His Excellency, The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete; Distinguished Government Officials; The Honorable Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Alex Malasusa; The Honorable Bishop Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania -Diocese in Arusha Region, Thomas Laiser; His Excellency, the Ambassador of the United States of America, Mr. Mark Green; The Representative of the Honorable Bishop Rev. Gary Wollersheim, Mr. Ron Gustafson; Our dear supporters of Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre, ALMC and Selian Lutheran Hospital Staff, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Your Excellency, Mr. President.

It is a great pleasure, on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania – Diocese in Arusha Region, to welcome you to this historic occasion of the Inauguration of the Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre. What began as dream, as a possibility of a new hospital in Arusha, has come this day to fruition and the dream is now a reality.

It has been a long and arduous struggle to fulfill this dream. What began as a plan for a small hospital has become the giant we open this day. Many were the days when the team developing the ALMC, were discouraged to the point of despair. There was a time at the beginning of this journey, when we were forced to seriously consider abandoning this dream altogether. Yet throughout all the struggles and second thoughts, the Lord God has continued to lead, encourage, and uplift us as we struggled forward.

It is now four years since we first broke ground. The original plan for a two million dollar facility has grown to ten. Over four years costs have risen dramatically – especially in response to the global rise in petroleum prices which have severely added to costs of construction. Still we have struggled forward, with God’s help, to reach this day of celebration.

And what a celebration it is! Today we celebrate the opening of the ALMC, a 150 bed, modern, full service hospital in the center of the city of Arusha! The Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre you so generously inaugurate today, is a 6,800 square meter state of the art facility. ALMC is to serve as a specialty hospital with leading edge medical expertise, technology, and training. It is a full service hospital providing a wide range of specialty services:

• General Surgery
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Internal Medicine
• Palliative Care
• Paediatrics
• HIV/AIDS Care

The clinical care is efficiently supported by the teams of the Laboratory, Medical Imaging, Physical Therapy, and Palliative Care Departments. ALMC is staffed by 180 medical professionals including fifteen fully qualified specialist physicians and surgeons.

It is an extremely well equipped hospital with a wealth of biomedical technology. As such, it will serve as a teaching site for application of these technologies to the Tanzanian setting. Of great interest are the:

• CT Scan capability
• Endoscopy Unit
• Laparoscopic video surgery
• Total Hip and Knee Replacement capability
• Advance Plastic Surgery care of burns and hand injuries

While focusing on providing high quality, compassionate care to the urban areas of Arusha, ALMC continues to emphasize and support outreach into the community with broad services for the poor and marginalized in joint services with Selian Lutheran Hospital.

• Specialty orthopedic care for crippled children
• Fistula repair for women having suffered birthing injuries
• Care of burns and burn contractures.

Your Excellency, Mr. President: As ALMC now opens its doors to serve the people of northern Tanzania and beyond, it commits to bringing state of the art care. But ALMC is also committed to “bring state of the art compassion” to in that care. ALMC is deeply committed to being a good servant and a wonderful resource to the community it serves. ALMC is an equal service provider seeking to serve the entire community with “care and compassion” without regard to faith, ethnicity, race, or gender.

So this day of inauguration, dedication, and celebration, it is only right that we pause to give our most sincere thanks to the many who have contributed so much to make this possible. Of particular note is the support of the ELCT-DAR and it leadership of the Honorable Bishop Thomas Laiser, his General Secretary, Mr. Israel Karyongi, and the Medical Secretary, Dr. Mganga Kipuyo.

Great thanksgiving is given to the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania for its support in allowing such a project to be constructed with exemption from taxes.

Without a doubt, the greatest words of appreciation are to our hundreds of donors who have contributed, not always from their affluence but sometimes from their very poverty. ALMC has received gifts which range from $1 to $600,000! International organizations and local business have given generously to see this happen. Our partner Diocese, the Northern Illinois Synod under the leadership of Bishop Wollersheim and with the help of Mr. Ron Gustafson have been generous beyond belief. Many Lutheran congregations from throughout the United States have given generously and then dug down again into their pockets to give even yet, once again. Our partner and friends from Exempla Health Care, Global Health Ministries, Maasai Health Systems, Operation Bootstraps, and C6 have responded to the needs of this new hospital time and time and time again.

Great thanks to all the staff of Selian Lutheran Hospital and Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre for their support and patience as we all awaited this move. Special thanks to our Contractor, China Railway JianChang Engineering; to our architect, Mr. John Kraft of Jengo Imara, and to our team of subcontractors and advisors.

Your Excellency, Mr. President. Today we open a wonderful new facility. But a building remains just a building unless it is opened with a deep and abiding commitment to care and compassion. This is the commitment that we, the leadership and staff of Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre make to you this day. It is the commitment to the people we will continue to serve in Arusha.

If I might paraphrase the inspiring words of the President Elect of the United States of America, Barack Obama:

Can we dare to dream? “Yes we can”
Can we dare to change? “Yes we can”
Can we dare to commit to quality and compassion? “Yes we can.”
Can we dare to be a model of excellence and lead the way forward to better health care in Tanzania? “Yes we can.”

Yes Your Excellency, we can. It is our absolute commitment to hospital of the highest standards of quality and compassionate care. It is our absolute commitment to be an institution which trains and inspires a new generation of health care professionals for Tanzania. It is our absolute commitment to be a hospital which strives ever to meet the special and priority needs of the people of Tanzania. And so, Your Excellency, Mr. President, as we shortly present you with a gift as our Guest of Honor, we will not be presenting you a gift which you can set on a shelf, rather, we will invite you to join in this commitment to care and compassion by providing, in your honor, rehabilitative surgical care to crippled children identified by you and sent to ALMC surgical services.

Your Excellency, Mr. President, Your Excellency Mr. Ambassador, Honorable Bishops, this is indeed our commitment to you this day and to the people of Arusha and all of Tanzania.

Thank you and may God Almighty bless this day and this endeavor far into the future.

Prof. Mark L. Jacobson, MD, MPH
Medical Director
Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre

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