Edmund poses after receiving his medical degree.
By Dr. Tim Millea
Catholic Health Care Today
Despite this age of immediate connectivity, we may wonder if we can have a positive impact on those on the other end of our emails, texts and videos. When tragedy strikes or an opportunity to help arises halfway around the world, what can we do to help people we will never meet? That question can be answered in a heartwarming way as a result of the generosity of good people here in the Diocese of Davenport, leading to benefits for thousands of people in need half a world away.
In 2019, a Tanzanian priest, Father Fortunatus Rwehikiza, was completing his graduate degree at St. Ambrose University in Davenport and preparing to return home. He became aware of difficulties faced by one of his former high school students in western Tanzania. Edmund, one of his brightest students, had been accepted to the Catholic medical school in Mwanza, on the southern shore of Lake Victoria, with classes starting in a few weeks.
However, his financial resources were not adequate to pay tuition, even for his first semester. Edmund’s home village is remote and poor. His father is disabled and his mother earned unpredictable and very limited income by cleaning homes whenever possible. Edmund informed his former teacher of his disappointment and Father Fortunatus assured him of his prayers and of his efforts to help.
During his time in the United States, Father Fortunatus became a good friend of the St. Thomas Aquinas Guild, a Quad Cities group of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA). He brought Edmund’s plight to the attention of guild members, asking for prayers, advice and, if possible, financial help. After some quick currency conversion of Tanzanian shillings to U.S. dollars, it was an encouraging surprise to learn that one year of medical school tuition for Edmund would cost approximately $2,000, compared to the average American bill of nearly $60,000. Optimism began to emerge. Despite a separation of 8,000 miles, could we help?
We sent emails immediately after that first conversation to guild members. Within 12 hours, Edmund’s first semester tuition was covered. By 24 hours, donations arrived to pay for his entire first year. We initiated direct contact with Edmund, his medical school and his Tanzanian bank and transferred funds for his first-semester tuition. Shortly thereafter, his donors received a photo of a smiling young man sitting at a desk on his first day of medical school. His was the face of someone whose dreams were coming true because of good people he will always remember, yet never meet.
Edmund’s path to his medical degree was arduous and difficult, as expected in that curriculum. However, the pandemic disrupted his academic years, leading to the delayed graduation of his class to November 2024. His grades were very good and, as with all medical students, he recognized some areas of medicine that he enjoyed more than other areas. A common theme in his messages to his American friends was his concern about the very limited medical care available to his fellow Tanzanians and his desire to help improve that problem.
Through his five-year odyssey, many other donors in the Diocese of Davenport also learned of Edmund and wanted to help. Every semester’s tuition was paid on time and donors responded quickly to requests to fund basic needs such as rent, food, transportation and school supplies.
Now in the midst of his one-year internship in the University Hospital in Mwanza, Edmund is rotating between various specialties. He will soon make the difficult decision about his specialty of choice, which will determine his residency training. He is leaning toward surgical specialties but remains committed in his heart to the poor and disadvantaged in his country.
Edmund consistently attributes his path over the past five years to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and divine providence. Here is an excerpt from Edmund’s email to me when he finished his last exams and knew he was going to graduate:
“May I say thank you to all my good friends who have been a very important pillar to this success. Please insist to my friends that I am very, very thankful for everything. May God bless you all.”
With God’s help, a bright young man from a dusty region of central Africa, taught by a priest who befriended people in the American heartland, is now on his way to serving the medical needs of people in his country. In the decades to come, thousands of Tanzanians will benefit from those friendships and the charity of so many people who understand the ripple effect of sincere generosity.
(Dr. Tim Millea is president of the St. Thomas Aquinas Medical Guild and a member of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Davenport.)
