By Rev. Fr. Charles Orero IMC
Drawing from the Book of Psalms 29:8-9, which describes God’s immense power and sovereignty, causing the wilderness to shake and giving birth to new life, it is a manifestation of His might over creation that prompts the universal declaration of glory.
In 1902, in the heart of a dense forest in Tuthu, an area inhabited by the Kikuyu near Mount Kenya, for the first time, a voice was heard roaring in the forest – the sound of the very first sawmill installed by the pioneer Consolata Missionaries.
The sawmill gradually became the first printing press that was used to print the “Wathiomo Mokikuyu (The True Friend)”, Kenya’s first monthly newspaper.
Hidden behind this roaring sound of the sawmill machine at Tuthu forest was the voice of Saint Joseph Allamano addressed to the Kenyan people, carrying with it a powerful spiritual declaration of his commitment through his missionaries to spread the gospel and usher in God’s message of salvation and knowledge, in accordance with 1 Timothy 2:4.
Through this thunder of the sawmill, it was as if Saint Joseph Allamano declared to the Kenyan populace:
“Behold, I have sent My messengers, who will prepare the way. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to you — the Messengers of the covenant, in whom you delight” (Malachi 3:1-2).
Similarly, today, in the heart of Ikonda village, located in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, 2050m above sea level in Njombe Region, Makete District, the voice of Saint Joseph Allamano reverberates.
The Consolata Hospital is giving hope to the residents through medical care according to the Scripture. It is as if, through the medical equipment used in the hospital, the message of Saint Joseph Allamano is told to the residents.
As it is written in the Book of Isaiah 53:5: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
The picture of Consolata Hospital in Ikonda reminds one of Allamano’s spirituality of “doing the good without making noise.”
This spirituality, which is important to Saint Joseph Allamano, is evidently pronounced in all aspects of Consolata Hospital in Ikonda. The hospital gives people the best medical attention. It is as if God is using the facility to give hope.
It is often said that the medical personnel here work as if God is standing and supervising them.
This is referenced from the Book of Genesis: “And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good.”
This Allamano’s spirituality of “the good must be done well without noise” invites every healthcare provider in Kenya to be a guardian angel to the patients.
The medical services offered at Consolata Hospital in Ikonda carry with them all the hallmarks of Allamano’s methodology and spirituality of human promotion.
The human person was so dear to Saint Joseph Allamano. It was for this reason that his missionary congregation accepted all the activities that could help in making human life better, such as giving medical services, running schools and colleges, engaging in agricultural and industrial work, and managing orphanages and old age homes, among others.
Therefore, human dignity is indeed important to all Consolata Missionaries in their work of evangelisation, and the suffering of humanity touches every Consolata Missionary to the core.
In offering health services, every nurse or doctor in Kenya should have a methodology geared towards improving human life. Just as to the Consolata Missionaries, human suffering should touch the heart of every healthcare provider in Kenya.
They should offer medical assistance aimed at restoring the human dignity affected by illness.
According to Saint Joseph Allamano, “the good must be done well without noise.” However, at Ikonda Hospital, one can say, “the good must be done well without noise and corruption.”
Corruption is a threat to all sectors of life. However, if it finds its roots within the health sector, human life becomes compromised and auctioned.
Therefore, let Kenyan medical providers learn from Consolata Hospital in Ikonda that a step towards improved health services is the fight against corruption.
In Tuthu forest, the Consolata Missionaries involved the natives in their work at the sawmill.
At Consolata Hospital in Ikonda, it is the Consolata Missionaries working at this hospital who are involved in extra work beyond what they are called to do.
How beautiful it is to see the Director, Rev. Fr. Mkalula William IMC, pushing patients in stretchers when one would expect him to be on his cosy chair in the office.
Even though Rev. Fr. Marco Turra suffers from a fractured leg, you will always find him walking around the hospital supporting himself with a walking stick while serving the people with a smile and a generous heart.
The presence of Brother Nahashon Njuguna reminds one of Allamano’s declaration that brothers are indispensable to the missions. His calm nature and style of work remind one of Allamano’s teaching that, “work here is done only for the love of God.”
Padre Zubias Arrieta is a true epitome of what Saint Joseph Allamano meant by “being a missionary in the head, in the heart and in the hands.” You meet him involved everywhere: in the chapel making sure that liturgy is well done, in the wards anointing and praying for the sick, and outside taking care of flowers and the vegetable garden.
Is this not what Saint Allamano meant when he said that “a missionary is made for everything and that he must find means of learning everything”? Yes, it is!
In the life of these three missionaries working at Consolata Hospital, we find a summary of what Saint Joseph Allamano meant by saying that: “yours is not a life of ecstasy, it is a life of work.”
From these three Consolata Missionaries (Padre William Mkalula, Padre Marco Turra, Padre Zubias Arrieta and Brother Nahashon Njuguna), every health provider in Kenya should learn that it is not enough to be employed, and it is not even enough to give medical service.
The most important thing is the attitude with which one does his or her work.
This spirit is the totality of Saint Joseph Allamano’s spirituality of “Ad maiorem Dei gloriam” (For the greater glory of God).
Therefore, healthcare providers in Kenya are invited to work with good spirit. Let the three Consolata Missionaries named above love the service they give to people. Let each one work for the greater glory of God.
The writer is a priest at the Catholic Diocese of Iringa, Tanzania.
