INUKA is buzzing with activity as the INUKA staff and construction workers prepare for the Dedication and Blessing ceremony of the new outpatient clinic scheduled for Monday, February 7. The Apostolic Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Njombe will be present to Bless the new outpatient building and celebrate Mass.

Fr. Nestor was appointed the Managing Director of the INUKA Rehabilitation Centre shortly after leaving Saints Peter and Paul and returning to the Njombe Diocese in Tanzania. It was not long after assuming the Managing Director role in February 2021, that Fr. Nestor and his staff and INUKA Board realized the need for an outpatient clinic associated with INUKA.

In recent years, the Health Organization of the Tanzanian Government declared that any child receiving rehabilitation services at INUKA would also need to receive a health screening. INUKA is currently offering these medical screenings for children, but the building is actually a distant walk from where the rehab facilities and dormitories are located. In fact, that building is currently outside the security fence/wall being built to secure the INUKA facilities.

As INUKA began the medical screenings of the children they were serving, the staff often discovered that many of the children had other medical issues (aside from the need for rehabilitation services). Problems include malaria, typhoid, worms, stomach-related diseases (associated with unhealthy water consumption), HIV/AIDS, and burns on the body.  

Although tthere are certainly many families who have homes in Tanzania where the sleeping area is separate from where the kitchen/living room is located, some homes are single rooms where the cooking and sleeping all happen in the same area. Burns often happen when children are left unsupervised in their home. You can’t walk or drive anywhere in Tanzania without seeing women with children on their backs. As you can imagine, as the child ages, it becomes increasingly difficult for the woman to carry her child on her back. The need for these Mothers to work to earn an income often requires that children are left home unsupervised. Oftentimes, a burning stick of wood is left in the ashes, so that cooking can happen when the Mother returns home (many mothers can’t afford matches, so the stick is left burning). Or a Mother will leave something cooking while she is off working. Unfortunately, it is all too common for an unsupervised child to get burned while playing with fire.
 

Medical Outpatient Building

Fr. Nestor and the Staff/Board desired to see a new outpatient building be constructed where a child or an adult could go thru a series of health screenings in a proper clinical setting closer to where the rehab services and dormitories are located.  This clinic was also planned to include a pharmacy, and would be available as a medical resource for people from the region (not just for children and adults receiving rehab services).  The building was envisioned to be adjacent to the Administrative Offices and another small building currently being constructed to house some new private patient rooms (for those who can afford such services; an additional source of income for INUKA.)  

The new Outpatient Clinic (pictured above) is directly across from where the therapy buildings and dormitories are located. When Fr. Nestor departed Saints Peter and Paul Parish in January, 2021, there was a strong desire among many parishioners to support Fr. Nestor’s ministry in the future.
 

History of Hope for Tanzania

Hope for Tanzania was formed at Saints Peter and Paul in Spring, 2021, with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception designated as the Patroness for our venture formed to support Fr. Nestor.

The amount of money needed to build and fully equip the new outpatient facility was determined to be $250,000. In the United States, $250,000 would not provide for much of anything associated with a medical building, but in Tanzania, such money would allow for the construction of the new outpatient clinic, and the purchase of medical equipment, patient exam tables and beds, supplies and furniture, and the construction of a security fence/wall around the INUKA property. The additional small building attached to the new outpatient building houses two, six-person wards (one ward for men and one for women) and two, two-person patient rooms with a curtain in the middle (one for men and one for women). 

Included in the fundraising goal of $250,000, was $30,000 designated as our 50 percent share of the purchase of an ambulance for INUKA (a matching donor would provide the other 50 percent). The new Outpatient Clinic will be fully operational until the end of February, and the foundation of the new security fence/wall is currently under construction (shown left and right).

Personal funding by the Board and a quiet ask of friends and family allowed the outpatient building project to get moving, and to get the building under roof before the rainy season would start in November 2021. In late October 2021, a very successful appeal was conducted over two weekends at Saints Peter and Paul that resulted in $69,000 being raised. In early December, Hope for Tanzania was designated as the beneficiary of Saints Peter and Paul’s annual Light the Way auction and dinner; another $114,000 was raised.

In the end, Hope for Tanzania at Saints Peter and Paul has raised $273,800, which has been forwarded to the Diocese of Njombe for the completion of the project. Inflation and cost increases associated with COVID-19 have been covered by the monies raised over our fundraising goal. Truly providential.

In the end, Hope for Tanzania at Saints Peter and Paul has raised $273,800, which has been forwarded to the Diocese of Njombe for the completion of the project. Inflation and cost increases associated with COVID-19 have been covered by the monies raised over our fundraising goal. Truly providential.

In January, 2022, Hope for Tanzania was awarded its 501(c)(3) tax status. Prior to this, all donations were made to Saints Peter and Paul, and the Parish then made several wire transfers to the Diocese of Njombe. The Hope for Tanzania website should soon be finalized. 

Hope for Tanzania board members include Fr. Brad Baker, Dan Dock, Ed Graham, Kelly Heffron, Tom Lupinacci, Steve Obendorf, and Dr. Ken Sanders.