The Good Doctor

Murudo Kamhara is a young Medical Doctor specialising in mental health (Psychiatry), also a mother and a wife.  She was born and raised in a high-density suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe. As was her dream from childhood Murudo pursued a career in medicine soon after leaving high school. All she did thereafter fed into this dream. Needless to say, she had to be excellent academically as is required to get entry into medical school.

Murudo has managed to build a family, over and above working on her career. She has been blessed with a loving husband and 2 children. Above all she has gotten support from family and has had God by her side as a source of strength and opening doors for her.

The dream to become a doctor was birthed after seeing medical movies and documentaries. It didn’t take time for her to realise this was her calling. Seeing the ailed and feeling she has a role in helping them get better was the sign she needed, to know this was what she wanted to do. So, on one ordinary day in primary school the question was given “write about your future career” and behold she so passionately wrote about her dream to be a medical doctor and save lives. Years later she stands Dr Murudo Kamhara, as testimony of dreaming and believing.

The road was not easy, definitely. The dream is always free but the work put into it is sold separately. It was of course made easier by having a supportive family, helping nurture the dream, encouraging and refocusing her time and again. At one point they bought her a first aid kit and she would tend to every family member who was unwell. Above all she is very thankful that God gave her the intelligence capacity and the opportunity to be able to go through it all and stand strong. As is well known, in order to become a medical doctor there’s a certain level of academic performance required. Fortunately for Murudo her hard work would pay off and she managed to be a high achiever from primary school and throughout her education journey.

As she proceeded to secondary and high school, she kept her eyes on the goal and kept excelling. She also kept getting leadership roles, further building her confidence and leadership skills among other things. These are also key skills in a doctor’s journey as it is a profession that requires one to be a confident leader. At A ‘level she attained the necessary number of points to get her a spot into medical school and she jumped on that ship and never looked back. Fast forward, she graduated in the class of 2018 with her MBChB degree after having also graduated in the class of 2015 with a BSc Honours degree in Human Anatomy against all odds.

The greatest obstacle was visual limitation. Dr Murudo Kamhara is a Person with Albinism. This is a condition where she lacks the dark pigment, melanin. With this comes light skin and also lack of the pigmentation in the eyes. This results in visual difficulties including near sightedness, difficulty in the eyes focusing and inability to filter light among other things. Ultimately vision is compromised. Due to this it was a challenge being able to see on chalk boards and sharing books at school because she needed reading material to be closer. However, she was fortunate to have understanding teachers at school who were quite helpful and ager to nurture their “future doctor “, as they would put it. Her parents at home also tried by all means to get her copies of the textbooks so that she could read her books closer. In most of her classes she would have to sit in the front door as to be closer to the board or projector screen.

Despite its ups and downs, her journey is one she cherishes and would not trade. It is packed with so much good memories, achievements and overall happiness. Her most memorable moment is the time she realised her dream, oh what a great time that was.

Murudo’ s journey was also lit up when she got married and has been blessed with 2 beautiful babies. She also holds fond memories of growing up with her parents and 2 siblings, travelling, celebrating birthdays watching family movies, it was a happy childhood.  Her story is still being written and many more memorable moments await.

Beyond being a mother, wife, daughter and doctor she is involved in the community. Dr Kamhara has had the privilege of helping some youths with motivational talks and encouragement. She also is a board member of Albinism Dare to Dream Initiative (former Miss Albinism Zimbabwe Trust MAZT).

Dr Kamhara is passionate about seeing young people excel. To that effect she is also a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe Faculty of Health Sciences in the Anatomy Unit. This has been a gratifying experience for her. She is also a student herself studying for a Masters in Psychiatry, pursuing a career in mental health and has already started making positive impact in people’s lives in this regard.

The medical field career is quite demanding especially in the early years during internship and even more as one grows in the field. It is initially a difficult task to balance off being a medical doctor and having other responsibilities. Murudo has managed to get these things mostly balanced. Whenever she slips, what is important is she gets back up and keeps going. In the end what’s important is how we rise after falling. She takes each day as it comes and tries to manage her time well and be organized. Career life balance is an ongoing task.

Pursuing psychiatry has been Murudo’s dream for a while. Somewhere along the line she considered other specialties. Years later she found herself back there again, strongly feeling that’s it is what she’s meant to be. What drew her to it is the realization that the mind controls basically everything in the human. It is fascinating how everyone’s mind operates differently and how these shapes up every person’s life. Dr Kamhara has always enjoyed studying the human brain, the theories of how the mind operates and Psychiatry basically encompasses all these and over and above that addresses mental health, it’s issues and its wellness. It has been a neglected and underrated area for long not just in our society but in many others. She’s passionate to see a society where people embrace and understand mental health for what it really is and how important it really is in one’s well being. Of course, not neglecting all other arms of health, but putting it also up there as it should be. A healthy mind equals healthy life.

Murudo admits to have been blessed to achieve all she has managed to. She believes it is important to empower children, regardless of their physical state. Notice their passions and nurture them and see what they will become. People with disabilities are people before they are their physical, mental or other impairment. Once everyone realised this, we will make more leaders, geniuses, entrepreneurs e.t.c, out of them by loving and encouraging them and helping build their self confidence. Charity begins at home but it also takes a village to raise a child. The family support unit is the main and biggest part but society also has a big role to play. She believes that, despite where one may have come from as a person with disabilities, despite any setbacks and misfortunes one might have encountered it is important to pick oneself up and move on with life. “The goal is not to live forever but to create something that will!”