Gronau, December 9, 2025. Many years ago, the Department of Urology at St. Antonius Hospital Gronau set itself the goal of sustainably improving urological care in a remote region of eastern Tanzania. As part of this long-term project, two physicians from St. Joseph’s Hospital in Peramiho recently visited Gronau. The hospital is one of three medical institutions that have been operated by the Missionary Benedictines for more than 100 years. The medical director of these hospitals is Missionary Benedictine Dr. Ansgar Stüfe, who himself served for many years as Chief Physician of Internal Medicine in Peramiho and accompanied the two visiting doctors during their stay in Gronau. The hospital in the Ruvuma region provides medical care for approximately 1.8 million people.
Tanzania is among the poorest countries in Africa. In many regions, there is a lack of medical equipment, trained staff, and basic infrastructure. Particularly in the field of urology, healthcare services are still very limited nationwide. Diseases are often detected only at a late stage, which makes treatment considerably more difficult.
“Alongside the treatment of patients, training our colleagues in Peramiho is essential. Only in this way can medical knowledge be preserved in the long term,” says Dr. Jörg Zinke, Head of the Department of Urology at St. Antonius Hospital Gronau. Since 2012, he has been committed to building and continuously developing sustainable urological care on site.
With support from Germany, a basic level of care has been established and steadily expanded over the past years. Since 2016, the German team – experts from Gronau as well as from the University Hospitals of Hamburg-Eppendorf and Herne – has focused particularly on advancing urethral surgery and endoscopic prostate therapy.
In addition to the training and continuing education of local physicians and nursing staff, the deployment of surgical doctors for specialist training in urology also plays an important role. The entire project relies on donations, which can be made tax-deductible through the Missionary Benedictines. An important partner in this initiative is the Rotary Club Gronau-Euregio, which has provided exceptional support for the project.
Cooperation always means exchange – and so, the senior surgeon Dr. Christopher Mfinanga and the urologist Dr. Titus Ndimbo visited, among other places, St. Antonius Hospital Gronau. In addition to a small cultural program, including visits to Bentheim Castle and the rock’n’popmuseum Gronau, the two senior physicians gained insights into state-of-the-art surgical techniques – including the use of laser technology and the da Vinci surgical robot. A special highlight for both was the professional instruction provided by Chief Physician Dr. Christian Wagner at the hospital’s robotic training center.
