For 73-year-old Mai Rosaria Chibwe, the journey to the nearest clinic has always begun before dawn.
Wrapped in her church regalia, she would navigate dusty paths for nearly two hours, a sick grandchild strapped to her back, praying they would make it in time.
Yesterday, as she stood before the newly opened Simbarashe Medical Centre in Chirasavana, tears rolled down her weathered cheeks.
“Mwari vatirangarire (God has remembered us),” she whispered, clutching her white handkerchief. “I have buried two grandchildren on this path to the clinic. Maybe now, the third will live.”
Her voice cracked with emotion as she gestured toward the gleaming new facility built by the Johane Masowe Chitungwiza Unit J Canaan Sect under leader Madzibaba Simbarashe Nengomasha.
“This is not just a building. This is our children’s future. This is hope.”
The medical centre, constructed in the heart of Chibaya village, brings essential healthcare to a community that has for decades watched ambulances pass them by on distant main roads.
Women in labour walked. Children with fevers walked. The injured were carried.
But yesterday, as church members in white garments filled the air with hymns of thanksgiving, the community declared that chapter closed.
Gogo Amai Muroiwa, a village elder and longtime resident of Chibaya, struggled to contain her emotions as she addressed the gathering.
“I am 68 years old. For 68 years, I have watched pregnant women being wheeled on scotch carts to Chitungwiza Hospital. Some never made it. Today, I am watching my grandchildren play outside a clinic in my own village. My heart is too full for words,” she said, pressing a hand to her chest.
The facility, painted in soft earth tones with a prominent cross adorning its entrance, includes consultation rooms, a maternity wing, and a dedicated mother’s shelter, a feature that moved many women in attendance who recalled stories of relatives giving birth under trees during the rainy season.
Church member Simbarashe Dube, a father of three, said the development demonstrated that people of faith could drive tangible change.
“We have always prayed for healing. Now we have a place where prayer meets medicine. Our children will grow up knowing that God works through doctors and nurses too.
Madzibaba Simba has shown us that faith without works is dead,” he said, his voice rising above the ululations of congregants.
The opening ceremony drew hordes of people from surrounding villages, many walking kilometres just to witness what they described as a historic moment for their community.
Women’s choirs sang songs of gratitude, while young men who helped with construction were visibly proud as they showed visitors around the facility.
Village heads officially welcomed the development, noting that government alone could not solve all community challenges.
“President Mnangagwa says Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo. Today we are seeing that truth with our own eyes. A man of God has built what politicians have promised for years. We are grateful, and we will protect this facility as our own,” he said.
Madzibaba Simba, known for his low-profile philanthropy spanning 16 years of donations to Chitungwiza General Hospital and other clinics, appeared humbled by the community’s reaction.
“This is not about me. This is about a little boy who once bled in the bush and had no help. That boy grew up and remembered. If every grown-up remembered their childhood pain, Zimbabwe would have no suffering,” he told the gathering.
His social responsibility record extends beyond healthcare. At his Inora Farm in Wedza, he has championed Pfumvudza conservation agriculture, hosting field days to teach communities food self-sufficiency . During the festive season, he has consistently donated mealie-meal and cooking oil to vulnerable families, a practice that earned him the Outstanding Vapostori Church Leader award at the Zim Community Trailblazers Awards .
The church has also embraced modern healthcare practices, collaborating with health professionals during large gatherings to ensure congregants’ wellbeing-a significant shift for a denomination historically associated with faith healing alone .
As the sun set over Chibaya village, Mai Rosaria remained seated on a bench outside the new clinic, watching nurses arrange equipment inside.
“Tomorrow I will bring my grandchildren for their first check-up,” she said softly. “Not because they are sick. Because I want them to know this place while they are healthy. I want them to grow up knowing that help is near.”
The Simbarashe Medical Centre begins operations this week, staffed by qualified healthcare workers drawn from the local community-fulfilling Madzibaba Simba’s promise that the facility would create both upstream and downstream employment for residents.
For a community that has waited generations for healthcare within walking distance, the white building now standing at Chirasavana represents more than bricks and mortar. It is a monument to the belief that development, when driven by those who understand local struggles, can transform lives one village at a time.