Doctors' donation saves children's learning disability program

Photo courtesy of Dr. David Smith

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Dr. David Smith wears the grass hat a student from the Skills for Life program made him as they have fun in festivities in Chinhoyi.

SALT LAKE CITY – "God changed my life while I was on a medical mission in the Amazon in 2006," said Dr. David Smith, a member of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish. "I got terribly sick and never fully recovered. The illness damaged my nerves, muscles and heart and that, plus a back injury, caused me to take an early retirement from my neurology practice three years ago."

That retirement hasn’t meant abandoning his volunteer work. Smith traveled to Zimbabwe March 9 to visit the Musoromuchena Skills for Life, a vocational program for learning disabled children and their mothers.

While in Zimbabwe, Smith was honored with the 2010 Silver Bowl Volunteer of the Year Award from Salt Lake County for his work as a neurologist at the 4th Street Clinic for the homeless. His wife, Dr. Anna Hom, accepted the award for him April 6, from Lt. Governor Greg Bell and Senator Orrin Hatch. Smith, who returned from Zimbabwe April 18, has been volunteering at the clinic since 1990, and it was through that work he met Dr. Cephas Mujuruki, a Zimbabwean.

Cephas told Smith about a program run by his sister, Hluphekile Mujuruki. "Hluphekile, a vocational teacher, couldn’t walk, was on her death bed and prayed to God, ‘if you get me through this, I will devote my life to helping the special needs children,’" said Smith.

Resources are so limited in Zimbabwe that they struggle to meet the needs of average children; special needs children aren’t educated, he said. Hluphekile got well, recruited three volunteers and started the program in 11 schools in Chinhoyi.

The organization, formed in 2004, is a registered trust that provides more than 800 children and 200 women in marginalized communities with vocational skills for sustainable livelihoods, said Hluphekile. It didn’t have a budget until the last quarter of 2008 when Smith gave a donation.

"I had spent all night praying into New Year’s Day," said Hluphekile. "I was in a dilemma on how to proceed and what to tell the volunteers when I got a call from Dr. Smith Jan. 1, 2009. Having gone for almost four years driven by a vision and finding someone miles away saying he wanted to help is the power and grace of God."

Smith said some of the children are very talented and Hluphekile’s goal is to instill in them if they become successful it is their responsibility to give back to the community. She also is teaching them gardening skills because they can find vegetable seeds in the fields that are edible and also good for ailments. "The kids are teaching their parents how to raise crops," said Smith. "Ten years ago the government took the farm lands away from the people."

The students also are learning drama, and before a production, Hluphekile uses the time to teach them how to respect themselves and protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, which is epidemic.

"In one instance, a girl asked her father if she could go to Skills for Life, but he said no because he thought someone was trying to take advantage her," said Smith. "The girl went anyway. When her father found out, he beat her. Then he found out she made something and sold it for $2, which paid her school fee for the year, and he changed his way of thinking."

"We now have salaries for four staff members because of DANA (David and Anna)," said Hluphekile. "We have managed to do sports programs, an indigenous food program, a skills training program, as well as train staff, do exhibitions, educational tours and psychosocial camps for the children, but we pray for more help from DANA so that we can equip the schools in our area with computers and a copier for exam papers. We also hope to get some assistance for the construction of a culture hut at one of the schools. The parents are prepared to make bricks; it’s the other building requirements that we hope DANA will help us get in the future."

If you would like to make a donation to Skills for Life, send it to Dr. David Smith, 1416 Ramona Ave., Salt Lake City, UT 84105.