea breaks in the maternity ward, entire life stories were shared. On the long car journeys (from hospital to hospital), she advised the students on matters of love and life. She witnessed first-hand how women could flourish in what we would today call a safe space.

She witnessed first-hand how women could flourish in what we would today call a safe space. So Albrecht created opportunities for such exchanges among women. And at the end of her time in Musiso, she threw a legendary “women only party.” Carried away by the music, the fifty or so women left their everyday worries behind and celebrated their femininity and strength through dance: “Buttock Power – Breast Power”. 

In the end, her friends in Musiso told her that she behaved like an African woman. This was meant as a compliment. She was part of an African family. The difficult political situation in Zimbabwe, a serious conflict with the matron at the hospital and the prospect of relinquishing responsibility made it easier for her to say goodbye. 

For Renate Albrecht, her time in Zimbabwe remains “the time of my life”. Her time in the round huts with the people there remains the highlight of her mission. A clay pot handmade by her friend Nyamunda, a nursing assistant, stands on the windowsill in her home.