On 29 August 2026, Mt Pleasant Seventh-day Adventist Church in Harare hosted a free surgical camp for people living with albinism at Southlea Hospital in Southlea Park.
The camp was organised through the church’s Possibility Ministries department, which serves people with disabilities, and run in partnership with Southlea Hospital, the Global Cleft Foundation and Noble Hands Zimbabwe Trust. It brought together healthcare professionals, medical students, young people and volunteers.
A team united by service
The camp began early, as specialised teams arrived and prepared their clinical stations. The multidisciplinary team included plastic surgeons, general surgeons, dermatologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, nurses and consultant anaesthetists. Medical students from the University of Zimbabwe Seventh-day Adventist Students Association volunteered their time, and the Pathfinder club from Mt Pleasant assisted throughout the venue.
The programme opened with a hymn, prayer and a charge from the hospital chaplain, Pastor William Marere, before clinical work began. Patients received gift packs containing Christian literature, among them The Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ and The Ministry of Healing.
Care that reached beyond Harare
People living with albinism travelled from across Zimbabwe to reach the camp, some from as far as Bulawayo, Mutare and Masvingo. The reception tent outside the hospital was full.
Patients moved through structured stations, starting with registration and vital signs before dermatological assessment. That screening is central to care for people living with albinism, who lack the melanin that shields skin from ultraviolet radiation and therefore face a high risk of skin cancer. Dermatologists examined every patient for suspicious lesions. Those with premalignant lesions received cryotherapy on the spot; those with malignant or extensive lesions were referred to the surgical teams. Surgeons discussed each proposed procedure with the patient before operating.
By the end of the day, 84 people of all ages had received care, according to the organisers’ final count.
When medicine becomes mission
All planned procedures were completed by late afternoon. Patients who had undergone surgery rested in recovery, and no post-operative complications were reported.
The most striking moment came after the patients had gone. At a debriefing session, doctors, nurses, students and volunteers gathered to report on the day, and every volunteer said they wanted to do it again.
For the medical students, the camp offered something a lecture hall could not. Chibaya, who volunteered at the camp as a medical student, wrote that he “learned that patients are more than moving diagnoses of physical ailments.” Talking with patients about how their conditions shaped their daily lives, he said, “reminded me that human beings are holistic. Their emotional needs matter just as much as their physical ones, and understanding them will make me a better physician.”
Mission work, the day suggested, is not confined to a pulpit. It can happen in a consultation room, beside a hospital bed, in the examination of a skin lesion, or in the reassurance offered to someone facing surgery.
First published in The Friday Journal.
