2024 Pohama Medical Outreach

“Lord… When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me…”—Matthew 25:40

Here at STEMM, the country we serve is Tanzania. in our nearly 27 years in Tanzania, we have seen much growth and material improvements, especially recently. One area that still lags far behind much of the rest of the world is access to health care.

In Tanzania, roughly only 32% of the population has access to health insurance. But the problems facing healthcare access run far deeper. It has some of the lowest rates of access to healthcare personnel in the world. For instance, in Tanzania, there are approximately .05 physicians per 1000 people (in the US, that number is 2.61) and .7 hospital beds per 1000 people (2.9 in the US). In the United States, 18.5 percent of the population is over 65 years of age. In Tanzania, that number is 3.4 percent. Finally, the median age in the United States is 38.9 years of age; in Tanzania, it is 19.1 years. These numbers point to the fact that Tanzania, while improving its access to healthcare, still has a ways to go in this area. This need is a big part of the reason STEMM exists.

STEMM has been doing medical outreaches in Tanzania since 1997, and we are about to undertake another. We conducted our first medical outreach to Pohama, in the Singita region of Tanzania, in the summer of 2023. In that two day outreach, we saw 1800 patients, many of whom had never seen a doctor before. This year, in three days, we hope to minister to 3000 people. Some potential follow ups from last year. Likely, many new patients.

We intend to make the 5 hour drive from our home base in Mbuguni on Wednesday, June 12; see patients on Thursday— Saturday, June 13—15; and then return to Mbuguni. On the following Monday and Tuesday, June 17th —18th, Dr. Meyer will perform surgeries at two different hospitals in Arusha, focusing on children in the area (both from candidates we find in Pohama, and local children from the village) who have Club Foot. The surgeries will— absolutely— be life changing for the children fortunate enough to receive them.

While in Pohama, we will set up various stations, designed to guide people to the doctor treating the specific challenge with which they are afflicted. We hope to have 8 — 12 Tanzanian doctors present ( as well as Dr. Meyer) to treat patients in the areas of: General Medicine; E-N-T; OB/GYN; Eye/Vision; Vaccinations; Pap Smears; Pediatrics; a Pharmacy; and a Blood donation station. Additionally, we will have a station staffed by Pastors to pray for healing for any interested patients, inviting them to get plugged in to a local church, and handing them a Bible and an explanation for why we are here(“What is STEMM; Who is Jesus”), written in Swahili .

A particularly amazing aspect of our medical missions is that we generally involve local (Siouxland) college students. In this case, we will have 10 college students along with us: 6 from Northwestern College in Orange City; 3 from Dordt University, in Sioux Center; and 1 from Wayne State University in Nebraska. All are pre-medical field students and the experience they will gain through this outreach is epic.

As you might imagine, moving enough people to process 3000 patients, camping in tents, providing food and water, transportation, and medicine for this outreach is expensive. Hence this campaign.. Using last year as a guide, we are anticipating an all-in budget of $16,000. We believe some of this will be covered by grants; some will be covered by the government of Tanzania, some costs will be assumed by STEMM. We are looking to raise $10,000, as a goal, which would be a huge help to STEMM in defraying our costs around this outreach.

If you want to make a real difference to people who could use some help in this world, consider donating to this outreach. If you wish to see the Gospel spread to people who don’t know it through the vehicle of medicine, consider donating to this outreach. If you are touched by what we do, consider becoming a monthly donor to STEMM. This is what we do, in terms of medicine, education, our feeding program, and our orphanage. Thank you so much for your consideration.