GM.: What are the most
important facts that women
and the Zimbabwean society
as a whole should know
about endometriosis?
they might have endometriosis
because of their symptoms. It is
from this group of people that I
then created the EndoZim Trust
organization. The Awareness
campaign is for everybody as we
all have women we know in our
lives that suffer from chronic "jeko
/isilumo " ( as it is often referred to
in Shona or Ndebele) every month.
However because of limited
financial resources we couldn't
make the campaign as impacting
as we would have liked with
printed reading material, website
and outreach programs to the rural
areas but I did manage to stir some
attention through my social media
platforms and articles in the local
press. I'm hoping to launch the
campaign at the end of March with
the launch of the EndoZim trust
organization and the launch of a
support group in Harare where
women and their partners and
family members can come together
and openly share experiences, pain
and loss due to this condition.
Endometriosis has such
psychosomatic effects therapy is
crucial to compliment the various
treatments available. Remember
there is no cure yet for
endometriosis but there are
treatments that may alleviate the
symptoms.
TinTin: Like any disease or
condition early detection is
paramount to living a healthier
happier life. In Zimbabwe
endometriosis is often
misdiagnosed or just dismissed
as "jeko /isilumo" which in
direct translation is a regular
period pain
Endometriosis on the other
hand is the persistent and
chronic period pain that for
example causes one to lose
days from work or school every
month amongst other
symptoms. As much as
traditionally women in
Zimbabwe have taken herbs to
treat the condition, because of
the physical structure of the
disease, where there is uterine
lining outside the uterus there
is no known herb yet that can
actually make those cysts
dissolve and be absorbed into
the body and that is what
causes the chronic pain. In all
essence endometriosis is not
actually “jeko/ isilumo" but I
chose to use those words to
help the public familiarize
themselves with the condition
of endometriosis and the
campaign .
diagnosis. Talking about the
condition with family, friends,
workmates at church meetings
will also get the Awareness
spreading much quicker. Yellow
is the colour of endometriosis
awareness. By purchasing the
yellow ribbon for just 2rand
from us at EndoZim and
actually wearing it also is a
significant way of participating
in the campaign. The money
raised from the ribbon sales also
goes to assisting women that
can't afford the scan or
laparoscopy that is needs to
diagnose the condition.
GM.: Any last words
TinT