Unsung Heroes
http://www.morningmirror.africanherd.com
There are many unsung heroes in Zimbabwe, and one of those very
special people is Matron Mary Winifred Brewster who was on Thursday
awarded an MBE!
In Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s New Year’s Honours List, (Diplomatic
Service and Overseas) Mary Brewster was bestowed as a Member of the
British Empire for services to the sick and the elderly in Zimbabwe.
Mary Brewster was born in Yorkshire and came to Rhodesia in 1049 as an
SRN, and her first posting was Enkeldoorn (Now called Chivu) She
arrived on the train from Cape Town and then went by Donkey cart to
Enkeldoorn accompanied, on his bicycle, by the Rev Shearly Cripps a
most famous Rhodesian character.
Matron worked in Chipinga (now Chipinge), and Shabani (now Zvishavane)
She was the Matron in Charge at Bulawayo Central Hospital from 1977 to
1983 when she retired.
She came back into service in 1988 to Edith Duly Nursing Home in
Bulawayo where she was the Nursing Matron and in charge of the Home.
Edith Duly Nursing Home is a geriatric Nursing Home in Bulawayo, the
only one in Matabeleland. The home is now taking in many patients
from other institutions which have been forced to close due to the
economic climate in Zimbabwe.
They now take in Downs patients, Alzheimers, the terminally ill, the
mentally ill and many patients who cannot be cared for elsewhere. The
Home has beds for 76 of which at least half are occupied by the the
less fortunate.
Matron has worked tirelessly for her fellow man for 61 years and
retired from the nursing Home in 2010 aged 84 !
She was at the Home by sunrise and left at sunset, her every
Christmas, Easter, Sunday and Saturday was the Home as well as the
working days in between.
Thank you Matron Brewster and congratulations from us all in Zimbabwe.
It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for
something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing
what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the
lost and love to the lonely. –Leo Buscaglia