Our series on the Howard
Hospital tragedy is the longest running series focusing on a unique topic in
our 6 six year period. In 3 days we will conclude the series with a two-part review
sharing the highlights of this 11 month-old story.Yet, I believe that we've only heard half the story. The SA has remained haughtily silent.
The number of weekly
visitors has more than tripled, and readers' comments too are at an all time
high. Is that because the truths revealed in this series are the antithesis of
what we believe our Army to be? Is it even plausible that SA leaders of high
rank would act out, motivated by the power and arrogance of high rank? Would SA
Commissioners throw ethics to the wind in favor of solidarity while abandoning
the vulnerable, the very persons they are called to champion?
The FSAOF will
revisit this issue whenever we determine that an update is warranted.
Dr. Sven Ljungholm
______________________________
Amid protests, arrests and the eviction of
Canadian Dr. Paul Thistle from the Salvation Army’s Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe
over the weekend, nearly $20,000 worth of building materials purchased by
Peterborough donors has been stolen, The Examiner has learned.
The forced dismissal of the Toronto-born doctor
came to a violent climax late last week when protesters calling for his
reinstatement clashed with police at the hospital grounds, situated in a rural
area 80 kilometres northeast of Harare.
Twelve people were arrested and eight nurses
were held for questioning on allegations of incitement to violence, the
Associated Press reported.
In response, the Salvation Army gave Thistle 24
hours to leave the hospital and 48 hours to leave the country. He was
originally informed in early August he would have until Sept. 1 to return to
Canada after 16 years as the hospital’s chief medical officer.
But worried about the safety of his arrested
co-workers, Thistle defied the order to return to Canada and remains in
Zimbabwe, said Warren Viegas, a long-time friend of Thistle who has been in
frequent contact with him.
“He left the hospital within 24 hours but he’s
still in Zimbabwe,” Viegas said in a phone interview from Toronto Monday.
About $18,000 worth of building material had
been purchased and was sitting on the grounds waiting for construction to
begin. That material has since been looted, Viegas said.
“The building materials that were purchased have
been stolen,” he said. “That is eating Paul alive. He is just absolutely
devastated by that.”
Peterborough’s Larry Gillman, a friend of
Thistle and long-time Howard fundraiser, said the Zimbabwean branch of the
Salvation Army expelled Thistle because he questioned leaders about the
management of international aid to the hospital.
“We are disappointed, but given Paul’s
circumstances, not surprised that these materials have gone missing. It is part
and parcel of the same issue that Paul has been raising and the reason he has
been dismissed in the first place,” said Gillman, who spoke to Thistle Sunday
evening. “He is questioning the money that he has raised, arguing that it has
not come to the hospital and their response has been to dismiss him, which
means the health care at the hospital and the people are going to suffer.”
Vinece Chigariro, head of the church group in Zimbabwe, told the Associated Press that Thistle had challenged church leaders and he was being reassigned “for the good of the church,” calling into question Thistle’s loyalty to the church and its leaders.
Local fundraisers are less concerned about the
loss of the building materials, focussing more on the 270,000 Zimbabweans who
rely on the hospital for affordable health care.
The hospital is currently treating emergencies only and is turning away hundreds of patients in the meantime.
“We are very sad for the people of Zimbabwe, the people that Paul has spent more than 16 years serving,” Gillman said. “So many people will die and be denied the health care that Paul was instrumental, along with the Salvation Army, in providing.”
Thistle’s work to raise the bar of maternal health and combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in one of the world’s poorest communities has earned him international accolades and the respect of the impoverished Chiweshe district he serves.
Local media reports suggest 5,000 to 10,000
locals joined protests at the hospital grounds urging his reinstatement.
Viegas said Thistle plans to remain in Zimbabwe
until Sept. 1 while he faces the daunting challenge of leaving his life’s work
behind and moving his Zimbabwean wife and children to Canada.
“In some ways, I think Paul is clinging to the
notion that possibly the Salvation Army will reverse their decision,” he said. “I
think he’s coming to grips with the fact that they are not.”
By Galen Eagle, Peterborough Examiner
29 comments:
This is Peterborough in Canada not UK. Headline is wrong. It was also later admitted that the materials were not stolen but stored in a container at Howard Hospital.
Only factual, non sensational reporting maintains credibility of medium. Any private blog initiative has the risk of being of becoming rather economical with reporting in balanced detail by being presumptive and assumptive.
There is much more to the story than is being portrayed here. The SA knows that and Dr Thistle knows that too, neither are able or willing to elaborate on it in public, let alone on an open forum such as this one. Whatever is being disclosed will never be sufficient as the internet populace is insatiable and very likely to be taken out of context.
