Ontario RIDE
September 5-6, 2025
The Ride for Gutu Mission Hospital is back! Join us as we raise funds in support of maternal and infant healthcare in Gutu District, Zimbabwe.
Join Us
On Friday 5th and Saturday 6th September, 2025 cyclists will ride over two days from Dundas to Port Dover in Ontario, Canada and back. The route remains the same as previous years for the two-day ride. For those who want to participate in a shorter ride, we are introducing a loop of no more than 100km on Saturday the 6th if enough cyclists are interested.
2025 Ride Goal
The fourth edition of the Ride for Gutu Mission Hospital fundraiser continues to invest in staff training and infrastructure. In 2025, we are supporting operating room upgrades including equipment, instruments, and furniture.
One of the critical factors that risk maternal, and new-born well-being is delayed access to competent surgical intervention, especially in emergencies. So, we asked experts in Zimbabwe to assess Gutu Mission Hospital’s capacity for safe surgical obstetrics, anesthesia, and post-op care. We know this is a national priority. Our deeper dive enables us to tailor solutions for emergency obstetrics.
The 2025 goal is $60,000.00 to improve emergency surgical obstetric and anesthesia capacity through staff training and equipment upgrades.
Thanks to funds raised in 2024:
- Running water has been restored to the maternity and operating wards by the purchase and installation of a 10,000L reservoir tank with an automated refill system.
- Old plumbing was replaced, new shower heads and taps in the bathrooms, and solar heaters to warm the water installed.
- Maternity and labor wards were repainted, ceiling boards replaced and installed lights for a more cheerful experience
- 15 health workers were trained in 2024, one of whom shared, “I was able to use the skills I learned to save a mother from heavy blood loss when I was on call.” Others asked for the same training, and since we now have in-house trainers, we can do the workshops at Gutu Mission Hospital.
Your participation and generosity will go a long way in supporting maternal and infant healthcare in Gutu and equipping healthcare professionals with the tools they need to provide life-saving care.
Registration is now open and closes on July 31, 2025.
The Ontario Ride begins in
Gutu Mission Hospital
The risk of dying from pregnancy-related factors in Zimbabwe is far worse than in Canada.
Gutu hospital staff is hard working and has adapted well to working under difficult conditions and chronic shortages. It aspires to excellence, attaining good standards of cleanliness and patient care but is restricted by budgetary constraints, unserviceable and unreliable equipment, and aging infrastructure. Gutu Mission Hospital (GMH):
- Is the district referral centre for 250,000 people in rural Zimbabwe
- Serves as the first stop for medical emergencies from 30 smaller satellite clinics
- Conducts 1/3 of all the in-hospital deliveries in the Gutu District.
- Is the only hospital in Gutu District with a capacity for caesarean deliveries.
- Trains nurses at a school of nursing and clinical departments.
EMAS Canada has been invited by the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) and Gutu Development Association to assist in the upgrading of Gutu Mission Hospital and training its medical staff. Maternity is the busiest department at GMH and is our primary focus.
