Key words:
- The United Methodist Mobile Clinic based in Chicuque Mission in Mozambique was launched in 2022 and covers remote areas of the Morrumbene and Massinga districts.
- The focus is on children under 5 and pregnant women, said the Rev. Maria Matsinhe.
- Along with physical healing, communities receive spiritual nourishment. The fieldwork begins with prayer and devotions, followed by health education and health care.
- The mobile clinic is supported by the Mozambique Initiative, a project of the Missouri and Mozambique annual conferences.
More than a decade ago, Esmeralda Maciela struggled giving birth to twins. Today her twins, Joana and Paulo Buque, lead the youth of a United Methodist church in the Mabumbuza area and are completing high school. Fernando Eduardo Tique nearly died of a stomach infection but was healed. Local leader Francisco Savanguane was saved from brain malaria.
Maciela, Tique and Savanguane are especially enthusiastic about the United Methodist Mobile Clinic based in Chicuque Mission in Mozambique. Launched in 2022 and covering remote areas of the Morrumbene and Massinga districts, the clinic is related to the local Methodist Hospital, founded in 1913 by Methodist missionary Charles John Stauffacher.
Mobile clinics overcome geographical barriers, offering essential health services such as basic exams, disease prevention, maternal and child care, vaccinations and dentistry. They also contribute to socioeconomic development by reducing travel time for medical care and improving the quality of life of rural workers.
The Rev. Maria Matsinhe, a nurse at the Chicuque Rural Hospital and the health coordinator for The United Methodist Church in Mozambique, heads the mobile clinic.
“Mobile clinics,” she explained, “facilitate health care access in remote areas with extremely low economies. Our focus is on children under 5 and pregnant women. All simple cases are treated on site.” More complicated cases are referred to the nearest hospital.
The mobile clinic has transformed hundreds of families. “About 32 men had surgery after teachings on prostate cancer,” Matsinhe said. “We have saved many children’s lives and assisted many pregnant women and elderly people.”
Along with physical healing, communities receive spiritual nourishment. The fieldwork begins with prayer and devotions, followed by health education and health care.
“This activity helps transform minds in the image of God,” Matsinhe said. “We believe inspiration and faith (are) gained from preaching the Gospel through words and deeds. Families come to know Christ and join The United Methodist Church or other denominations closer to home. We bring pamphlets, Bibles and hymnals, which we distribute on site.”
District health authorities develop a schedule of visits to communities, as the department collaborates with technicians, doctors and nurses. Visits are monthly or bimonthly. The team includes professionals representing such specialties as nutrition, vaccinations, laboratory testing, midwifery, pharmacy technician, and maternal and child health care. The clinic is especially important for breastfed babies, school-age children and teens.
“Each community group to be visited is asked to build a tent using local materials,” Matsinhe said. “The team brings medicines, scales for children and adults, blood pressure monitors, examination tables for pregnant women, altimeters, tables to support writing during consultations, and most importantly, Bibles and hymnals.
“At times, we visit rural schools. We always count on the help of teachers who assist with services for teenagers and young people. In cases beyond their capabilities, (patients) are referred to mobile clinics. However, screening for skin and oral diseases is (conducted) periodically, benefiting schools close to the concentrations.”
Yet, challenges abound.
“Access roads are very compromised, resulting in damage to vehicles, although we always appeal for trees and bushes to be removed,” Matsinhe said. “Some regions do not have mobile phone coverage, but we do not hesitate because human lives are in dire need of hospital care.”
Her wish list includes food for cooking and nutrition demonstrations, a small refrigeration unit for sensitive utensils and medicines, cameras to report on the work and tents to accommodate mobile teams, especially when privacy is essential.
Endemic diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and cholera continue to burden the health system, with frequent outbreaks and epidemics. This is especially critical in remote rural communities, where poverty and social inequality hinder equitable access to health care.
Before the mobile clinic was started, people walked four to five hours to the nearest health post.
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Today, patients walk an average of 30-45 minutes to the nearest mobile clinic station.
Every day, clinic staff see around 70 patients. Along with health-related improvements, interaction with local community leaders is enhanced as they mobilize the community to be present in areas where mobile clinics operate.
During its first three years of operation, the clinic provided 21,090 vaccinations, as well as 20,510 general and 23,070 prenatal consultations; treated 24,680 babies for routine care; diagnosed 3,155 malaria,197 malnutrition and 278 HIV cases; and served 31 men facing prostate cancer or other health problems and 18 older women needing obstetrics surgery.
Matsinhe noted that through the Missouri-Mozambique Initiative, the Missouri Annual Conference “has been a great support, providing us with mobile means and financial resources, without which the program would be difficult to be implemented. This support includes prayers, helping Mozambique save thousands of lives.”
Forty years ago, the partnership was started to provide food for clergy in Mozambique. Through mutual prayer, it evolved into a holistic partnership, empowering local churches to be catalysts for growth and change. It seeks to transform communities and people in Christ’s image.
Each project idea originates from partners in Mozambique. Communities identify their most pressing priorities and provide resources for the transformation. In addition to the mobile clinics, ministries include Christian education, institutional development, pastoral support, seminary scholarships, solar panels for parsonages, solar towers, support for older women and vulnerable and orphaned children, and wells.
Truly, the mobile clinic changes lives.
“I was a neighbor to the Methodists and did not know Jesus,” recalled Joao Massango of Mabumbuza community. “We used to walk for a day to Massinga village for health assistance. The Methodists shortened the distance. Through the mobile clinic, I received pre-treatment, and they directed me to the referral hospital for a successful surgery. Because of prayers and evangelization in the clinic, I gained both physical and spiritual healing and ended up joining the church.”
Ezequiel M. Nhantumbo is a UM News correspondent based in Maputo. He is also a representative of the Mozambique Initiative.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digests.