What is there to say by rank and file when approached by the press?
Nobody knows anything that is factually verifiable. Gagging is a strong word to use, when you have got nothing worthwhile to say, do not say it for it can make the responder look rather silly.
The article is posted verbatim without comment. For the uninformed, the Herald newspaper is government controlled and sanctioned.
We have posted details of this debacle daily for three weeks. Many of the posts were penned by persons with on-location first hand experience, with more to follow.
All of the information we've posted has been provided to us freely and we have posted it without edit or prejudice. We have consistently requested information from sources willing and able to lend further to this tragic story. No one has been forthcoming.
Our FSAOF blog visitor tracking system reveals regular visits to our site by IHQ and other SA centers. One would assume that if there were gross errors in our reporting that they'd send us a post expressing their concern. We've heard nothing. One must wonder then if that's because some deem our reporting a positive effort, exposing some of the mishaps conducted by some along the way?
"We report, you decide".
Anonymous wrote, " It was also later admitted that the materials were not stolen but stored in a container at Howard Hospital."
Kindly share confirmed reports and the source of this info and we'll post it. Or are you referring to the dodgy, older medical equipment that the SA Harare tried to pass off as the equipment delivered by the SHUMBA Foundation? (Will be reported in a blog article on July 27)
Were the thousands of dollars earmarked for HH also located and made available to the HH?
Sven
Of course no-one will express any concern, even if one totally misrepresented their position. To do so would mean entering in to a dialogue that would never end and become increasingly so, insatiably demanding.
I am sure you have been around long enough in corporate business circles to realise that there will be nothing forthcoming from IHQ/THQ unless they decide to do so and then only on their terms and not due to any real or perceived outside pressures applied.
That some IHQ people follow this blog with some interest is understandable as it keeps them up to speed with what is going on outside '101' - just as the whole media is being scanned for anything with 'the salvation army' attached to it.
I've just listened to the interview between Alex Bell and Dr Silverman. There is no doubt that TSA is protecting its own in some form or other, but its failure to employ external auditors to verify their accounts does not look good. Even if you weigh up the sensitivities of the situation the Thistles find themselves in, and decide wisely that silence is the best option here, it is TSA that have put a block on an activity that could have negated all this anguish for the Thistle family, and we would not be as avidly interested in what went on, how it happened, etc. I agree interest in this topic is insatiable, but that is only because transparency is needed - not particularly on a personal level, although as children of God the human and spiritual aspects are a main concern, but I find the contradictions in TSA's statements to be astounding. To ask Dr Silverman not to speak to the media because of the decisions made to progress events at HH and then to change those decisions is very strange. TSA actually LOST $250,000 in donations by the Friends of HH because they wouldn't spend it on HH despite the fact that it was given for that purpose - this does not add up. I don't think I will be putting in the effort of street walking to raise money for Annual Appeal this year if they can throw away these sums of money just because they refuse to be transparent in their accounting.
It could have been so different if TSA were honest and transparent.
UK
What external auditor would the Zimbabweans let in? Any European/American auditors of repute would be rejected at the border.
I still believe that the current HC may be the start of sorting this out, and may well be happening mostly because of HH.
Soldiers and officers who have written to their TC's about this being discussed at the HC have been told it will not be discussed. That may be true during the actual HC discussions, although I agree with Jolinda Cooper that it is very relevant to choosing a new General for giving insight into how candidates/nominees might handle such situations now and in the future.
But since apparently there are pre-HC meetings, there's every reason to think this debacle may come up for discussion at those meetings.
Just to clarify something said in the previous post - the $250,000 grant which was lost was not from FOHH donors - Dr. Silverman's press release said it was from CIDA - the Canadian International Development Agency (federal government). Dr. Silverman said the government withdrew the grant because it would not agree to the money going through THQ Zimbabwe or any other HQ's. It had to go directly to the HH and the Army would not agree to that so they lost the grant.
I was interested to read in Sven's blog article that I think it was or maybe in a comment response, that even small charities have a Board of Directors. TSA is a huge charity and although we have Advisory Boards, why do we have no Board of Directors?
I would think an external independent investigation still needs to be done in this situation. It has been called for repeatedly dring the past year but TSA would never agree to it, instead doing internal investigations. Now after TSA has the police come in and arrest staff and they are reportedly starved and tortured while in prison, who is going to feel safe opening up to a team of SA officer investigators.
Also I would suspect that having Major Dean Pallant head up the investigation might have been a poor choice since he grew up in Zimbabwe and might be associated in the Zimbabwean's minds with white British colonialism.
