Lweendo Chaambwa, a Community School Teacher suffering from Bronchiectasis, a chronicle lung ailment is pleading with well-wishers to assist her with finances to purchase a portable oxygen concentrator as she is finding problems to breathe natural air.
And Sam Mbewe, a Matero resident and Journalist by profession  says the assistance which Ms Chaambwa needs is beyond a portable oxygen concentrator hence calls for Government to move in and act and if possible evacuate her abroad for specialist treatment,

In an interview at her residence in Emmasdale residential area, Ms Chaambwa appealed to well-wishers to help her acquire a portable concentrator which uses electricity.
Ms Chaambwa said currently, she is using a heavy oxygen cylinder which confines her to one place and that she has to frequent the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for gas refilling.
“I would like well-wishers to help me acquire a portable oxygen concentrator which uses electricity because with that one, there will be no need for us to be going to UTH to refill oxygen because with a cylinder, you have to go every now and then to refill oxygen and it is being quite expensive. We have run out of resources, so it is not easy at the moment. Even my movements are restricted, I can’t socialize anymore and I can’t work. If I move from one place to the other, it may be helping me to exercise thus helping me to get back in shape quickly,” she explained.

Ms Chaambwa said she is not sure how long the ailment will last since it is a chronic lung condition
“My left lung is completely collapsed and the right one is not functioning well, so I need Oxygen Support Machine all the time. I am unable to breathe on my own from the natural air from the environment. It is been 11 months now from January up to date since I have been on the Oxygen Support Machine. I stayed in Hospital for four months. I was admitted in January and discharged in April but can literally say it was five months because I just stayed for a month at home and then I had difficulties in breathing. I was readmitted in June. I stayed in hospital for a month that is when I was discharged,” she said.

Ms Chaambwa said what led to her admission in June was the fact that she had a kind of blockage in the nasal passage which made it impossible for her to breathe properly because her chest was congested.
“The hospital did its best; I can say it is fair because right now I am under some rehabilitation programme. I am doing a chest physiotherapy at a hospital. The doctor is treating me at the physiotherapy department. I have also been seen by other doctors who got concerned with my condition. They are trying to see how best they can help me to remove this Oxygen Supporting Machine. The only challenge is my movement. My movements are limited, challenging and I am usually confined to one place. As I have sat here now, I can’t go outside. I am supposed to be having fresh air from outside. The doctor said I should have enough fresh air outside but that is kind of impossible right now because the cylinder is quite heavy, so I just depend on my mum to move me to wherever I want to go. So, it is usually from Hospital to home and you have seen the stairs. It is quite hectic and looking at her age, she is also getting older, so I don’t think she will be managing to be doing this all the time.
Asked whether there is history of such an ailment in her family, Ms Chaambwa who was flanked by her Mother Alice Chikale and Mr Mbewe responded in the negative.
“It is just me; we have no such kind of history in my family. I am the only who has suffered from this ailment trust me,” she regretted.
And Mr Mbewe said he was touched when he heard about the ailment of Ms Chaambwa and thought of reaching out.
“When I saw a story on social media, I was touched and I didn’t have much to do considering the fact that the amount that was put to acquire the equipment that we need for her to be able move around and not go to UTH. I thought I can rise a little bit of resources. I will be giving some money towards the bill… Because of few connections that we have, people that we know around businessmen and women, I thought I should come on board and take this burden upon myself and push some people that we know within Matero Township as well as outside that are able to help,” he hoped.

Mr Mbewe said Government should take it upon itself and evacuate Ms Chaambwa for specialist treatment abroad.

“A number of people saw this… a number of people are just talking about help from well-wishers but I think Government should also look at this because number one, she is a youth and the Government has concentrated on empowering young people and she is running a private school right now and in her private school, she is supporting over ten children who are orphans and vulnerable children. So, why doesn’t the Government come on board because I think it will be very helpful because this thing of just a machine is just a fraction of what this family needs. The family will need medicine, the family will need…as you have heard, every time they use gas to move from this place to UTH. They will need a lot of things. So, if the Government can move in to help us acquire this machine that we need and then these people that are contributing, we need them to come on board and contribute because she needs medication, she needs a number of things and like you have heard, mum is the only one who is helping. So, we need a lot of help. I would like to urge the Government through the Ministry of Youth Sports and Child Development to come on board and help. I think it will be easier…we are talking about a young person that is able to contribute big if she is okay. Already, she is contributing, taking the burden away from the Government. The orphans and vulnerable, she is the one that is supporting them but now she is here, bedridden, so who is paying rentals at her school, if the school goes down who is going to take care of those ten to twelve orphans that she is taking care of, it will get back to the Government because these people will just be in society doing nothing so it is important that Government looks at this issue and come through. Mum has not told us that there is any Government official that has come through and I think it is important that they come forward and help because this is a person that is contributing towards the development of the nation. For me, she is more like my sister and I have gotten this burden because I know what she contributes when she is up and running,” he said adding, “We know this issue can be dealt with if she goes to the specialist hospital. That is a help we need.”