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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
SAMANTHA Prosperity Mudimba of Mwebe Village in Simangani, Hwange turned 12 on Thursday April 8.

However, her birthday was a forgettable one as she is grappling with the pain of losing her right leg following a landmine explosion at her parents’ homestead in February.

Upon discharge from hospital last month, Samantha who now walks with the aid of crutches donated to her by Lions Club of Hwange, was haunted by the sight of the place where the explosion took place.

She was traumatised to the extent that she confined herself indoors, relieving herself in a bucket as she was scared of going outside.

Her parents ended up relocating and building a new homestead across the road a few hundred metres away, her mother Ms Zipora Tshuma (47) said.

The Grade Four girl may be on the way to recovery but she is still traumatised by the February 16 blast which left three other children with minor injuries.

An anti-personnel landmine exploded shattering Samantha’s right leg which was later amputated in Bulawayo and Lions Club of Hwange took care of her welfare in hospital before buying her a pair of crutches.

Samantha’s challenge is that she cannot walk 7km to Simangani Primary using the crutches hence her family is considering relocating again, now to a place closer to the school for the sake of her education.

She started school late as her parents wanted to first educate her elder brother, now 17 who has since dropped out of school at Form Two.

Samantha says she misses school and Chronicle learnt that she always topped her class.

“It is still painful and giving me trouble. I miss school and want to go back as I have learnt to use the crutches but they said I should wait,” she said in an interview at a church service where her mother took her yesterday.

Ms Tshuma said she took her daughter to church so she could exercise.

“We have moved from where the blast occurred because she was haunted by the incident. She was refusing to go out of the hut saying she feared she would be bombed. We ended up using buckets for her to relieve herself indoors seeing she was traumatised and didn’t want to even step outside.

“She hasn’t started going to school because she is still in pain although the wound is healing. I have started taking her to church so that she learns to use the crutches before she can go back to school. The headmaster, however, advised that she waits but currently we have pressure as there are suggestions that we should relocate again to somewhere closer to the school and our challenge is that we don’t have resources to move again,” she said.

Simangani primary and secondary schools are close to each other, about 7km from Mwebe Village where the girl stays and she cannot walk the distance on crutches.

Ms Tshuma thanked Lions Club of Hwange for taking care of her daughter in hospital and buying her crutches, food and other provisions.

Lions Club is a humanitarian organisation that was established in 1917 in Chicago, in the US to assist needy members of the community and has spread worldwide including to Zimbabwe.

The Social Welfare Department catered for her medical bills while some well-wishers donated a bed so that she can sleep comfortably without disturbing the injured leg.

Chairperson in charge of properties and archives for Lions Club’s District 412A covering Zimbabwe and Botswana Mr Barnabas Male said the girl was likely to miss school because of her condition and the long distance to school.

“This means her mother has to carry her on her back to school which is not feasible. This is where the idea of relocating closer to where social amenities are for the sake of the girl came about. As Lions Club we look at immediate needs which is why we rushed after hearing about the incident and helped with bandages, medicines, food and other provisions,” said Mr Male.

Between January and February this year four anti-personnel landmines were discovered in Chisuma and Sizinda in Hwange district and a special unit from the Zimbabwe National Army was dispatched to detonate them as communities expressed concern about their safety. — @ncubeleon