By Mary Lackie

The Swahilis nicknamed him “Mwenda Pole” -- he who walks slowly. He is Dr. Joseph C. Foust, the only doctor for the 50,000 people living in the bush county surrounding the African community of Kisa, Tanzania.

In 1957 Dr. Foust and his wife, Helen, vacationed in the Bahamas. Beneath the tropical beauty they saw the suffering of impoverished people. The Fousts returned to Ionia, Mich., where the doctor was chief of obstetrics at the Ionia Memorial Hospital. Life settled into the familiar pattern but the couple could not forget what they had seen. Together, they made the decision: if ever they could afford it, they would find a way to move to Africa and establish a hospital.

Why Africa? “We thought of Africa,” the doctor said, “because it seemed the need for medical care was greater there than anywhere and somehow we felt it would be a shred of compensation for the exploitation of Africa and its people by the so-called Christian nations.” With the aid of his brother, Father Conald Foust, the determined couple met with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in 1958. Through him, they became acquainted with Father Gordon Fournier, then head of the Foundation for All Africa, a nonsectarian organization whose aim was to increase understanding between peoples through personal service, especially in the field of medicine.

In the months that followed, the Fousts read everything they could about Africa and waited for a response to their offer. Early in 1958 a letter arrived from Bishop von Oorshot of Mbeya. It said: “We have nothing. We can give nothing. But we need Dr. Foust very much and want him to come.” The place was Kisa, a White Fathers mission in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. There would be no money for transportation, medical supplies. There would be no building for them, no electricity or sanitation facilities. The Fousts did not consider these handicaps important after reading the letter.

The Fousts loaded their six children into the car and supplies into the house trailer. They drove to New York and sailed for Capetown in 1959. “We knew somehow we would manage once we got there,” said Dr. Foust. Helen, an accredited high school teacher, included textbooks in their supplies -- she could tutor the children.

From Capetown, South Africa, the Fousts began the 3,000 mile, month-long journey over the rugged Great North Road to Mbeya. They camped at night in a snake-proof tent next to the trailer where the children slept.

Kisa, in the local dialect, means “mercy.” The people of the community met the family with a welcome ceremony and presented them with a three-room home of mud bricks, mud walls, and corrugated roof. There was an advantage to this small home, the Fousts learned. “If we had started with all the conveniences, the people would have looked at us as strangers. We needed all the help we could get and the Africans came to our home naturally.”

The twist was a popular dance the Fousts introduced to their new friends. “Now wherever you go around Kisa, you see even the small children dancing the twist,” said Foust.

The hospital changed from a small, thatch-roofed building with mud floors and walls. There is a new building now with a corrugated roof and an electric generator. “Electricity is expensive. We only use it for three hours during the evening, or if we need to perform an emergency operation during the night,” said the doctor,. In addition to the doctor, there is a European nursing nun, and nine assistants the doctor has trained. How is the hospital supported? “We beg,” was the simple reply. “We receive money from people that hear about the hospital and send small contributions. We receive no money from the missions or from the government.” Last year, the doctor said, in the out-patient clinic alone, the staff cared for 65,000 patients.

Even in the isolated part of the world -- a small compound with church, convent, school, mission and the hospital - visitors appear. A couple touring Africa visited Kisa and met the Fousts.

When they returned home to New York, Foust said, they sent the family a check with the stipulation that the money be used for a new home.

“Don’t make it sound as though our life is a hardship,” said Foust. “It is a good life. Our home is well built; we have a kerosene stove, a kerosene refrigerator, and kerosene lamps. The whole house smells of kerosene. The climate is wonderful and the country beautiful. During the rainy season, which lasts about three months, the sound of the rain beating on the corrugated roof is so loud we have to shout at each other,” he said.

The children quickly learned the difficult Swahili language and adjusted to the new life. The family acquired a taste for the local delicacy -- fried white ants. The Fousts planted a garden and the children were assigned chores. They cared for the chickens, chopped wood for the fire which heats the 50-gallon drum that is connected to the house water system and cared for the pets they acquired.

“We had to get rid of Sam,” said the doctor. “He was a monkey given to Steve as a present, but when Sam started tearing the house apart, we had to let him go.” “It is a good place for children,” he added, “and there are no wild animals around Kisa. They move out of civilized areas. Of course, there is an occasional leopard that will sneak in and kill a dog.” The boys have shot two twelve-foot

pythons with their .22 caliber rifles. But snakes in the neighborhood are a rarity. The children’s friends invite them to their homes and they help each other with Swahili and English grammar when they are not out exploring the country. The girls “play house” carrying dolls on their backs in the manner of the native mothers.

Helen Foust bakes bread, tutors science at the Lutheran high school 20 miles away, does her shopping in Tukuyu, “the nearest post office town, nine miles from Kisa.” In Tukuyu, the doctor said, their landrover is loaded with groceries, medicine, equipment. Sometimes the Fousts are surprised by crates of medical supplies contributed by pharmaceutical firms and doctors in the States. One surprise they won’t forget was a box containing plastic eyes -- all blue ones.

“The people are very proud,” said Foust, “so we make a small charge for medical care, according to what they can pay. Sometimes for five or 10 cents for a shot of penicillin.”

Three years ago a baby was left at their home. The mother had died, and the father brought the baby down from the mountains to the hospital. “We didn’t have a baby around at the time,” said the doctor, “so we took Elizabeth home. We all developed a deep affection for her and couldn’t bear to think of her going back to the mountains. We knew her brothers would come to claim her when she was older. The dowry for a Swahili bride is ten cows. We thought it over, and asked permission of her family to legally adopt her.”

This year the Fousts with their nine children (five boys and four girls including Elizabeth, the baby) are living in Ionia, Mich. Dr. Foust, a 1948 graduate of the University of St. Louis Medical School, plans to spend a year “brushing up” on new medical techniques, particularly studying eye surgery. He spent a week in November at the Communicable Disease Center at Emory U. taking a course in applied epidemiology.

The doctor works with the Ionia County Health Department, studies, and in his spare time is building an autogiro in his garage. He will teach himself to fly this small rotor-blade craft and take it with him when the family returns to Africa. The four older children will remain in the States to complete their education. However, the Fousts will not return to Kisa.

“It is important to understand their whole concept,” Dr. Foust’s brother, Father Conald, “they want to start a chain of hospitals in Tanzania, so when they return, they will move to a new isolated district and begin again.” Dr. Foust has found a doctor from Holland to take charge of the Kisa hospital.

There are 9 million people in Tanzania. It has been an independent country since 1961, and the president, Julius Nyrere, has formed a stable government, said Dr. Foust. He added that their short-wave radio set picks up propaganda beamed from Radio Moscow and Radio Peking. “The best programs are the BBC and Radio Tanzania. Sometimes we get the Voice of America, but it is not too clear.” But the “American doctor” as he is known in Tanzania, makes himself clear, “Surgery in the hospital operating room is primitive by U.S. standards, but we have never had a patient die from or after surgery. It must be the prayers -- I am not a trained surgeon,” said the doctor.

And he is “really not too keen on talking about myself even though I know it is necessary to get money to keep up the work.” But malnutrition and disease exist; so the need for more hospitals exists in the growing nation. “I suppose you could mention the address -- money is a constant problem, too.”

The address: Kisa Hospital, P.O. Box 73, Tukuyu, Tanzania, East Africa.