Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
On my second-to-last day in Tanzania, I meet with Dr. Paul Kisanga at Arusha Lutheran
Medical Centre. Unlike most Tanzanian hospitals, which could be movie sets for A Farewell
to Arms , ALMC is a freshly painted steel-and-glass building, in which a director could film
an episode of House . A large bronze plaque hangs on the wall with the names of dozens of
donors, many of whom are Lutheran congregations in small towns in Minnesota.
Dr.Kisangawearsadark,closelytailoredsuit,andInoticeaniPadonastandinhisoffice.
He is gracious but obviously busy. Like the Wasso district medical officer, his answers are
politic. He reminds me that his hospital is part of the same Lutheran diocese as Bishop La-
izer, who has enthusiastically promoted Mwasapila, and tells me, “As a medical scientist, I
have no reason to think this works. However, we have a few people in the last three months
with improved hypertension and blood sugars.”
He tells me about a formerly diabetic patient whose blood sugar has been normal for sev-
eral months. “She is the wife of one of the staff here.” Kisanga makes a phone call, and
a few minutes later, a white-haired man appears in a black shirt, white clerical collar, and
glasses—the Desmond Tutu look. He is Reverend Gabriel Kimerei, the hospital chaplain.
Reverend Kimerei has known Ambilikile Mwasapila since 1974, when the former brick
mason, not yet known as Babu, enrolled in a seminary program. Kimerei was his theology
instructor.“Hewasaveryquietstudent.Youwouldn'tknowwhathewasthinking,butifyou
asked, he always gave you the right answer.”
Kimerei speaks near-perfect English; he studied theology in Iowa in the 1960s. He is an
enthusiastic believer in Mwasapila's cure. “My wife has been tortured by diabetes for twelve
years—swallowingthedrugseveryday.”Kimerei'swifewenttoSamungeinFebruary.When
she returned, she stopped taking her oral antidiabetics. She eats a low-sugar, low-starch diet,
and, according to Kimerei, “she is doing well, she is doing very well, but she checks her
blood sugar every week.”
Kimerei acknowledges Mwasapila's cure doesn't work for everyone. In April, when Dr.
Kisanga andother ALMC colleagues told him that some patients whoabandoned medication
were suffering, he proposed they take a trip to Samunge to speak to the healer. Kimerei says
before their visit, the Ministry of Health tried to convince Mwasapila to instruct his visitors
to keep taking their medications until they were sure they were cured. “He would not agree.
He wasn't happy about that.” But when Reverend Kimerei, Dr. Kisanga, and two colleagues
spoketohim inApril, hewasswayed byhisformer teacher andagreed tochange hisinstruc-
tions.
It appears as of July, Mwasapila continues to honor the letter of the agreement, telling
people they may continue taking medications, even though he says it will be as effective as
“swallowing clay.”
According to Reverend Kimerei, there are a half dozen HIV-positive patients in the local
Lutheran parish who are completely cured. His colleague, a local minister, says they have
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