Peter Hildebrand Meienberg (27 November 1929 – 3 December 2021) was a Swiss Benedictine missionary who spent more than 50 years in East Africa working on refugee aid, prison reform, education, and other social determinants of health.
Upon graduation in the United States and return to Switzerland, Peter Meienberg was sent out to Tanganyika to work under the Mission Abbey of Peramiho, an outstation of 3,000 Christians.
[3] Here, Meienberg, as an assistant priest in Songea, performed religious instruction under various capacities, first teaching Catholic education at a nearby government high school as part of the Peramiho mission.
Through much production turmoil, this textbook was published by Oxford University Press in 1966 and was, at the time, the only official publication on Civics Education for secondary school students in Tanganyika.
Meienberg instructed women running the kindergarten to explain the basics of healthcare and provided minimal health services for malarial, fever, and antibiotic ailments.
Working as the administrator in 1986, Meienberg grew more involved with solving the social problems of the local community by paying for their rent, or providing a blanket.
"[6] Arriving in Goma, Meienberg witnessed the scale of massacre, disease, and prosecution in Rwanda, and celebrated a religious service (Eucharist) in the Kibumba camp.
[6] Meienberg shortly flew to Switzerland, and began a public media campaign to raise funds for Goma, collecting 70,000 CHF (Swiss Francs) in 10 days (Approximately US$71,000).
[8] In 1999, Meienberg left the monastery to establish Faraja Trust, a charity initially focused on helping "socially disadvantaged individuals and families ... to rebuild a sustainable livelihood.
Additionally, Faraja Foundation has done work in agricultural training for young apprentices and launched initiatives to build rainwater tanks for small scale farmers.
[3] This included the distribution of cloth for underwear and sanitary towels, the addition of radio and television, the creation of hatches and windows, the establishment of sports grounds, and the installation of sewing machines, counseling chambers and reading rooms.
As Faraja Trust began to concentrate on prison reform and Meienberg's work gained more traction, Meienberg was further ably to find advocates to defend convicts in court, give them credit loans to kickstart their new lives, establish officer training to handle clientele, and construct new computer labs, living spaces, and cooking spaces.