Steve and Bethany Friberg have been serving in Tanzania since 1993. Steve’s parents were missionaries to Tanzania and except for his U.S. based academic training as a pediatrician, he has lived his entire life in Tanzania. The Fribergs have three children: twin boys, Nyika and Zaka, and a daughter, Shalai. The boys attend boarding school in Kenya and Shalai is home-schooled by her mother in their home village of Ketumbeine.
Steve is the medical director for a number of clinics (dispensaries) in Northern Tanzania. Most of the clinics are in very remote, rural areas and these clinics serve the Maasai people. Bethany works with women in an income-generating beading project. Most of the women’s beadwork is sold in the U.S.
Nothing in medicine is more basic or important than clean drinking water and immunizations. Many Maasai have neither. The purpose of the clinics is to bring basic medical services to the Maasai people. For the past several years, Steve has been working to make the clinics more self-sufficient through staff training, improved infrastructure, and better management practices. The clinics focus heavily on maternal and child healthcare as well as HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
In the traditional Maasai culture, women and children are viewed as property. The message of Christianity has changed the perception of Maasai women as whole, contributing members of their communities. The forty Maasai women in Bethany’s beading project have each fallen on difficult times, many having been abandoned by their husbands. The project helps the women develop independence, self-esteem, and economic stability. This positively affects the women and their families. Additionally, the project (which operates as a cooperative) has become a powerful support group for the women and has elevated their status in the broader community.
We are truly blessed to have Steve and Bethany Friberg working as our missionaries in Tanzania. Please include them on your prayer list.
