It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of our friend and colleague, Abdallah Nguyu. Below, Geoff O'Donoghue, Trustee of RLT pays tribute to Abdallah.

I first met Abdallah more than 30 years ago when my wife, Jenny and I were new arrivals in Kindwitwi and Abdallah was a new employee of the Leprosy Care Centre in his early twenties. He was, as he proved all his life, a quiet, observant and warm-hearted man. Abdallah didn’t often speak in meetings but when he did his input was insightful and essential listening. I got used to the fact that an informal chat with Abdallah about any issue in the village would always be informative and a sure source of wisdom about what was happening, what might be needed and what was realistic to be done.

As the child of leprosy patients, Abdallah was one of the early cohort from Kindwitwi to be sponsored by RLT through Secondary education in nearby Utete. He also led the way as one of the first residents of Kindwitwi to be employed by the Care Centre – a strategy that the Care Centre and the Trust pursued across the life of the project until, eventually, the whole staff group was drawn from residents of the village. Starting as the Admin Officer under Burchard Rwamtoga (the then Head of Finance and Admin and subsequent Centre Manager) Abdallah learned to manage all aspects of the Care Centre, eventually becoming Centre Manager himself.

Alongside his work in the Care Centre Abdallah, like everyone else, had a farm plot and kept chickens to support his family. His entrepreneurial spirit was reflected in his early adoption of sesame as a cash crop in collaboration with Burchard. A deep-seated culture of fatalism – nurtured by the stigmatizing cultural and historical experience of leprosy – combined with an aversion to standing out for fear of attracting the curses of others had served to stifle development across the village. By leading the way in challenging these norms Abdallah was catalytic in enabling others to do the same. A brave man in the context of a strong tradition of witchcraft targeted at those who broke the norms.

Abdallah died at the early age of 55 from a combination of diabetes and a long-standing heart condition. He left two wives and families behind in the village and a whole community that will miss his unique presence. He was a quiet, generous man with a big heart. I was glad to have worked alongside him over the years and to have counted him as a friend.

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Abdallah Nguyu, a long term friend and colleague of The Rufiji Leprosy Trust. IN the letter that follows, Burchard Rwamtoga pays tribute to his life and work in service of the people of Kindwitwi.

Tribute from Burchard Rwamtoga

It is really painful to write about the loss of Abdallah Nguyu, a person I worked with for 14 years at a former leprosy Colony based at Kindwitwi Village, Utete, Rufiji District, Tanzania. Abdallah passed away on Saturday the 25th May, 2024 at Kindwitwi village due to heart attack and diabetes. According with his Muslim faith, his body was buried at the village on the same day.

Abdallah was born at Kindwitwi to leprosy affected parents. He and his elder brother, whom I happened to know, were not affected by leprosy though they were born from leprosy affected parents and lived in the highly leprosy affected community.

I was employed as an Administrator at Kindwitwi village in 1989 to look after the funds donated by the Rufiji Leprosy Trust and other donors for the social and economic rehabilitation program for over 600 leprosy affected persons living at the village. On my arrival, I met Abdallah who by then had completed standard seven and Fr Robin Lamburn, who was the head of the leprosy village, had engaged him as his assistant in the provision of social services to the needy.

Abdallah was a bright young boy who was always providing a helping hand on my duties. I recall one day during our normal discussions he informed me of his intention to upgrade his education level by attending an evening program to attain a secondary school education. I informed Rufiji Leprosy Trust where the Trustees agreed to engage him along with other village youths in the education program for the children of the leprosy affected families. Abdallah completed his 4 years education, passed the National Examination and was awarded an Ordinary Secondary School Education certificate. To equip him with more knowledge on the provision of social services to leprosy affected families, Rufiji Leprosy Trust agreed to sponsor him to attend a one-year certificate course in Social Work at the Institute of Social work in Dar es salaam – by then the capital of Tanzania.

