Trailblazing nurse fulfils special birthday wish

When London-based retired nurse Agnes Musikavanhu (nee Garande) was asked how she wanted to spend her 80th birthday, she immediately requested a trip to Morriston Hospital, where her career began.

Above: Agnes enjoys a cup of tea with Rachel Wilson from the Gambia.

While hundreds of overseas nurses have answered the call to help overcome a staff shortage in Swansea Bay over the past couple of years, Agnes is a real trailblazer having been one of the first to arrive, almost 60 years ago.

In 1967, at the tender age of 22, she set off alone from her native Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe, in order to train as a nurse in Morriston Hospital, Swansea. She had never set foot on a plane before, nor left her country.

And although her career saw her later move to London, and included a 20-year return to Zimbabwe, where she worked in public health and managed a private clinic of the illustrious group Lonrho as matron, she has never forgotten the warm Welsh welcome she received all those years ago.

Pictured above: Agnes and her family are met by Rebecca Davies and League of Friends chairman John Hughes

She said: “My sons said, ‘Mam, you are about to turn 80. What would you like to do?’

“I said, ‘Do you know what? Of all things, I want to go back to Morriston Hospital in South Wales, where I came as a young girl. I want to spend my 80th birthday there.’

“I have happy memories of my time in Morriston. Welsh people are very warm, very friendly and very social. You can see that by the way they received me. That’s why I wanted to come here.”

However, the world was a very different place the first time Agnes visited Wales and she did not know what to expect.

She said: “I was the first black nurse to come here from Rhodesia.

“I was so frightened coming here - at the time there was segregation between white and black people in Rhodesia. 

“When I arrived in Morriston I was the only black girl. I felt lonely for the first two days but Welsh people are so lovely. They would say, ‘Come and talk to me,’ and ‘let’s go to the dining room together’.

“And soon I became familiar.”

Agnes, who was accompanied on her return visit by her three sons, Farai, Tendai and Rugare, was given a tour of the hospital followed by tea and Welsh cakes before staff sang happy birthday to her in Welsh.

The hospital itself, which dates back to the Second World War, was unrecognisable to Agnes.

She said: “There’s a lot of change. A lot of new buildings. I heard that the old hospital is demolished now, but it’s beautiful.”

The workforce has also undergone a transformation becoming far more diverse – a point picked up one by Agnes.

She said: “I’m very, very pleased – very happy to see you have welcomed so many nurses from overseas. 

“When I came here I was the only one, and to know that you have recruited so many people from overseas, which is multiracial, is special. 

(Left: Agnes in Morriston Hospital as a young nurse)

“All people are the same inside. We are different in skin or gender but inside, we are all human beings.

“I am glad that you have broadened up. It’s very good.”

Rebecca Davies, Deputy Head of Nursing Emergency Care and Hospital Operations in Morriston Hospital, was on hand to greet Agnes.

She said: “We have a warm Welsh welcome in Swansea Bay and I’m really proud of what Agnes did as a pioneer for all the nurses who have travelled to work here.

“It’s been really emotional, meeting and talking about nursing and how it has changed.” 

One of her sons, Farai, said: “We were blown away by the sheer love and welcome that we kind of expected from Wales. We certainly weren’t ready for the overwhelming, genuine show of affection that the staff and people at Morriston showed us today.

“Back in the 1960s things were obviously very different. Rhodesia was a British colony. Things were very difficult racially and socially but mum always spoke about this place with fondness. 

“She had some unpleasant experiences as an immigrant to the United Kingdom but she cannot remember any of them being in Swansea. 

“She talks about developing many skills here.

“She gave birth to us in London in the 1970s and returned to Zimbabwe, where she became matron of a clinic for the workforce of a major private company. We believe those skills that she was able to exercise so well in that particular unit for two decades, came from what she learnt here.”

Amongst those who shared a cup of tea with Agnes was fellow countryman Gondai Dhliwayo (pictured below with Agnes and Tsitsi Vambe, a chef at Morriston Hospital).

The infection control nurse said: “I’m originally from Zimbabwe. I left home when I was 18 in 2001 and did my nurse training in North Wales and got my first job in Swansea in 2004.

“I think Agnes is a bit of a trailblazer. One of the first black women to come to Swansea at the age of 22. She’s an inspiration and for her to come back to where it all started is a good thing to do.”