Village Mission Clinic
The Village Mission Clinic is a general family medicine practice in a large village, Ha'ateiho, in central Tongatapu, Tonga, with a branch in the capital, Nuku'alofa. It was established in 1984 by a New Zealand doctor, Glennis Mafi and her husband a Tongan, Manu Mafi.
It is associated with the Village Mission Pharmacy in Nuku'alofa (owned by the Village Mission Trust, Tonga) which was established in 2004
The clinic is a 'Mission' - i.e. it is not a profit-making business. All income is from patient fees; there are no government subsidies and only occasional donations from a variety of sources. Nor is any person or organization making any money out of it.
Government funded primary medical care in Tonga is free for Tongans but is of a low standard usually in under-resourced, over busy hospital out-patient clinics or peripheral clinics staffed by locally trained health officers.
The Village Mission Clinic aims to treat people fairly regardless of their social status, to listen to their story and assess them carefully, to give sound health advice and appropriate medication, and a careful explanation of the problem so that people are encouraged to take responsibility for their own health. One or two experienced, usually overseas trained general practitioners work with local staff to provide this high quality primary medical service, modeled on NZ general practice but adapted to local needs.
There is huge potential for other health services which are minimal or non-existant in Tonga, such as podiatry, physiotherapy, rehabilitation and occupational therapy, but volunteers and equipment are lacking.
New Zealand
The aim of the Village Mission Clinic is to provide high quality primary medical care for the people of Tonga at as low a cost as possible, and in a Christian setting i.e. We want to be aware of spiritual needs; to treat the whole person; and to do that from a Christian point of view where appropriate, though always respecting the patient's own philosophy of life.
No specific statement of faith, but the founders are associated closely with Tongan Wesleyan (Methodist), Presbyterian in N.Z., the interdenominational English speaking church in Tonga, and Scripture Union in the Pacific, and have also worked with other Christian organsiations such as Youth with a Mission and Salvation Army.
We try to source Christian volunteers, but have sometimes accepted non-Christian volunteers.
