Dr. Francis Rwebangila
Dr. Francis Rwebangila, MD, MMED was a seasoned and renowned Consultant Pediatrician and a Founding Managing Director of the Kigoma International Health Center. Dr. Francis Rwebangila was born in 1947 in Bukoba, Tanzania. In his career, he held various senior positions in the Tanzania’s Government Ministry of Health.
Throughout his life he was committed to public and community services, especially in helping the vulnerable and underserved communities, women, children and refugees. He was not only instrumental and a brainchild behind the idea that led to the construction state-of-the-art hospital, but also donated the land where the facility is built.
We honor his great legacy of selfless service for over four decades, the founding members and the board of directors at BUTAMED unanimously decided to name the Facility: DR. RWEBANGILA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, also known as RMC.
He will be remembered as a very humble man full of love for family and community at large. He was intensely visionary, intelligent and the hard working and a man of impeccable integrity and ethical man but simple enough keep the genuine sense of humor. Dr. Rwebangila died in 2022.
In his career life time he authored several scientific presentations especially those related to his area on interest and passion: Pediatrics and Primary Health Care for women and children.
Dr. Francis Rwebangila accomplishments:
Meet Our Founders
Bukoba-Tanzania Medical Initiatives Foundation (BUTAMED) was founded by Dr. Jessica and Smart Baitani as a continuation of their relentless efforts to address abject poverty in their home region of Bukoba on the Northwestern part of Tanzania.
Smart and Jessica’s humble early life embodies that of the people of their home villages. People of Bukoba are among the poorest in the country. This means the medical treatment charges and fees for local members are beyond their reach. To meet these challenges Smart and Jessica founded BUTAMED Foundation with the purpose of raising awareness, mobilizing resources and forging lasting partnerships with individuals, churches, hospitals, etc to support the people of Bukoba and Tanzania in general. BUTAMED is a parent organization supporting RMH – Dr. Rwebangila Memorial Hospital.
Smart Baitani, who raised his seven siblings after being orphaned at the age of 17, has captivating life. The fact that Smart was able to leave his home country, Tanzania, arrive in the USA with only eight dollars and still manages to finish his MBA is a minor miracle in itself.
Following his graduation, Smart worked in the US banking industry for seven years, but he eventually decided to sacrifice his comfortable western life and well-paying income and returned to his home country, Tanzania. Equipped by his knowledge of the business world and strong sense of community values, insatiable compassion for his undeveloped rural communities in he launched innovative community programs in his home country through COSAD.
Jessica’s story and moral conviction is as powerful as that of Smart. Despite vast and lucrative job opportunities in the United States that continue to be presented to her, she is resolute in her plans to ultimately return to Tanzania to lead and ensure the vision and programs put forth by BUTAMED are not only thrive but also sustainable. She is passionately focusing on health issues through RMH and the rural based-Community Health Awareness Initiatives (CHAI). Jessica feels fortunate that, unlike many girls who did not have opportunities; she had a father, a pediatrician working in the remote areas of Tanzania, who inspired her as a proponent of education for girls.
Growing up in an area that has seen the worst of poverty and endemic diseases that continue to shatter the dreams of most of Africa’s younger generation, Jessica and Smart managed to thrive despite colossal challenges. Now they want to serve as a bridge that connects people’s passions, dreams and creativity to resources that support the transformation of their values into reality. Their success embodies the truth that the people of Tanzania have an inherent ability to become stronger and more productive citizens once the obstacles in their paths are removed.