Dean Pallant was born and schooled in Zimbabwe graduating from University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Social Science in 1985. …Dean worked for five years in industrial relations in South African mining and manufacturing companies before moving to the UK in 1990 to train as a Salvation Army officer. He was ordained in 1993 and has served as a church leader in the UK (six years); as a hospital administrator in Zambia (four years); the editor of Salvationist a weekly UK Salvation Army publication (three years) and since 2007 as International Health Services Coordinator for Salvation Army health ministry in 124 countries. In 2010, his responsibilities grew to include supporting all Salvation Army programme support from International Headquarters in London as Under Secretary for Programme Resources.
His book details:
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS/ACTIVITIES
Dean Pallant. 2011. Keeping Faith in Faith-Based Organisations: A Practical Theology of Salvation Army Health Ministry. Submitted for the Doctorate in Theology and Ministry King‘s College London (forthcoming in book format).
author's abstract: As world health indicators continue to cause concern, the contributions of Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) are receiving increased attention. …The Salvation Army, seeks a theologically faithful future for health ministry. This thesis uses a practical theological reflection model of enquiry to answer the research question: What characterises faithfully orientated Salvation Army health ministry in the twenty-first century? This is the first time Salvation Army health ministry is formally researched within the discipline of practical theology. A range of academic literature is referenced including insights from development studies, public health, organisational studies, theology and Salvation Army history. Field reflections from India, Zambia, Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands root the discussion in contemporary practice.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ALSO – Andre Cox has Zimbabwean connections: African-born Commissioner André and his wife Commissioner Silvia have spent four years as leaders of The Salvation Army’s Southern Africa Territory, which includes work in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, the Island of St Helena and Swaziland. They then served for 6 months as the Territorial Leaders of the United Kingdom with Ireland Territory.
Born in Harare, Zimbabwe to an English father and Swiss mother, Commissioner André spent his childhood years in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, before moving to Switzerland where he met and married Argentinean-born Commissioner Silvia.
AND – Clive Adams was born in South Africa, which isn’t a million miles away.
How strange to have such a trio at the heart of TSA IHQ connected by so few miles. I wonder how this came about?
A previous comment says that those who have written to their T.C.s have received answers saying it won't be discussed. I wonder if there is anyone reading who can categorically say "Yes. I wrote to my T.C. and got that answer!"
I've written to my T.C. but have not yet had a reply. If I do .....I'll let you know!
enlightening- I wrote to my TC. I've had no response but I'm certain he's read it. I also wrote to another TC and am again certain that he's read it.
What puzzles me is that, with so many at UK THQ/IHQ with ZIM or S African pedigrees, why are they seemingly prepared to blindly lead on while allowing the corruption to continue?
USA
The IHQ executive board of directors consists of all IHQ based commissioners, and external members, meets monthly with the General taking the chair.
It is formally called the International Management Council and constitutes the legal 'The Salvation Army International Trust Company'
To Anonymous beginning 'The IHQ executive board of directors consists of all IHQ based commissioners...' - I'm not sure what that means.
Sorry.
It could mean that there are no Colonels on the board..;);)
Two follow-up points pertaining to previous comments-
1. So there is no external Board of Directors. I think there should be for accountability.
2. I wrote to my TC and received back an email saying Howard Hospital will not be a discussion item for the High Council.
Since apparently there are going to be pre-meetings before the actual convening of the HC, who knows, perhaps the item may be discussed during those meetings.
In addition I like to add that these are the legally appointed trustees accountable and responsible to enshrined United Kingdom law
Some are seeing a conspiracy in having Zimbabwean and South African folk involved in this. It could actually be that these people knew and cared enough about what happened to force out the previous regime. In that case what is still ongoing ( the HC) is part if the process of change.
Of course nobody will show their hand too early. Just wait and see.
...... and subject to independent external audits by reputable companies such as PwC.....so is each individual territory and command around the world
....in addition to the internal audits by the organisation themselves.
Audits are one thing an external board of Directors another. Easy enough to produce receipts for audits.
Also an external investigation very different from an internal one conducted by officers who automatically have a conflict of interest. An external investigation is required here.
Professional audits are not about receipts at all, they are about systems and whether they have been implemented and adhered to.
