Jana Schiemenz
Mission Country: Tanzania
Hometown: Bad Homburg, Germany
Languages: I speak my native language German and Swahili, the national language in Tanzania.
Travel: I lived and worked in Tanzania for about 15 years. I’ve also traveled to other African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. South Africa I got to know during a three-month internship while I was a student.
In Europe, I’ve traveled to various countries, including Poland, France, Greece, and Ukraine, where I have a good friend.
Originally from Chemnitz, Germany, Jana Schiemenz brings more than 15 years of deep-rooted experience accompanying children, youth, and adults with disabilities—most of them spent living and working in Tanzania. Trained as both a pediatric nurse and a specialist in special education and rehabilitation, she has served in hospitals, early-intervention centers, children’s homes, and vocational training programs across Germany and East Africa. Jana helped establish the Tunaweza Centre for Youths with Disabilities in Mwanza, where she later returned as an advisor, supporting curriculum development, staff formation, and outreach to families.
Her years of volunteer service through Catholic parishes in Mwanza have shaped her spiritually and personally, especially her work with women’s sewing cooperatives and with people living with mental health challenges at facilities in Bukumbi and Igoma. Fluent in German and Swahili, she values simple living, mutual support, and the deep relationships that form when communities work together for dignity and inclusion.
Jana describes herself as loyal and curious. Drawn to Maryknoll Lay Missioners for its commitment to solidarity, mutuality, and nonviolence, she hopes to continue accompanying marginalized communities while learning from the wisdom and resilience of her local partners in mission.
Nonviolence Focus:
I hope to inspire others to practice nonviolence through my efforts to cultivate an attitude of open listening, good self-care, and continued learning to recognize and regulate my own emotions.
Ministry Context:
Most of the students at the Marianist Technical Institute come from poor families barely able to afford school fees; for many, their education is subsidized The potential to have a family member capable of earning a sustainable income (as slight as it may be) is a hope of these students and families. The young men and women, range in age from 18 to their late 20s. Some are day students, and others are residents — about 50/50 from a group of 150 students. Students are Catholic, Christian, and Muslim, coming from a radius of 50 kilometers around Ukunda.
Prisons are institutions which remove and isolate offenders from the rest of society. Any visit from the outside is welcome because it gives the inmate hope that he or she hasn’t been forgotten. Turning the visit into an interactive work session helps develop the possibility of change and improvement.
Current Ministry:
What motivated you to become a Maryknoll Lay Missioner?
Since a was an adolescent, I felt a strong commitment to being involved in services for others in need. Love, solidarity, compassion and social justice are important values in my life. When I look back in my history, I can see that these values are rooted in my early experiences in our Lutheran church community in the village where I grew up in Eastern Germany. Christian teaching, children’s choir, church services and festivals were an important part of my childhood socialization.
Later in our youth group I experienced friendship and a supportive and inspiring community, where I could share my beliefs, hopes and doubts. Beyond our exchange of faith questions, we also endeavored to live our faith practically by visiting elderly and sick people, supporting each other and contributing to fill our church activities with life. For several years, it was important to me to help out at the mission at the central station in our nearest city Chemnitz on Christmas Eve and to be close to homeless and socially excluded people on this feast day.
In 2016, I began working under the Catholic Church in Mwanza and learning more about the Catholic faith tradition, while serving in community projects.
On my personal spiritual journey, the life and message of Jesus Christ has touched and inspired me again and again. The way in which Jesus Christ respected the dignity and equality of all people and stood on the side of the poor and disadvantaged has become an important orientation for me, how I want to shape my life and how I want to relate to others.
Of MKLM’s 5 Core Values, please choose one and share an example of living it out.
Simple living: In order to be able to live out solidarity with disadvantaged groups in a credible and authentic way, a simple lifestyle seems to be essential to me. For me it means giving up luxury and status symbols without neglecting one’s own basic needs such as security, healthy nutrition and healthcare.
Throughout all my years in Tanzania, I lived simply and contentedly. Most of the time I shared a house with other volunteers and development workers.
Over a period of four years, I shared my home with people with disabilities for whom there was no adequate care available. It was a special and intensive experience that I could not live like that permanently, but I wouldn’t want to miss it in my life either.
What personal gifts or strengths do you bring to mission?
I enjoy being creative and I often feel enthusiastic about starting something new and giving my energy and time in work that seems valuable for society. I believe I have empathy and willingness to support others. I am reliable and caring and want to bring these qualities to my mission work.
How do you define “mission” in your own words?
For me, “mission” is the lived message of Jesus Christ of charity, forgiveness, social justice and peacefulness.
What role does accompaniment play in your approach to mission?
I want to accompany people on their developmental journey with my skills, but at the same time, I also need guidance and support on my own path. I therefore view mission as a process of mutual giving and taking.
hobbies:
hiking, gardening, sewing, reading good books, yoga
