THE recent successful operation at Harare Hospital of the Siamese twins Kupakwashe and Tapiwanashe who were joined from the lower chest to the upper abdomen and shared a liver is no small achievement.
It is a huge feat that speaks volumes.
And that it was performed at no cost to the parents exhibits a selflessness that reminds some of us of a time when men and women offered their services to make life for others better for no payment.
This selfless act has made me realise how there are many in our midst who are working hard but quietly in moving the nation forward.
Time and again it has been asked who is a hero and when and how should we recognise our heroes.
Our political and economic heroes are the most celebrated for obvious reasons.
Not because they are better and greater, but the nature of their operations, no pun intended, keeps them in the spotlight, they operate in the public domain so to speak.
The recent successful operation by local medical practitioners is evidence that a lot of heroic acts are happening in our midst but go unnoticed except by a few.
Until recently, I did not know who Mr Bothwell Mbuwayesango, Mr T Zimunhu, Mr I Bube and Mr Chitsika are.
Now I know that these citizens of our beloved country possess skills that make them very important persons.
I did not know Dr Harunavamwe Chifamba, Dr Shumbairerwa, Dr Karonga and Dr Chimundu, now I do, together with their counterparts they are no ordinary doctors.
I was not aware of the existence of nurse aide Basvi, general hands Samu and Tafara but they do exist and are making significant contributions to the development of our nation.
These are men and women operating under difficult conditions yet doing extra-ordinary work.
While some have left to seek the so-called greener pastures they are soldiering on.
They have sought no accolades, they are not getting any despite deserving them yet every morning they wake up to serve the motherland against the odds.
That they can conduct such a delicate and complex operation means that everyday they are performing many other complicated procedures.
Their everyday valiant acts go unnoticed except by the few people that they serve.
Gratitude is expressed to them by the friends and families of those that they save.
Mostly what they receive in our difficult and hard pressed economy are prayers and best wishes.
It is not everyday that their best efforts are rewarded in monetary form yet they continue to serve.
These men and women are heroes and heroines.
These men and women rank with the best who have offered themselves to the betterment of the nation.
The most we can do as a nation is ensuring that we avail a conducive environment for these men and women to operate in.
They have proved that they compare, if not better than practitioners elsewhere in the world.
Time and again we have repeated that the country can be self-sustainable and this is confirmation.
Clearly our failures and shortcomings are not as a result of lack of skills but resources for execution.
If we are to invest, heavily, in our medical field we surely would not need to go abroad for attention for we have people in the country with skills to take care of us.
Let us celebrate these heroes and heroines and others elsewhere in meaningful and significant ways.