Meru Tumaini Health Clinic is a US-based support organization for the Tanzania-based NGO, Ndoombo Community Dispensary, which provides quality healthcare to the Ndoombo community on Mt Meru, TZ. Mbise started working as a young pastor in and around Ndoombo Mfulony on the slopes of Mt. Being a pastor in this area meant more than just doing the pastoral duties of preaching the word, baptizing, marry
ing, sharing communion and counseling. (family fighting – go to Moses), crisis resolution counselor, preacher, comforter, and also teacher. Mbise served among the poor and when he was not delivering a sermon, he was resolving household conflict, conducting a funeral for a child whose life was taken prematurely by illnesses that are preventable in the rest of the world where health care is available to the people in need. Lack of healthcare facility for people living in and around Mt. Meru area had consumed many innocent lives. Lack of healthcare facility was complicated even more by lack of transportation infrastructure as many people live in areas where there are no roads to speak of and therefore cut off from the rest of the country and the world. Things like safe water, hospitals, clinics, plumbing, cars, and roads, are luxuries that many of these communities don’t have. Many had to walk great distances to a nearest hospital or clinic. For a long time Rev. Mbise saw this disparate situation and urged his children to become nurses and doctors so they can make a difference in the lives of those in the community. Moses’ children studied to become a nurse midwife and for a while she ran a small clinic from her two room house with no plumbing, no running water, and no electricity. Thanks to a daughter -in- law who also saw the desperate situation and vowed to change it. She got together friends who became inspired to change the situation and make a difference in the lives of those that lived in and around Mt. Thanks also to the donations from individual whose list is too long to fit in a single page of paper, as well as specific organizations namely Atonement Lutheran Church, Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church, and Luther Valley Lutheran Church just to name a few. Before his death in April 26, 2007, Rev. Mbise’s prayer had been answered. He had witnessed a building rise on a piece of land he had donated to anyone willing to construct a clinic building. He had witnessed the birth of twin boys who might have not survived given the timing of their birth after midnight, and the distance their mother might have had to walk to the nearest clinic or hospital. Moses Mbise died after serving as a Lutheran pastor for over 45 years. Mount Meru Tumaini Health Clinic will always stand for what Rev. Moses stood for- among other things protecting the weak and poor. Currently, Mount Meru Tumaini Health Clinic has a beautiful small building with running water, electricity, and plumbing, seeing about 300 patients a month. Mount Meru Tumaini Health Clinic receives volunteer medical as well as non-medical individuals to help at the clinic, and neighboring primary school.
