Information for Visitors to Kindwitwi
Kindwitwi Village, once a 'leper colony', is situated 120 miles south of Dar es Salaam on the south bank of the Rufiji River. It is easily possible for you to visit Kindwitwi when you come to Tanzania. Indeed, Kindwitwi welcomes visitors, and the stream of people visiting over the last 35 years has helped to demonstrate that leprosy is not something to be feared; it cannot be transmitted by patients who are undergoing treatment or those that have been cured.
Contact: Abdallah Nguyu, Centre Manager: nguyua@gmail.com to arrange your visit. Further contact details at the end of this page.
Accommodation:
In 1995, the Board of Management built a Guest House, which was named 'The Canon Lamburn Memorial Rest House'.
Facilities comprise:
- Two bedrooms, each with bunk-beds and mosquito nets for each bed.
- Spacious lounge with insect-screening.
- Extensive outside veranda.
- Large, pleasant camping place.
- Outside latrine of the long-drop kind.
- Hurricane lamps and some solar panel lighting, no power points
- Drinking water is brought up from a nearby hot spring (tastes salty) or bottled water is sold by village shops - there is no running water.
- Buckets of water for washing are obtained from the rain-water tanks, the lake or hot springs.
- A good view of the lake from the garden, but swimming in the lake is not recommended because of the crocodiles.
- Night watchman.
The Lamburn Guest House:
Rates:
All rates are subject to review by the Board of Directors without prior notice; however, please note that these charges are nominal and barely meet the running cost so that any contribution / donation in cash or kind will be most welcome.
Accommodation per night: Tz sh 6,000/- .
Camping fee: Tz sh 6,000/- per person.
Meals can be provided (staple diet of rice, beans, bananas, occasional fish or chicken): Breakfast Tz sh 2,500/-; Lunch/Dinner Tz sh Tz sh 3,000/-.
Clothes can be washed at a small fee of Shs 1,000/-.
- Bookings must be made in advance to the Project Administrator, Abdallah Nguyu, see Contacts in Tanzania on the last page.
Please bring with you:
- Torch - all sizes of battery available at the village shops.
- Socks and long-sleeved shirts for evening protection from mosquitoes.
- Mosquito repellent: oil, spray, cream. Check on malaria prophylaxis with your doctor.
- Short-wave radio if you want to listen to the BBC World Service.
- Clothes - shorts not always culturally acceptable, especially for women.
- Gifts for the children of the Day Care Centre: pencils, toys or clothes.
- NB All visitors will benefit from learning some Swahili in advance. Very few people speak English.
Arrival in Dar es Salaam:
Changing money: there is a 24-hour bank / bureau de change at the Airport, but you will find a better rate in the town centre. You cannot change money in the Rufiji area.
Places to stay in Dar: Salvation Army Hostel, Kilwa Road, is cheap and good; YMCA / YWCA near the new Post Office is an alternative; consult guide book.
Taxi from the Airport to town should cost about Shs 7,500/-.
Transport to Kindwitwi:
- On the day before travel, arrange for a taxi to take you from where you are staying to the Bus Station (in the Temeke area) - always remember to watch your baggage. The first bus to Utete leaves from the bus stand called ‘Sudan’; then goes to Mbagala by 06.30. You should arrive at the stand by 30 mins earlier. A second bus leaves Mbagala at 08.00. The cost is about Tz sh 6,000/- and the journey takes about five hours. Ask the bus conductor to drop you at Kindwitwi Village, 4 km before Utete.
- The Kindwitwi Project car is often in Dar es Salaam and it may be possible for you to be met at the airport and even be given a lift all the way to Kindwitwi - enquire in advance from Abdallah Nguyu.
Tanzanian Information:
Seasons:
June - October: dry and cool
November - May: rainy and hot (January: fairly dry)
Time:
Three hours ahead of GMT.
Visas:
Ask the Tanzanian Embassy in your own country.
Medical students on elective ...
are welcome at both the District Hospital and Kindwitwi Dispensary (write to the District Medical Officer, P O Box 22, Utete, Rufiji, Tanzania or email rufijidmo2@yahoo.com). Arrangements are made by Mr Nguyu, the Administrator in Kindwitwi, see below. In both cases, a reasonable time commitment should be made, eg a minimum of six weeks, and basic Swahili learned in advance. If working at the District Hospital in Utete and living in Kindwitwi, sometimes you will need to walk 8 km a day (4 km there and back), as the Project vehicle can be away for five days at a time.
Contacts in Tanzania:
- Letters and parcel by post: Mr Abdallah Nguyu, Kindwitwi Centre Manager, c/o P O Box 948, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This post is collected by Kindwitwi Staff when in Dar es Salaam
- Mobile phone +255 (0)784 798529 The best way to contact Mr Nguyu is to send a text or SMS message on his mobile phone. Email: nguyua@gmail.com.
Contacts in UK:
Rufiji Leprosy Trust Administrative Secretary
Val Mead
17 Harbutts
Bathampton
Bath
Somerset
BA2 6TA
Tel: +44 (0)1225 445180
Email: Val.Mead@RufijiLeprosyTrust.org
Written in Kindwitwi, revised in July 2009