On his return, Abdallah resumed the role of the village social worker. He put all his knowledge in doing several tasks that included, organizing the sponsorship program for the children from the leprosy affected parents to attend kindergarten, primary, secondary and college education. He was also involved in supervising the villager’s agricultural program, the provision of social services such as the distribution of seeds, food, and other items to the needy. Until 2003, the year I left Kindwitwi to take on another job at German Leprosy and TB Relief Association in Dar es Salaam, with the close assistance from Abdallah more than 300 leprosy affected persons were already integrated in the community either by joining their families (mainly children) within the village or outside the village or building their own houses on the land provided by the village government. Also, Abdallah participated fully and did a lot in transforming the leprosy village to a Care Centre and Community Development Association and then to the Foundation of Rapid Response to TB and Leprosy. After I left, Abdallah took over the position of Manager until a year before his death.

The good thing I know about Abdallah, being himself a Kindwitwi village born person, he never joked with his work. He was always at the fore front to make sure that his fellow villagers including the youths and elders were always tirelessly struggling to become self-sufficient in food production instead of depending on handouts.

Abdallah was a man with principles. He raised his children and personally assisted them to attend formal education up to the University level. By the time he met his death, one of his sons was already graduated as a secondary school teacher and a daughter as a medical personnel. I am optimistic that his children who live in Kindwitwi will continue the spirit of their father by keeping a helping hand to the needy and also, by providing good advice to the village youths on their education / career development.

Dear Abdallah, even though I personally, all villagers at Kindwitwi village and everybody who knows you we are all saddened by losing you we pray to our Almighty God to keep your soul in Eternal Peace. Amen

Abdallah was a well-respected friend and colleague. He made a significant contribution to the community, acting as a crucial link between the village and the board in the UK. He will be sorely missed.

Mzee Nguogani was a pivotal figure in the life of Kindwitwi over the past 60 years. Quarantined in the village before any of the modern support and treatments arrived, he experienced some of the worst of what it meant to live with leprosy. When Fr Robin first arrived in Kindwitwi and began simple testing and treatment for malaria and other diseases and offering pastoral and basic material care, it was Nguogani, a leader even then, who demanded of Robin, ‘Why are you doing this, don’t you know we are already dead?’  As Robin persevered and gifts of support slowly increased, things began to change. Patients, cured under the National Multi-Drug Therapy programme, were helped to cope with the disabilities they had developed and to provide some of the basics for their families.

Following the establishment of the Rufiji Leprosy Trust, support began to arrive in earnest and the task of supporting the basic government programme of education, case finding and treatment across the whole Rufiji District was set in motion. Nguogani, now Chair of the village community and working in collaboration with Fr Robin, became a critical player in the case finding process. As the outreach programme got underway it became clear that local people needed someone they trusted to become a bridge between themselves and the Ministry of Health’s TB and Leprosy programme.

Nguogani was a skilled communicator and an engaging leader and was recruited to travel ahead of the outreach team on a motorbike, speaking to village heads as one Village Chair to another to another. He would demonstrate to them how he had been cured and what was possible for other patients who came forward. Talking with schools, village gatherings, families and individuals, Nguogani encouraged people with leprosy to present for treatment and care. Following Nguogani’s visits, the rest of the outreach team would arrive with their package of awareness raising, community mobilisation, and patient and family education materials.

In 1992 Nguogani stepped down from his role as Village Chair following his election as Chair of the Kindwitwi branch of the CCM – Tanzania’s ruling party. This was a critical step along the road of Kindwitwi’s transition from Leprosy Camp to being a regular Tanzanian village, fully integrated into the civic, social and economic life of the District.

This year, Nguogani, having reached his nineties, died following a terminal cancer. He was supported to the end by his strong and dedicated family, and the whole Kindwitwi community. Nguogani, like Fr Robin, was a doorway to a life of dignity and wellbeing for so many people – helping them to become understood and cared for by their own communities.