Jana Schiemenz
Mission Country: Tanzania
hometown: Bad Homburg, Germany
faith community: I have some connection with the Remonstranten Kelsterbach and with the church community in my home village Dittersdorf (Lutheran church) through personal relationships, but I am not a member any more.
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.
Education:
From 1996 to 1999, she completed an apprenticeship in pediatric nursing at the University Hospital Carl-Gustav-Carus in Dresden, Germany, earning certification as a pediatric nurse. From 2000 to 2006, she studied Special Education and Rehabilitation (Heilpädagogik) at the University of Applied Sciences in Magdeburg/Stendal, Germany, completing internships at the Ithemba Special Care Centre for children with physical and mental disabilities in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; the Early Intervention Centre for children with developmental delays in Dresden, Germany; and the HOMERC and HURUMA schools for children with disabilities in Mwanza, Tanzania. She graduated with a German University Diploma in Special Education and Rehabilitation, equivalent to a bachelor’s degree. In 2004, she also received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to pursue a semester of study at the Faculty of Education at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
work:
From 1999 to 2000, she worked as a pediatric nurse in the intensive care ward for children and premature babies at the University Hospital Carl-Gustav-Carus in Dresden, Germany, with responsibilities including patient care, observation, implementation of medical instructions, and documentation. From 2006 to 2008, she was employed as a preschool teacher at a nursery school in Kelsterbach, Germany, focusing on language training for children with migration backgrounds or developmental delays, as well as counseling parents and engaging in intercultural work with families. Between 2006 and 2007, she also worked at the Christophorus Nursery School in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, with a focus on integrating children with disabilities. From 2008 to 2009, she served as a special needs teacher at the Starehe Children’s Home and Nursery School in Mwanza, Tanzania, supporting children with special needs, providing in-home care for disabled children, and training caregivers. In 2010, she co-founded and directed the Tunaweza Centre for Youths with Disabilities in Mwanza, where she was responsible for concept development, fundraising, team building, and establishing the center’s programs. In 2011, she worked as a social worker at the Schwieder children’s home in Frankenberg, Germany, supporting unaccompanied minor refugees in language learning, cultural adaptation, and life skills development. From 2011 to 2013, she returned to Mwanza to serve as an advisor for the vocational training center at Tunaweza, employed by the German support association Tunaweza e.V., where she guided financial planning, public relations, curriculum development, staff training, and family counseling. From 2013 to 2016, she worked at the Dorf Seewalde home for adults with disabilities in Germany, providing personal care, support in daily activities, medication administration, documentation, development reports, and family collaboration in an anthroposophical setting.
volunteer:
From 2016 to 2022, she volunteered at St. Francis Xavier Nyakahoja Parish in Mwanza, Tanzania, where she supported the Lubango Center for Youths and Women in Nyashana outstation. Her responsibilities included helping to establish a sewing project, training women in product design, quality management, marketing, and financial management. During this time, she also volunteered at a government mental health facility in Bukumbi, focusing on building positive relationships with residents, supporting their personal and spiritual needs, assisting staff in improving living conditions, hygiene, and access to hospital services, as well as engaging in public relations and raising awareness about mental health issues in society. From 2023 to 2024, she continued her volunteer work at St. Josephina Bakhita Parish in Igoma, Mwanza, with TUPO, a project for people with mental health challenges founded by the parish and the Tanzanian NGO Amka Twende Pamoja. Her role included advising project managers, cooperating in daily activities, and helping to establish a handicraft program tailored to rehabilitation and client needs. She also continued her involvement at the Bukumbi mental health facility, working closely with volunteers from Amka Twende Pamoja.
hobbies:
hiking, gardening, sewing, reading good books, yoga
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.
