Dar Health Initiative provides valuable health education to underdeveloped communities. DHI has three main goals- health education, disease prevention and gospel connection; all accomplished through many different avenues. We meet with patients one on one in our community health office, host seminars on our team property and on site at various community places, and also provide home visits. We value listening to people’s stories, engaging in their lives, and providing the tools needed for individuals and communities to become healthier. We do this while connecting people to local Bible studies and churches for the advancement of the gospel.
Dar Health Initiative Team
DHI started with God preparing Joseph Boon (Clinical Officer) and Brittany James (Nurse) each in their own way. Their passion for healthcare education in connection with the gospel is a mutual value of theirs. God provided a way for them to minister together through providing health education and investing in the individuals that make up communities. They love their time with patients, teaching community seminars and visiting local ministries to help with health check-ups and health lessons for staff members, students, parents and children.
Our mission is to prevent disease without creating dependency. Our values are listening to people’s stories, engaging in their lives, and providing the tools needed for individuals and communities to become healthier. We do this while connecting to local bible studies and churches for the advancement of the gospel.
More is more. More people receiving health education means more lives improved. DHI asks communities about their unique needs. We find ways to provide education, partner with local experts, and use local resources. Topics for community seminars include how to have clean water, HIV & AIDS awareness and prevention, tuberculosis, women’s health, wound care, disease transmission, and much more.
Everyone deserves access to health education. We are thankful for local clinics and doctors but we want less unnecessary, preventable reasons to go to the hospital. DHI provides health advocacy through meeting with people one on one to really listen and understand their stories and find creative, obtainable, locally sourced solutions. We have the time and resources to continue to be involved in their lives and continue with follow up care.
A health kit is as unique as the individual it is given to. While DHI is unique in that we INVEST in the individual through time and education, we also want to be a blessing in tangible ways. Every health kit bag is handmade by a local Tanzanian, and every thing in the health kit meets the needs of the person it is given to. These kits could include birth supplies (required from a mama to bring to delivery), wound care needs, food packages, infection treatment, general wellness kit, water filters, and much more.
Goals | Needs | Statistics
In the United States, there is an average of 24.5 doctors for every 10,000 people- while Tanzania has 0.5 doctors for every 10,000.
HIV/AIDS is the third leading cause of death.
Only 35% of the population has access to clean drinking water.
Just 19% of the population has access to safely managed sanitation.
Since DHI’s start, we have served over 500 people.
Our goal is to provide a monthly health seminar on our team property and connect those who come to local Bible study groups that our team has started. Topics for community seminars include how to have safe/clean water, HIV & AIDS awareness and prevention, tuberculosis, women’s health, wound care, disease transmission, and much more. Every seminar ends with a time of sharing the gospel - our true hope in life and in death.
$250 sponsors a Community Health Seminar (this also provides lunch, training resources and materials for 80 people)
$100 provides 1 month of health supplies and resources that are used to provide patients and communities with life-saving essentials (Mosquito nets, water filters, medicines, etc).
Story from DHI
A young mother comes to see us in our DHI community health room. She heard that she could come to ask questions about her health. She is welcomed at the gate by the Maasai guard who works at our team's compound, The Grace Mission Center. She walks through the front garden and is reminded of a health seminar that she had attended prior to her visit.
As she sits in the waiting area, under a large mango tree, we see her feet swinging back and forth as she looks around the property. All signs point to the fact that she is anxious and has something weighty to discuss. This is something we see often. We welcome her into our office and assure her, with smiles and greetings, that we are glad she is here. It doesn’t take long for Joseph to disarm her fears with his kind, warm tone, and for Brittany to ease the tension with her strong American accent speaking their language of Swahili. This woman is hurting. Not just from the physical sores we see all over her body, but because she is desperate to find work.
We listen to her whole story, which does not start at the sores. Instead, her story begins with fears for her children, who she cares for by herself. At the end of our time together we offer natural solutions to help ease the pain of her sores that she can do by herself at home. We pay for medicines to help speed up the healing process (with the consult of a local doctor) and share with her the words of Jesus, ‘Come to me all who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28-30).
She wipes her tears, but this time they are followed by sighs of relief. She knows that she is loved here, and loved by God who has a greater purpose than just healing her body. He offers healing to her soul. The woman stands up to leave and we get her information so that we can pay her a house visit another day.
This type of story is repeated often at DHI. We want to help others through their health needs because we know that it is a burden for them to carry the physical pain, uncertainty, and financial strain all alone. It is our joy and privilege at DHI to be an avenue to share the gospel with hurting people.
