Morogoro SDA Dispensary

The Morogoro Seventh-day Adventist Dispensary was established in 1970 to provide medical services to Adventist missionaries as well as non-Adventists in the surrounding community. The dispensary is located in Morogoro, Tanzania.

The Birth of Adventism in Tanzania

The birth place of Tanzanian Adventism is in the Pare region. Johann Ehlers and A. C. Enns arrived in Tanzania as early as mid-November 1903. The missionaries were friendly to colonial administrators. Their immediate goal was to begin an Adventist school. Their choice of educational philosophy was a curriculum of biblical instruction and manual labor, particularly agriculture. A second goal was to translate the New Testament into Swahili with the support of individuals such as Andrea Senamwaye and Petro Risase. The entire administration of the mission was under German Adventist missionaries. From this beginning, Adventist theology gained roots with minimal conflict with competing missions. From Pare Adventism spread to Majita, Usukuma, Heri (Kigoma), and other places in Tanzania.¹

Adventism in Morogoro Region

The Adventist message reached the region of Morogoro in 1957 with the arrival of evangelist Yohana Rukwaro. Morogoro Central Church was the first church to be established in 1967. The General Tanganyika Field was established in 1968 with its headquarters in Misufini, Morogoro, serving the following regions: Kigoma, Kagera, Tabora, Singida, Dodoma, Pwani, Mbeya, Ruvuma, Rukwa, Mtwara, and Lindi.

In 1982, the name of the field was changed to the East Tanzania Field, which served six regions: Morogoro, Dodoma, Pwani, Mtwara, Lindi, and Dar-es-salaam. In 2005, the name of the East Tanzania Field was changed to the East Tanzania Conference. The East Tanzania Conference was renamed the East-Central Tanzania Conference in 2015.² In 1975, Lukinga Saddiq became the first convert from Islam, following which the work of Adventism spread to several districts in the Morogoro region.³

Historical Background of Morogoro Adventist Dispensary

The dispensary at Morogoro was established in 1970 by a missionary medical doctor, James Arthur Twing, and his wife, Esther Lousior Twing who was a nurse. They were flying missionaries who offered services known as the Flying Doctors Services. Morogoro Adventist Dispensary was established as a small health center to offer health services to the few Adventist workers at the General Tanganyika Field headquarters which was situated on a plot offered by Pastor Elizaphan Bhwilima Wanjara. The dispensary was to also serve non-Adventists who surrounded the dispensary, aiming to convert them to Adventism. Unfortunately, Arthur Twing died in an airplane accident in 1972. However, the dispensary continued operation. In 2003, the dispensary was renovated and the number of workers increased. This act led to its re-registration as a first-class dispensary.⁴

Ten years later, another renovation was done for the purpose of advancing the dispensary to become a health center in 2013. Major renovations led to the requesting governmental approval for the Morogoro Adventist Dispensary to become a health center, which the administration was still awaiting at the time of writing. As a health center, the dispensary will be able to provide major health services while helping people understand Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and prepare them for His soon coming.⁵

Current Status of the Dispensary

Currently, the dispensary buildings have been updated to become a health center with beds to hold patients who need to be admitted for close observation. The dispensary has one medical doctor, three clinical officers, five nurse-midwives, two public health nurses, four nursing assistants, and two laboratory assistants, as well as maintenance staff.⁶

Throughout the year, the dispensary offers different services such as morning devotions, prayers for patients, medical examinations, treatment of HIV and AIDS, dispensing drugs, nursing care, family planning, mother and child services, and counseling. The dispensary offers seasonal free services to the families of the communities surrounding the dispensary to show them the hospitality and kindness of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in order to fulfill the dispensary’s mission to convert non-Adventists to Christ Jesus.⁷

Due to the above-mentioned services, the communities surrounding the dispensary, the regional government, and the national Government at large, recognize Morogoro Seventh-day Adventist Dispensary as a partner in development, and it has received a certificate of honor and recognition. Furthermore, in previous years the dispensary treated a regional commissioner of Morogoro, which was a goodwill gesture on his part, and it served as an excellent publicity event. Morogoro Dispensary is financially self-sustaining, though sometimes the conference assists it with purchasing dispensary equipment and paying salaries when the situation demands it.⁸

Challenges Faced by the Dispensary

The dispensary’s major challenge is the size of the land on which it is situated. This challenge is a hinderance to expanding the dispensary to a hospital that can serve many people. Another challenge is the inadequate staffing, especially in the area of midwifery. The number of midwives is insufficient for many mothers who come to the dispensary for obstetric services. The third challenge is inability to pay salaries on time. The Government Health Insurance Fund system, which is used by many patients, does not pay on time. As a result, dispensary employees often experience delay in receiving their monthly salary, and finally they quit to look for jobs in other health institutions, especially government hospitals. Conference leaders are seeking permanent solutions to all these challenges so that the dispensary may reach its fullest potential.⁹

Future Plans

The Conference leaders plan to make the dispensary a health center in order to provide more services, including x-rays and surgery, in order to meet more needs in the community, emulating Jesus’ healing ministry to the sick and suffering.¹⁰

Dispensary Directors

Ruth Eyembe (1990-1997), Mabuba (1998-2004), Living Stone Kingu (2005-2010), Biseko (2011), Josia Tayari (2012-).¹¹

Sources

Höschele, Stephan. Christian Remnant Church-African Folk Church: Seventh-day-Adventist Church in Tanzania 1903-1980. Leiden: Brill, 2007.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019.

Notes

1. Stephan Höschele, Christian Remnant Church-African Folk Church: Seventh-day-Adventist Church in Tanzania 1903-1980 (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 51-92.↩

2. “East-Central Tanzania Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019), 59.↩

3. Höschele, 51-92.↩

4. Ibid.↩

5. Ibid.↩

6. Ibid.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Ibid.↩

9. Josiah Tayari, interview by author, Morogoro, Tanzania, March 20, 2019.↩

10. Ibid.↩

11. Tanda Zippora, interview by author, Morogoro, Tanzania, March 20, 2019.↩