A new CT scan for Ikonda
On Consolata Missions, the story of the inauguration of the new CT scan at “Consolata hospital Ikonda” in Tanzania (Sept. 20, 2024)
On World Day of the Sick, spazio + spadoni’s thoughts also run to the sick around the world, to those people who cannot get treatment because they do not have the chance.
Thus, the news of a new CT scan in a 404-bed hospital in Tanzania should be recounted: a health center opened by the Consolata Missionaries in 1962 that, over time, has expanded, becoming a beacon of hope for the people of the surrounding
( edited by Fr. Gigi Anataloni, IMC)
Wow, 316,000 euros is not peanuts. Although, for those who whizz around in “Formula One” racing cars, or who beat and rebound yellow tennis balls, or who chase the colorful soccer ball, 316 thousand euros is almost pittance. But petty is neither peanuts for the Consolata hospital Ikonda in Tanzania.
The hospital has 404 beds, six operating rooms and treats major diseases with the presence of 349 people: doctors, pharmacists, nurses, lab technicians, cleaners, etc. The sick come mainly from Morogoro, Iringa, Njombe, Songea, Mbeya, Rukwa, Katavi, but some also come from further afield, even from the island of Zanzibar. Children in Makete district up to the age of 10 are treated free of charge, while HIV patients receive some free services, as do women giving birth in the district.
The health center belongs to the Missionaries of the Consolata. It was built in 1962, and later expanded. It was officially opened a year after Tanzania’s independence with Julius Nyerere as president, who stated, “The enemies of our country are poverty, ignorance and disease.”
Consolata hospital Ikonda immediately confronted “the enemy” disease.
The hospital is located among the Ukinga Mountains at an altitude of 2,050 meters. It is about 800 kilometers from Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. Until three years ago, the last 90 kilometers from Njombe to Ikonda were dirt, a slippery slope during rains, bordering precipices. Today a bus overflowing with sick people arrives daily from Mbeya: it faces thick fogs, treacherous quagmires, grueling stones, sink holes. All for 7-8 hours, if no mechanical failures happen.
(Fr. Gigi Anataloni (Missioni Consolata, Dec. 1, 2024)
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