An Act of God By Hope Nyambe You are walking in the rain and you get struck by lightning, by most definitions it’s an ‘Act of God.’ But for a young girl walking in the rain from school to her home, a distance of nearly 3 kilometres, gets struck by a falling rotten electrical power line pole and is nearly electrocuted does not definitely fall in the ‘act of God’ category. That is the story of Luundu Hinamanjolo. On a Sunday, 10 December 2007, Luundu was walking home from Adastra Primary School. It was raining on that day and as she walked along a small path near Njase Girls Secondary School, a rotten power line pole fell on her coming to rest in a pool of water. As the lines were live, Luundu was horrifically burnt. She was rushed to Choma General Hospital and the matter reported by her dad to the electrical company ZESCO. ZESCO only came after two days telling her that “we expected you to die before the end of the 48 hours and that’s why we delayed.” Luundu went on to spend two months in Choma General Hospital before she was transferred to the Italian Hospital in Lusaka. Recommendations were made that she be taken to South Africa for more specialist treatment. Although she did travel to South Africa, Luundu didn’t receive any treatment because ZESCO claimed that the fees were too high. It is only in 2009 that Luundu went to India for treatment. She has since had three operations between 2009 and 2012. But despite this treatment, her injuries are becoming worse by the day and this is mainly due to the delays by ZESCO to release funds for her treatment. ZESCO have in fact treated her with so much impunity to an extent of insinuating that they are helping her out of courtesy as the accident was “an act of God.” The situation has actually been made worse since the death of her father who was in the forefront in pushing that Luundu gets the treatment that is due to her. Once a bubbly, enthusiastic and ambitious young lady, Luundu is now a shadow of her former self. Who wouldn’t be if they had to w live with such horrific injuries and with an arm that is literally rotting away? She has spent so much time in hospital that she has missed out on education, evident by her poor communication skills. Maybe an aspect ZESCO has taken advantage of. So depressed is Luundu that a few months ago, she attempted to take her own life by drinking Rogo (a very poisonous pesticide). It was the quick intervention of her family that saved her life. Was it a cry for help? We will never know but I say that it’s not too late to lend a helping hand to this young lady in any way possible. The first step is to get ZESCO to take full responsibility of Luundu accident. A rotting power line failing on anybody is not an act of God, its pure negligence. It’s clear to discern that Luundu was treated in this way by ZESCO because she is just a poor girl living in a rural area who evidently didn’t have access to right legal representation. ZESCO have also taken advantage of Luundu’s father’s death, a man that fought then to get them to take responsibility of the accident. Let’s all please join efforts and help this young lady in any way possible
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:53:50 +0000
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