'Mother' of clinics, Julia Molefhe, built Botswana healthcare

The late Julia Molefhe was a nurse-extraordinaire - a God-sent messenger whose mission was to ensure the highest standards of health care and the provision of superior health facilities in the country.Her burial was set for this Wednesday at Phomolong cemetry in Gaborone.According to the family, Molefhe lost her mother at a young age and was raised by her father and paternal aunts throughout primary and secondary school in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, South Africa.Without doubt, the love and care she received moulded her into a “little Florence Nightingale." In 1958, she returned to the then Bechuanaland Protectorate, her father's birthplace, to train as a nurse. The brilliant and focusedMolefhe graduated three years later and got registered as one of the Protectorate's five nurses. She embarked on an illustrious nursing journey that touched and changed many lives.She also contributed significantly to assisting the health sector improve standards in central government hospitals throughout the country.While working as a nurse at Athlone Hospital in Lobatse, the pretty and workaholic Julia attracted the eye of a young man, a teacher at St Joseph’s College at Kgale, Potlako Molefhe, whose proficiency in speaking the Queen’s language was a marvel to behold at the time.They were joined in holy matrimony in 1963 in Serowe where his elder brother lived. Theirs would be an enduring, love-filled partnership. The newlyweds later travelled to the United Kingdom as part of a cohort of young Batswana that embarked on further training.She completed her studies in Sheffield in 1965, focusing on midwifery, nursing of pre-term babies, gynaecology, obstetrics and public health. As her career was ordained by God, she gained practical experience as a nursing sister at Nether Edge and Sheffield General Hospitals. She was exposed to nursing services that provided home-based care during her training. As it was the case then, professionals of her calibre were in short supply and on high demand.On their return to Botswana, Julia Molefhe began working at the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) in Lobatse and in 1966 as an Industrial Nursing Sister.This is where she began to show that her training was not a wasted exercise as she set up a clinic offering public health programmes for the BMC Township in Lobatse.This marked the beginning of the industrious service which easily earned her the sobriquet “Mmadiclinic,” as three years later she together with the family relocated to Gaborone where she oversaw the transformation of Bontleng Clinic from a two-roomed structure to a modern health facility.When Princess Marina Hospital was upgraded to a referral hospital in 1980, Julia embarked on an expansion project to serve Gaborone's growing population and nearby villages. Through this programme, “clinics became the community's first point of contact when seeking health care services. She was co-opted in the design, furnishing and planning of all clinics.”Her overarching desire was to ensure the highest standards of health care and the provision of superior health facilities.Among her worth-noting milestones was improving clinic administration, including the establishment of a dispensary in all council clinics and positions for pharmacy technicians. Another breakthrough was the introduction ofmedical doctors in clinics.Following a global call to immunise school-going children against various illnesses, she launched the first School Health Programme in Gaborone, eventually leading to the implementation and rollout of the same programme across the country.Molefhe also taught family planning within In-Service Training Programme at the National Health Institute (NHI), now Institute of Health Sciences, (IHS) in Gaborone and to Family Welfare Educators at Sebele, work which she confessed thoroughly enjoying. Molefhe's contribution to developing a robust national healthcare system in Botswana is evident in the network of clinics providing healthcare facilities. For her, it was indeed a calling, and it is laudable that her contribution is immortalised in the last clinic in Block 9, Gaborone, built during her tenure, which bears her name - Julia Molefhe Clinic.Speaking to The Midweek Sun, former Councillor Johnson Motswarakgole said when the Block 9 clinic was completed, they unanimously agreed to name it after Julia Molefhe and went ahead not only to make the public announcement, but to also publicly display the name on the board. “When we publicly displayed this board, our aim was to find out who would have the guts to question or remove it” as by then it was standard practice that national icons were only honoured posthumously.Julia Molefhe is survived by her husband Potlako Molefhe, their daughters Boitumelo and Koketso, as well as their grandchildren, Sibusisiwe, Kabelo, Thato and Thokozani.

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'Mother' of clinics, Julia Molefhe, built Botswana healthcare