2021 in Review. South Sudan- Afghanistan- Kazakhstan- Manchester (England)

Chosen for Chevening! 

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2021 came about, like any other year with many highs and lows. A plethora of points worth pondering and reflecting on come to mind as I look back on and review the year just gone by. The transition from 2020 to 2021 came as I was concluding my mission in Afghanistan (Dec 2020), just a couple of days before Christmas, and starting another one in South Sudan (January 2021). By this time I had had my nose and throat poked close to if not just over 20 times for PCR testing due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic that had resulted in many changes, especially in the cross- border travel arena. The major highlights of the year however were being chosen for Chevening (a journey that had started with submission of my application towards the end of October 2020), and being accepted into all my 3 choices of UK Universities for the programs that I had applied to read for.

Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Vaccination campaign

The vaccination campaign we concluded in Kabul towards the end of December 2020 had taught me quite a number of things, with endurance and teamwork at the top of that list. Many plane rides, both chopper and fixed wing to and from the regions, with a lot of equipment and consumables to and fro, check- ins and check- outs. It was always fascinating how we`d frequently be stopped at the luggage x- ray points to be quizzed on the oxygen concentrator, what it was for and why we needed to carry some fluids "drips" in our emergency bag.  

Kabul, en- route to airport. Vacc. campaign

Fortunately, we managed to complete the mission right on schedule and travelled home 2 days before Christmas. January came, and with it a new role. After applying for an urgent passport to replace my current one that had run out of pages, I managed to travel to Juba where I would spend a couple of weeks in mandatory post- arrival self- quarantine in the base before proceeding to the static field location in Pibor where I would be based. This I must say, was the beginning of the year 2021 for me. Fast-forward a few months later (June 24th 2021) I received the much awaited email which read in part: "Dear Phanuel Tawanda, We are delighted to inform you that the selection panel was very impressed with your application and interview, and have conditionally selected you for a 2021/2022 Chevening Award". - I`m grateful to Chevening, FCDO, UK embassy in Zimbabwe for this opportunity.

Arriving in Pibor, South Sudan

On this very day, we had just returned back to base from our clinic site in Lekuangole where we had travelled as a combined WASH and Health team to transport material for a new latrine that was being set up, and also EPI vaccines and consumables. I also remember this day as the day we got into trouble with our Project Coordinator (PC) for not properly communicating our movements. It was after the meeting with the PC on arrival that I had gotten a chance to open my emails around 6 pm or so to find the email that had come in around noon on that day. Shortly after that I accepted my offer to study at the University of Manchester, which I was to start following a brief return to Afghanistan as surge capacity in the UN-JMS for a couple of months. 

Joint Medical Services Clinic, Kabul

Having started quite normally with routine duties and on- going covid- 19 vaccinations taking place, this would take a turn and would be complicated by the regime change on the 15th of August that saw us being evacuated to Almaty in Kazakhstan about a week later, where we would continue working from, providing remote support to the office in Afghanistan. Almaty, formerly Alma- Ata during the USSR era, was the venue for the Alma- Ata International Conference on Primary healthcare in 1978. It was during this conference that the Alma- Ata declaration was adopted, expressing the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the health of all people of the world. The primary healthcare model is what many developing countries, including my own, Zimbabwe have adopted and currently practice. 

Almaty, Kazakhstan

The year 2021 was packed, full of activities, growth on all fronts personal, professional, and academic. I`m grateful to everyone that played a part in everything I went through from beginning right to the end of the year. Zimbabwe- South Sudan- Afghanistan- Kazakhstan- Manchester (England).

Manchester Cheveners get together

Author- Dr. Phanuel Tawanda Gwinji