CV NEWS FEED // Human Life International (HLI) is addressing the plummeting birth rate and abortion crisis in Tanzania by providing educational and spiritual formation to priests, seminarians, and lay people in the country.
Though abortion is not legal in Tanzania, an HLI press release explains, the country’s abortion rate is two and a half times that of the United States. Tanzania is among the 25 countries with the highest abortion rates in the world.
HLI President Father Shehan Boquet said, “What we are facing is not an economic or a social problem. What we are facing is a heart problem, a spiritual problem.”
Tanzania is also a mostly Christian country, “where more than half of the almost 70 million populace practices Christianity, more than a third as Catholics.” Many communities in Tanzania “have been targeted by abortion-promoting organizations from the West,” HLI explains.
HLI addresses this by training priests and seminarians in pro-life issues, who go on to lead the pro-life cause in their own communities. One of the priests who trained with HLI, “Rt. Rev. Bishop Christopher Ndizeye… became Chaplain for the Seminarians for Life Chapter at Kipalala Major Seminary and now actively promotes a pro-life worldview as a Bishop in the Diocese of Kahama.”
HLI also provides formation for students and teachers. It instructs people about fetal development and the importance of chastity. Emil Hagamu, HLI’s regional director of English-speaking Africa, recently visited a high school in Tanzania and spoke with 350 students about chastity and human sexuality. Hagamu showed them a video of a baby growing in the womb.
“The assembly ended with the youth pledging to live chastely and honor the sanctity of human life,” HLI reports.
In addition to training at schools, HLI teaches couples how to practice natural family planning to combat the West’s pressure to use contraception and abortion, which are contrary to the African country’s traditional practices.
“Close to 25,000 Tanzanian couples have adopted this life affirming practice since Human Life International Tanzania began its Natural Family Awareness program in 2019,” HLI reports.
Finally, the HLI is most focused on “saving preborn babies from abortion.” The organization’s “daily work with schools, churches, individuals, and families, concentrates on fostering a culture that helps mothers and families choose life for their children.”
Father Boquet, who attended the HLI’s Tanzania’s 30th anniversary celebration, said the gathering “was a tribute to the people who had a vision to advance the Culture of Life and to those who, following their example, have created a life- and soul-saving movement across Tanzania and all English-speaking Africa.”
He pointed out that Hagamu was a leader of the efforts in Tanzania.
“Many participants in the celebration called Emil ‘Baba,’ which means ‘father’ in Swahili, bestowing upon him the title, ‘father of the pro-life and family movement,’ in Tanzania and in many other English-speaking African countries – a title he rightly deserves,” Father Boquet remarked.
