By Nuusita Ashipala
ONGWEDIVA – The million-dollar shelter for expectant mothers at Engela State Hospital is deteriorating fast, and with no water at the shelter and the ablution facilities no longer functioning it emits an unbearable stench.
The shelter, which is home to about 60-70 pregnant women daily, has been without water for the past two to three months forcing the women to cover a distance of about about 500 metres to fetch water despite having paid a N$10 monthly access fee.
Allegations are that some women have gone into labour on their way to or from the water point. “The water point is very far. We have to go around the hospital before we get to the water point. So many people have given birth on the way,” said expectant mother Lusia Gabriel.
The crisis at the centre includes stinking bathrooms because of the blocked up water in the showers and washbasins and no ablution facilities.
When nature calls the women resort to relieve themselves in the close proximity of the shelter especially at night.
“We are not really allowed to use the hospital facilities, but what can one do? We sneak in because we have to shower. Some mothers even end up bathing occasionally,” said Veronika Shinime.
The women have called upon the shelter management to avail water because the situation has prompted some mothers to camp in the open space in the tents close to the hospital. A situation the mothers say expose them to the harsh elements such as wind and rain.
Another woman at the shelter Lavinia Joseph is requesting the shelter management to have the place electrified because the solar panels currently in use do not accommodate the stoves in place and they hence cook outside the shelter.
She added that the current cooking area is also not adequate because goats use it as a sleeping area at night.
“The place stinks because the goats sleep there and they pee and relieve themselves there. Sometimes after cooking there is just no appetite to eat,” said Joseph.
Someone in the know said the situation gets worse with each passing day because the shelter does not have any management. Members who were initially on the steering committee have withdrawn.
The two caretakers at the shelter have also allegedly not been paid because the centre does not generate enough funds from the N$10 fee to pay salaries ranging between N$500 and N$800 monthly.
The only solution to save the centre is to hand it for management to the Helao Nafidi Town Council or establish a management body, the affected women say.
The centre was built from donations from organisations, government entities, constituencies and individual households that were each required to pay N$2 with support from its patron, First Lady Penehupifo Pohamba and the Governor of Ohangwena Region, Usko Nghaamwa.