Spiritan Refugee Service

Spiritan Refugee Camp in Kigoma

The “Spiritan Refugee Camp” is not an official designation but rather refers to the long-standing humanitarian and pastoral mission established by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, known as the Spiritans, in the Kigoma region of western Tanzania. For nearly three decades, the Spiritan Refugee Service (SRS) has been a cornerstone of support for one of the world’s largest and oldest refugee settlements, Nyarugusu camp. The Spiritans first arrived in the area in 1995, responding to a massive humanitarian crisis triggered by the genocide in Rwanda and the subsequent waves of conflict in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their commitment was built on a philosophy of enduring presence, with missionaries vowing to remain alongside the refugee population for as long as they were needed. This promise has proven essential, as Nyarugusu has since become home to over 136,000 people, many of whom are Congolese refugees who first arrived in the mid-1990s, joined by Burundians who fled renewed political violence in 2015. The protracted nature of this crisis has resulted in a multigenerational refugee population living in a state of indefinite transience, with little prospect of immediate return due to ongoing instability in their home countries.

 

The mission of the Spiritan Refugee Service is twofold, focusing equally on spiritual sustenance and physical well-being. At its core, the work is pastoral; Spiritan priests and lay catechists provide a full range of religious services including Sunday masses, weddings, and baptisms. They also offer crucial counselling for married couples and conduct regular visits to the sick, the elderly, and the isolated. Beyond the sacraments, the SRS organizes communal meals for orphans and widows during major Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter, fostering a sense of community and dignity within the camp’s sprawling, often impersonal environment. This spiritual care is seen by the Spiritans as foundational to maintaining hope and social cohesion among a population that has endured decades of displacement, trauma, and uncertainty.

 

Recognizing the critical gaps in medical infrastructure that exacerbated the suffering of both refugees and the local Tanzanian host community, the Spiritans expanded their mission in 2024 by opening the Blessed Jacques Laval Health Facility. Located in the village of Kalimungoma near the camp, this facility was built in response to a dire situation where over 294,000 people in the surrounding Makere Division had severely inadequate access to healthcare. Prior to the facility’s construction, the nearest district hospital was nineteen miles away with no ambulance service, meaning that common but treatable conditions like malaria, respiratory infections, and waterborne illnesses frequently progressed to life-threatening emergencies. The new health center now provides a vital lifeline, offering outpatient care, maternity services, X-ray and ultrasound capabilities, and a fully equipped laboratory. It serves both refugees referred from Nyarugusu camp and the local Tanzanian population, helping to ease tensions that can arise between host communities and long-term refugee populations by ensuring both groups receive care.

 

Looking ahead, the Spiritan Refugee Service remains deeply committed to the region, with plans to further expand its medical capacity on a twenty-two-acre plot of land it owns. The goal is to develop the current facility into a full-service hospital complete with an operating theatre and inpatient department, which would represent a transformative investment in a historically underserved area. The continued operation and expansion of this work is underscored by the persistent instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, which suggests that the need for the Spiritans’ presence in Kigoma will endure for the foreseeable future. Their work stands as a testament to a model of humanitarian aid that integrates spiritual resilience with tangible, practical care, serving as a critical pillar of support for a population that has lived in the uncertainty of displacement for generations.

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