| The Parish Church of St James |  |
| St. James's Road, Hampton Hill, TW12 1DQ (Parish Office 020 8941 6003) | |
| WITNESS AND MISSION | |
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| Charities and Links Contents: Charities and Links | Charities supported by St. James's | St. Luke's Mission Hospital, Milo | United Nations Association |
Charities and Links - St. Luke's Mission Hospital, Milo
Diocese of South West Tanganyika
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St Luke's is
an Anglican mission hospital run by the Diocese of South West Tanganyika.
About half of the hospital's modest operating budget is provided by
an annual grant from the mission agency USPG, which depends on donations
from parishes like St James. The hospital is situated in the village
of Milo in the southern highlands of Tanzania, four hours drive from
the nearest small town of Njombe. |
| Although the
region is fertile and intensively farmed, there is little trade of any
sort, few consumer goods and people’s livelihoods are at the mercy
of the weather. It serves a catchment area of 300 sq kilometres, with
a population of over 12,000 in more than 10 villages. Many people travel
long distances uphill to reach the hospital, either walking or being
carried on improvised stretchers. The hospital has 50 beds and three main wards: male, female, and children and maternity. Relatives cook all the food required by ‘their’ patient whilst they are in the hospital, staying in a very basic hostel themselves - built thanks to a millennium gift from St. James (see letter below). There is also an Out Patients Dispensary that treats about 6,000 people a year and, since 2005, St Luke’s has been providing care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. The arrival of a CD4 machine in January 2009 saves patients on anti-retrovirals a long walk to another facility for blood tests every six months. Just a few years ago, there was widespread denial that anyone had HIV. |
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Since 2005 St Luke’s
has had its own water storage tanks, fed partly from a stream by a hydraulic
pump and partly from rainwater harvested from the hospital roofs during
the wet season. There is no mains electricity. Thanks to a new generator
installed in February 2009, Milo is no longer in the dark and operations
can be performed without power concerns. The hospital has an acute shortage of staff at all levels. It is hard to attract and retain qualified people in such a remote part of the country. Benaiah Kilwale, the senior Clinical Officer, has worked at Milo for many years and corresponds faithfully with St James. The diocese is trying to solve the problem by sponsoring students, on the proviso that they work at Milo at completion of their courses. In 2009 St James has undertaken to sponsor the training of two nurses and one pharmaceutical technician. Another committed friend of the hospital, Revd Christopher Wagstaff is sponsoring two young men through their degrees in medicine and there is an extremely high chance of their returning Milo once qualified. No mention of St Luke’s would be complete without mention of Dr Douglas Lwoga who served the hospital faithfully in his retirement years from 1988 until his death in 2007, aged 71. He was a true saint of a man. Fortunately, another retired doctor, Dr Simeon Mbuligwe, has since been employed by the diocese as the new doctor in charge. |
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Letter
from Milo - 2 July 2001 Dear Ann, I am glad to inform you that St. James's special donation of £1000 has been used to build the patient relatives kitchen, which is already in use. Find the enclosed photos of the building, thank you very much for your generous help. |
In this building we have
two bedrooms, one for female and for male relatives. There is still
a need to build another house for sleeping. The villages being served
by this hospital would collect stones for the foundation, lay bricks
and burn them on a self-help basis, but the problem would be money
for buying cement, timber and corrugated iron sheets for the roof. |
Your campaign
on cancellation of debts has given us some fruits in our country.
After having had debt relief, the government has decided to give free
primary school education so that all children at the age of 7 are
recruited to school. Our President announced this last week through
Radio Tanzania. We are very grateful to all financial agencies that
have given us debt relief, thus enabling our government to improve
the provision of social services. We still urge for the remaining
financial agencies to cancel their debts. |
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The rains this year were
very heavy, as compared to last years. One wall of our pre-nursing
school hostel has fallen down - thank God that no single student was
hurt. We haven't yet repaired the wall, so students have been moved
to one of our new staff houses temporarily. A photo of the collapsed
wall is enclosed.
My motorbike has started some trouble; it gets very hot when climbing small hills and at times I am forced to stop in the middle of the hills and let it cool. I have planned to send it to Njombe town for overhaul - I will let you know as soon as it is ready. Also my motorcycle outfit is worn out and they are not available in the country, thus it is sometimes very difficult to drive when it rains and during winter. Milo is very cold during the months of May, June, July and August. Wishing you all the best and sending my regards to all friends at St. James. Yours in Christ's Love, Benaiah Kilwale |
| Further Information |
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Contact
Ann Peterken 020 8891 5862 |
 |
USPG Milo Newsletter (2006 November) |
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Associated pages on this website: Through the
Years: St. Luke's Hospital, Milo (2003 August) | St. Luke's Hospital, Milo, Activities (2005 September) |