By Kuda Pembere in Makonde
By the banks of the Angwa River in Makonde District, James, an artisanal miner, vividly recalls the night his friend slapped him across the face. That slap, meant to kill a mosquito, set off a chain of events that ended up saving his life.
In May 2025, James and his friend Jeremiah were digging for gold at night. Unaware of how malaria spreads, James thought the sting was nothing serious.
The slap was hard. I just thought so were his palms. He showed me the mosquito in his hand, which calmed my initial thoughts of starting a fight with him,” reminisces James.
A week later, he began feeling weak and feverish. Jeremiah was away, and some friends from the apostolic sect advised him to try a home remedy.
“That week, I took several litres of that concoction, desperately hoping it would work until I phoned my friend Jeremiah, informing him that I had tried that remedy but it didn’t work. He subtly advised me to check with the clinic.
“While contemplating going to the clinic, I met this Village Health Worker who noticed I was not feeling well; it showed on my face. The VHW then wrote me a note to go to the clinic, where I tested positive for malaria and started treatment,” he said.
James has since abandoned the idea that chilli could treat malaria.
“We didn’t know back then. That is what I had been told growing up. We would think it was a slight headache, some fever, and chills which were treatable by drinking water without considering getting tested for malaria. We lost a lot of colleagues. About taking chilli, we would think it treated nyon’o, but malaria kills. We have now learned that it is important to prevent malaria and seek early treatment,” said James.
Months later, James sits on the porch of a shop at the growth point near River Ranch Clinic, waiting to return to the river in search of gold. His head torch is still strapped to his forehead, and he wears a cow-hide wristband he says protects him in the mining areas.
Being a survivor, the loss of his friends who were artisanal miners this year has weighed heavily on him.
He blames himself, thinking he could have done something to save them, forgetting that it was their choice to ignore the symptoms and delay seeking treatment.
“Their deaths were a lesson for me,” he says, adding that he now considers himself a peer educator, teaching fellow miners the importance of early treatment and protection against mosquitoes.
With a shaky voice and tears of joy, James says he is grateful that information about malaria prevention is now reaching them through village health workers.
“Since my episode of infection and treatment, over time I have seen that information has been reaching us through the village health workers who visited our working sites. It shows the government cares about our health,” James says. “It was a bit tough in the past because relying on mining, we barely thought about issues of malaria. Most of the time, we couldn’t get the awareness as CHWs ended in the villages and townships while we were usually at our trenches working day and night. We didn’t have time to get that information, which saw us missing out. They are now coming to us, and we are grateful the information is reaching us now.”
He says he now shares information from the community health workers with his colleagues.
“We are receiving education that in the pits where we dig for gold, we should have mosquito repellents. We requested nets, but we were told that it is not always the time we require nets given the nature of our job, where we work at night. There is no way we can work with the nets covering us,” James said.
Health Workers Step In
Community Health Worker Daniel Gwatidzo says artisanal miners have welcomed the malaria awareness programme.
“The artisanal miners are taking this program very seriously because previously they didn’t have any knowledge. If you give someone knowledge, you have given them light. After telling them to use mosquito repellents, we are seeing increased interest in buying the repellents,” he stated.
He adds that they are correcting old misconceptions.
“About the use of chilli, those who grew up before us would say they used chilli to treat and prevent malaria. But so far, we have since educated them that chilli doesn’t treat malaria. We also told these miners that there is a thin line between nyon’o and malaria. While nyon’o may be treated using chilli, you can’t say the same for malaria,” he said.
The Wider Malaria Response
In June 2025, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS), with support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), launched the Zimbabwe Malaria DREF (Disaster Response Emergency Fund) operation in Mashonaland West Province following a malaria outbreak. The project targeted Hurungwe, Makonde, and Sanyati districts, which had the highest malaria burden.
A national malaria situational report for week 41 of 2025 showed an increase of 304.2 percent in malaria cases compared to 2024, with 427 malaria deaths reported during the same period.
The DREF project focused on three main pillars: social behaviour change, vector control, and case management.
At River Ranch Clinic, nurse Cleopas Shumba says they have seen a remarkable drop in cases.
“We used to have 27 cases a week at River Ranch Clinic, but after the intervention of this project, we are getting zero cases per week. We have suspected cases here and there, but they turn out negative,” he said.
Shumba confirms that some still cling to the chilli myth.
“We had a community dialogue with church leaders. We had leaders from the apostolic sect whom we asked, in the event one displays symptoms of malaria, where would they seek help first. They said the first thing they would do was drink chilli, that is, mixing water and chilli,” he said. “About 2kgs of chilli. We tried to explain there is a fever, which people call nyon’o, and malaria. These two are different. So sometimes they mistake these two and mix them up. So if the chilli works on the fever, they think it will work on malaria, yet this is wrong.”
He adds that through community dialogues, they are making inroads in changing these beliefs.
Oswald Muchenje, the Mashonaland West Provincial Environmental Health Officer, says artisanal mining is among the major drivers of malaria.
“Artisanal miners work throughout the night. They are always at work and are exposed to mosquito bites,” he said. “Also, there was poor health-seeking behaviour among some of our community members, especially the artisanal miners.”
He notes that miners often delay treatment.
“They don’t report to a health facility for treatment because they will be busy with their activities. You know the nature of artisanal miners. They will be busy with their activities and don’t seek treatment. So some people would report late with severe malaria. After identifying these drivers of transmission, we then tried to intervene, tailor-making our interventions to address the identified drivers,” he said.
Partners Strengthening the Fight
Tariro Kamangira, the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer at IFRC, says the organisation intervened financially to support the DREF project after learning of the malaria surge.
“So when there was a surge of malaria cases, IFRC intervened financially, and ZRCS was the one implementing the Malaria Project in three districts, which include Hurungwe, Sanyati, and Makonde. ZRCS was working together with the Ministry of Health and Child Care. The MoHCC was there providing technical assistance while ZRCS was implementing,” she said.
She praised the community health workers for sharing lifesaving information in hard-to-reach areas.
“We are happy the objectives of the project were achieved, that is, to combat malaria, reduce mortality and morbidity. And now we see the communities know where and when to seek treatment for malaria. They also know the preventive measures for malaria,” Kamangira said.
She added that there is still a need for more resources.
“There are still some places. We are working together with the ZRCS and MoHCC to see how we can help in order to address these needs,” she added.
A Golden Lesson
For James, the miner who once trusted chilli over clinics, malaria awareness is more than just a campaign.
“That information is gold,” he says softly. “It saved my life.”
