FRONT VIRGINIA (Human Life International) — For three decades, Emil Hagamu has worked to uphold the common values of faith and family among Tanzania’s almost 70 million people. As regional director of English-Speaking Africa at Human Life International, Hagamu has led the global pro-life Catholic ministry’s activity in 19 of the 26 regions of this East African nation where 30 different ethnic groups live peaceably alongside one another.
Human Life International Tanzania works with schools, churches, individuals, and families to foster a culture of life. Hagamu oversees the organization’s training of priests, seminarians, nurses, midwives, educators, and laypeople. These programs instill in them an understanding of what God’s Word and the Catholic Church teach about life and family and equip them to take this message into their communities.
Hagamu began this ministry under the name Pro-Life Tanzania in July 1994. Quickly being drawn under the umbrella of the United States-based organization Human Life International, Pro-Life Tanzania began countering and repairing the damage being done to families by community abortion and contraception facilities. These centers, operated by Marie Stopes (now known as MSI Reproductive Choices) and UMATI, the International Planned Parenthood Federation affiliate in Tanzania, were negatively influencing communities.
Tanzania, along with the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, is a frequent target of population control efforts, something that Human Life International reports as damaging to the traditional African love and respect for family.
Hagamu has many stories of families ravaged by the culture of death that promotes abortion and contraception as “the answer” to poverty. He related how throughout Africa, children are very much welcomed.
“When these anti-life groups come in, they push contraception as an answer to poverty,” stated Hagamu, “but in reality, all they do is make large poor families into small poor families.”
Hagamu shared the story of Ladislaus and Georgina.
“This young couple was so happy in their first few years of marriage,” Hagamu related. “But after they had their second child, a population control clinic in Tanzania told them that two children were plenty, and that they would be richer and healthier with a small family, and that if they had more children, they couldn’t provide well for the offspring they already had.”
The clinic talked Georgina into having an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted for birth control, a move which turned out to be a disaster for Georgina’s health and the couple’s marriage. She suffered from mood swings, excessive anger, and terrible pains in her core and legs. The IUD caused an infection, which continued untreated for six years. After spending much of their money on doctors who offered treatments that didn’t help, the couple turned Human Life International Tanzania for assistance.
Emilia Lisakafu, supervisor of Human Life International’s education center in Chanika, located in the southern sector of the Dar es Salaam region, met with Ladislaus and Georgina. Learning about God’s plan for marriage, they gained an understanding of the value of life and desired to bless their marriage with another child. After Georgina’s IUD was removed, Lisakafu worked with her to treat the infection and overcome the damage done by years of having a contraceptive device embedded in her uterus.
After a few months, Lisakafu was able to report that Georgina’s body had healed, the couple’s marriage had recovered, and the family was joyfully expecting another baby.
According to Hagamu, anyone who claims that abortion is “widely accepted” in African culture, as he says many so-called “progressive” groups are wont to do, is completely disingenuous. A student of languages, sociology, and African culture, Hagamu reports that there is no word or phrase in the African languages that would correspond to the English word “abortion.”
“You would think something that outsiders claim is so ‘widely accepted’ in our culture would be named,” said Hagamu.
As a boy who grew up in rural Tanzania and headed to university as a young man, Hagamu’s heart is close to those who educate the next generation. He tells of a visit to Canossa High School in Dar es Salaam.
He shared a Catholic message about life and family that began with a video showing a baby’s growth in the womb. In developing countries like Tanzania, Hagamu explained, images of fetal development are not as readily accessible as they are in the tech-saturated west. He recalled how the teachers’ faces were filled with awe as they saw the miracle of life unfold before them.
Hagamu and the school staff talked about why human life is precious from beginning to end, and they discussed what a fruitful marriage would look like. Some were dealing with marital conflict due to contraception, experiencing its negative physical and emotional effects. Hagamu introduced them to the concept of being privileged by God to play an integral part in the unique miracle of bringing human life into the world.
Later, Hagamu addressed the school’s 350 middle school students about chastity and God’s plan for human sexuality. They viewed the same video as their teachers, of a baby growing in its mother’s womb. The assembly ended with the youth pledging to live chastely and honor the sanctity of human life.
It started as a dedicated, but underfunded, mission struggling to confront what Hagamu called “the giant anti-life organizations” operating in his native country. Human Life International Tanzania now operates more than 60 pro-life education centers out of its Dar es Salaam headquarters. Hagamu and his team of counselors serve more than 1,200 Tanzanians each month.
Hagamu has authored education books on life issues in Swahili and English, hosts radio programs on Catholic, other Christian, and secular radio. He initiated the Parliamentarians Pro-Life Coalition, advocating for life and rejecting any attempts to legalize abortion, and founded Journalists for Life, drawing together life advocates working in the region’s media.
As Human Life International Tanzania marks its thirtieth year, in addition to training clerics, health professionals, educators, and laity, the ministry has worked to strengthen the pro-life community in English-speaking Africa throughout Burundi, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Human Life International Tanzania continues to be a force in influencing the government, and Hagamu led the campaign that culminated in the October 2022 rejection of the East African Community Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill 2021.
The thirtieth anniversary of Human Life International Tanzania brings leaders from throughout English-speaking Africa together to prepare to resist pressure from anti-life organizations including the European Union, United Nations, and International Planned Parenthood Federation. Hagamu explained that the current major threat to these life-affirming African nations is the EU-OACP/Samoa Agreement. This framework for European Union relations with African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries will force 79 nations to abide by disagreeable laws on “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” Comprehensive Sex Education, and homosexual “marriage.” On the occasion of this anniversary gathering, held July 8 through 15, 2024, in Dar Ee Salaam, Tanzania, Human Life International will equip pro-life, church, and political leaders with tools to defend their pro-life, pro-family culture.
About Human Life International
Human Life International is the only U.S.-based authority on global life issues, including abortion, contraception, and end-of-life concerns. Human Life International is engaged in providing aid, training, and advocacy around the world and is the largest global pro-life and family organization, active in more than 100 countries on six continents. Human Life International provides resources and education on life issues from a Catholic perspective, while providing assistance around the globe, and prepares those training for and those active in ministry to address these matters in their vocation. For more information, visit hli.org.