"Nobody knows anything that is factually verifiable" Anonymous says. If you look back through the correspondence, you will find a letter from Dr. Norman Fenton, Medical Director of SHUMBA Medical Society, regarding his trip in February, 2013, to Zimbabwe THQ and Howard Hospital looking for some $7,000 of specialist equipment, accompanied by representatives of IHQ, THQ Canada and THQ Zimbabwe. It was missing then and remains missing. This is a verifiable fact. Details of the Peterborough donation were reported by Brian Nichols, the very person involved in raising the funds. As for reports that some of the materials are at the hospital and photos have been taken of them, until such evidence is given to the donors and while none of their e-mails have been answered, how can these reports be considered credible? It is a fact that the cement, at least, paid for several years ago, was never delivered to the hospital and that the receipted money is missing.
"There is much more to the story than is being portrayed here." True, but do not expect Dr. Thistle to relay it. He has never formally been told what "the other side of the story" is. We have heard whispered complaints against him, some contradictory (such as plans for "Primary Care", while completing a new hospital with operating suites; or "not following CRA and SA guidlines" in accepting direct donations, sometimes with inadequate reporting (nobody complained), while THQ Zimbabwe was not following CRA and SA guidlines in transmitting donations to the hospital). He is not, therefore, contributing to this blog as (I understand) he has no wish to defend himself, nor does he want to say anything that would diminish the possibility of regaining his officership and his calling.
Having totalled the rumored complaints against him, I can say that they would not amount to a hill of beans in a court of law compared with the suffering and loss of life that has resulted from his removal. What he did, he did to save lives out of compassion. What was done by IHQ may have been done to please a Commissioner, and to restore what they saw as a loss of control -- but not even Dr. Thistle knows.
There is still a chance for a negotiated settlement. Or, even now, the loss of life could be stemmed by referring difficult cases to Karanda Hospital, where the poor are cared for, rather than to Harare, where they are not. I pray for wisdom for our leaders.
Thanks D. Watt for once again setting the record straight. There was also the free lance photographer who actually went to Zimbabwe months after the removal of Dr. Thistle. He was not permitted on the compound but photgraphed before and after shots to verify the lack of patients lined up as they usually are to get in. There was no one in sight outside the gates of the HH.
Also there is the verification of the two Norwegian nurses that we read about.
Othe outside verification came from the STIMMA volunteers who were headed to the HH first on the day of the demonstration against the Army and then returned and posted for the world to see on You tube the 24 hour packing job going on in Dr. Thistle's quarters in the background as they interviewed him.
As you point out there have been several independent verifications of what has been happening at the HH.
The truth cannot be hidden this time and thank you for once again courageously speaking out and setting the record straight.
The headline banner needs changing as it is not reflecting the true situation
Why are we not surprised at this total lack of respect for the public and its financial support of The Salvation Army? TSA has always believed that it is a law unto itself. TSA does not believe it needs to answer to anyone or explain any actions it takes. It closes ranks and dismisses those from within the ranks who dare to question anything. it is past is time and if TSA continues on this arrogant, incestual path, it may cease to exist quite soon. The public has had enough of any organization who asks for public support and then ignores those supporters when questions are raised. TSA has never dealt well with those who rise up in opposition against it. Shame on their arrogance and complete disrespect and disregard for truth and transparency! Used to be TSA supporter. Never again .
Oh dear...
There is still a lot of good being done by TSA - I speak as a loyal corps member of many years' standing. I agree with the above comment (above the 'oh dear' blog) but don't forget it is the LEADERSHIP that is at fault here. They have strayed from the right path and forgotten even the basics of our faith and purpose, and have betrayed the suffering humanity they were called to serve - all in support of money, big business and serious compromise.
I support TSA financially and with the small talents that I have. I believe it is where the Lord has placed me, and I intend to challenge this from the inside. Soldiers everywhere should do it too - where the minions revolt, the leaders have to listen!
No institution is without fault, but TSA has messed up big time with this issue. With every member of the HC now aware that the grassroots of Army members are aware of their handling of HH, I'm sure something will come out of it.
TSA has a great heritage, and for every bad story, there are many more good ones. I agree with other commenters that there is too much reliance on internal investigations, and I do pray that in the future there will be more accountability. To reject TSA at this moment I believe would be wrong. See what happens with the new general and then decide. I do believe the dynamics have changed somewhat.
"With every member of the HC now aware that the grassroots of Army members are aware of their handling of HH, I'm sure something will come out of it."
Get real man! Wakey, wakey and smell the coffee! Only a relatively few grassroots members in the world-wide SA area have even heard of HH, let alone some of the issues attached to it. Outside the very narrow confines of immediately interested parties this whole matter remains totally unknown and certainly not relevant.
The influence of this blog should not be blown out of all proportions outside its immediate membership/ readership circle, even though some may feel it is the axel around which the whole SA world evolves.(Or would like it to be;);)
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