This small dispensary serves a population of around 13,000 mainly subsistence farmers living not far from Lake Tanzania in the extreme west of the country. The nearest town with a hospital is Namanyere which is 37 km away and the nearest large town, which is Sumbawanga is 72 km away. It was built by the Benedictine monks of the nearby Mvimwa Abbey, one of whose members is a doctor who trains local young men to run it. Despite its small size it has beds and a maternity ward where some 150 babies are delivered each year. Emphasis is given to health education and preventive medicine.