Christian missions and healthcare in Basutoland

Abstract

The central aim of this study is to explore the history of St. Joseph’s Mission Hospital in Roma, Lesotho within the context of the larger role of Catholic Missions in the health care system of Lesotho during the colonial era. Thus, the thesis examines the origins, development, and operations of the hospital within the broader religious, political, and socio-economic context of the colonial period. This study joins broader historiography conversations on the role of the church, and missionaries in African societies, particularly scholarly points of view regarding circumstances that led to their involvement in the African health sector. When St. Joseph’s Hospital was established in 1937, it started as a small clinic but developed into a well-established hospital serving the Roma community and other neighboring communities as well. The study argues that the mission’s agenda, from its inception, was to use the hospital as a tool for converting Basotho to Catholicism. This thesis further argues that the hospital was established to fulfill the responsibilities of Holy Family Sisters and Oblates Fathers whose main goal was to offer health services as an inroad to converting patients to their Church. The study concluded that there were minimal political ambitions in the establishment and operations of the hospital during the period under review.