Swazi Eye Services

Swazi Eye Services was a subsidiary medical institution of the Southern Africa Union Conference (SAU) from 1985 to 2021. 

Overview 

Swazi Eye Services, a medical institution, was situated in Manzini, the capital city of Manzini region in Swaziland (now known as Eswatini). In 1980, the Southern Africa Union Conference (SAU) saw a need for a dental clinic in Swaziland, and they officially opened the Swazi Dental Services in 1983. The Swazi Dental Services operated until 1984. Thereafter, there was a need for an eye service in the country since only one healthcare center existed, and it belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, situated in Mzimpofu village at the time. The Catholic Church later opened a second dental clinic in the same region, and both were run and operated by the church.

At that time, a Swedish dentist missionary, Dr. Raymond Delding’s personal visit to Swaziland changed everything when he noticed that people from rural areas were neglected and needed a dental service too.¹ Dr. Delding loved Africa and was keen to play a role in the health care development and contribute to that region. Dr. Delding and his wife, Vera, started the first dental mobile clinic in Swaziland in 1980. It later changed its name from Swazi Dental Services to Swazi Eye Services.² In 1985, the Swazi Eye Service was perceived as a missionary wing of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to support the church’s mission in Swaziland. It was situated in the Manzini City center and was easily accessible by foot from the Manzini Bus Station.  

Developments that Led to the Establishment of the Institution 

After securing financial help and donations, the Deldings began to meet the long-awaited desire for a dental service for many remote communities. When they arrived in Swaziland, they noticed that rural communities were not catered for and had to travel many miles to receive dental services.³ First, the mobile dental clinic was started in 1982 and then the center was established in the city the following year. It later changed to an eye clinic due to the desperate need of communities without access to eye doctors. The Swazi Eye Services was opened in June 1985 by missionary doctors responding to a felt need for eye services in the country, and it also functioned as a health missionary wing of the church.

Although it provided the much-needed eye services and patients attended it well at that time, the healthcare provision market later became flooded with many more centers providing eye services. The private sector and other mission-backed eye services offered stiff competition to the Swazi Eye Services. The desire of the SAU to help Swaziland grow through a provision of education and health services functioned as branches of the mission, was intended to enhance the growth of Adventism in the decades ahead.⁴

Establishment of the Institution 

 In 1982, Dr. Raymond Delding was the first missionary dental doctor in Swaziland. He approached the Trans-Africa Division and Southern Union Mission and a few directors of the Northern European Division about the need for an Adventist health outlet in Swaziland.⁵ After multiple applications and rejections, the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) agreed to sponsor eighty percent of the dental clinic project. Dr. Delding then received twenty percent from the local union and division. The donation was used first to start the mobile dental clinic, which later became a stationary service delivery center in Manzini.

Dr. John T. Reinhold and his wife, Mary, led the dental clinic from 1983 to 1984. They were the last American missionaries to serve at the dental clinic before it was changed into an eye clinic due to the scarcity of eye services in Swaziland. Dr. Eric Bergman, who served from 1985 to 1988, became the first optometrist to operate at the Swazi Eye Services. The equipment for the dental clinic was donated by Loma Linda University and was used till the clinic closed its services many years later. From 1988 to 1992, Dr. Val Franklin became the new clinic director, assisted by his wife, Arlene Franklin. The Franklins were from the Trans-European Division. In 1992, they were replaced by Dr. Urban Negre, who served as the director, and his wife Cherry Sobrepena, who worked as an accountant and later as a business manager. They were from the Philippines and served from 1993 to 2008.

In 1998, an 1100 square meter plot was purchased, and an eye operating clinic was added. The opening ceremony of the new clinic was held in February 2000, at which event the Swaziland Minister of Health was in attendance. The clinic worked closely with the Department of Health in the region to promote programs such as “NEWSTART” and HIV/AIDS awareness. To participate in the nation’s fight against the (HIV) pandemic at the time, a multipurpose HIV/AIDS facility was added to cater to community-based services. Later, Dr. Negre accepted a call to serve in the Southern Africa Union Conference as the Health and Family Ministries director. His younger sister, Dr. Uly Joy Padilla, also from the Philippines, took over running the Swazi Eye Services in Swaziland.⁶

Meanwhile, Manzini developed rapidly, and the municipal property rental charges became too high for the clinic to shoulder alone. Unfortunately, the clinic was not registered as a private non-profit organization with institutional trustees. This brought about unforeseen problems such as being subjected to higher property billings.  Although initially the money made was able to cover all the expenses, which included the salaries of the doctor, accountant, security guard and messenger, the institution later failed to sustain itself and began to rely on appropriations from the SAU and General Conference which were not guaranteed.  

Historical Role and Outreach Services 

The clinic served Swaziland for almost forty years and changed many people’s lives. One of the prominent figures in the history of the Swazi Eye Services was Dr Negre who served the Swati people and lived among them long enough to end up receiving Swazi citizenship. He loved Swaziland and it was so dear to him, that he helped to revive a Sabbath school branch in Sidvokodvo with the help of Sister Antoinette du Pont and others. His work reached beyond the clinic’s walls, and he loved the church’s mission. Although they had limited resources and outdated eyeglasses and frames, they were still the best option to many due to the location in the city center. However, regrettably, the clinic could not weather the financial strain that was caused by countless liabilities, which led to it having to be handed over to the local conference. The clinic was outmatched by the competition from its peers who had superior resources and equipment. There was a need for urgent financial injection. The SAU allowed the Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) Conference to take over the clinic since there was no additional budget to cover the clinic’s expenses.

The Swazi Eye Services Reengineering Committee met on September 28^th, 2021, to discuss the way forward for the underperforming institution. The committee members agreed that the Swazi Eye Services needed to be reorganized into a new comprehensive health facility under the local conference’s leadership. The committee voted to sell the doctor’s house so the clinic could settle its debts and other liabilities.⁷ 

Future Outlook 

SAU seeks to reopen the hospital as a new health facility under the Swazi local conference administration. The SAU Reengineering Committee concluded that the Swazi Eye Services’ success depends on its ability to reinvent itself into a modern, competitive, and self-sustaining institution. The current administration of Swati Adventist Mission, led by Pastors Shabangu and Gwebu, is hopeful that the clinic will reopen and serve the local communities.⁸ 

List of Administrators  

Raymond Delding (1982); John T. Reinhold; (1983-1984); Eric Bergman (1985-1988); Val Franklin (1988-1992); Urban Negre (1993-2008); Uly Padilla (2009-2021) 

Sources 

Mashwama, J. S. The Journey of One Hundred Years: The History of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Eswatini - 1920 Onwards. Johannesburg: Burble Books, 2022. 

Reinhold, Mary C. “A Dream Becomes Reality for Mission Dentist.” ARH, December 9, 1982. 

Notes

1. Mary C. Reinhold, “A Dream Becomes Reality for Mission Dentist,” ARH, December 9, 1982, 15.↩

2. Moses Gwebu, interview by author, Manzini, Swaziland, May 16, 2024.↩

3. Reinhold, 15. ↩

4. Jobe Mashwama, The Journey of One Hundred Years: The History of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Eswatini-1920 Onwards (Swaziland: Burble Books, 2022), 81. ↩

5. Reinhold, 15. ↩

6. Ncedile Mdluli, interview by author, Manzini, Swaziland, May 20, 2024.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Ibid.↩