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This year Alex De Waal and his father Victor have relinquished their trustee roles. They continue to support the Trust, Alex via his Role of President and Victor as a Patron of Rufiji Leprosy Trust, alongside Baroness Sheila Hollins.   Our very long-term supporters will remember that Alex and Victor […]

News from the Trustees

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As well as working with RLT, FRRTL works with local government departments who have recently funded a variety of projects, including an iron grid to prevent crocodile injuries when villagers collect water from the river, renovations and staff accommodation for Kindwitwi Dispensary and the building of a new primary school […]

Recent projects

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Our partner organization, FRRTL (Foundation for the Rapid Relief of TB and Leprosy), recently met in the village. They reviewed the progress of various renovation and education projects and planned what measures could be taken to address the increase in the numbers of leprosy cases in the villages of Tawi, […]

News from the Village

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Cataloguing the Rufiji Leprosy Trust archive continues. This is Issue 130 of our Newsletter. Our very first Newsletter was sent out in November 1989 and was written by Robin Pim and Teresa Sutton who were the volunteers in Kindwitwi at the time. That year, as a result of the innovative […]

Our very first Newsletter

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The signs of leprosy include: enlarged nerves at the elbow, due to inflammation pale, numb patches of skin skin nodules ulcers on the feet loss of feeling in the hands and feet On an outreach visit the team advise staff and villagers about the signs of leprosy and invite people […]

How is leprosy detected?

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In December Dr Nnally and his team visited Nambunju Village. 46 people were screened for leprosy and five of these were subsequently diagnosed with leprosy and commenced on treatment.Although leprosy is considered to be eradicated in some parts of Tanzania, a government press release in January noted that 1439 new […]

More new cases of leprosy found in the Rufiji area

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It’s been a busy year for FRRTL.  The team have enrolled sixteen elderly people in the village in the National Community Health Insurance Fund. This fund is a national initiative which aims to increase access to affordable health care. The team have also ensured that the five remaining beneficiaries on […]

How your donations helped in 2025

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  Since our last newsletter, we are pleased to report that the local building contractors have completed the renovation work on five FRRTL buildings. Each building also now has a new latrine and washroom. Our five beneficiaries are very happy with their much improved, newly renovated homes.

House renovations update

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            The long rainy season is over and work is progressing well with the renovation of five buildings and the building of five new pit latrines for the most vulnerable villagers affected by leprosy. It is hoped that the work can be completed before the […]

House Renovations further update

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Our Trustee Jenny Cosgrave is stepping down from the Board of Trustees after 15 years. Jenny has managed to join us at most of our meetings, either virtually or in person, despite being based in Mexico and, more recently, The Netherlands. She first visited Kindwitwi when she was the CAFOD […]

News from the Trustees – Jenny Cosgrave

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The World Health Organisation, WHO, has declared that it wants to have moved from ‘eradicating leprosy as a public health problem’ to ‘elimination of leprosy disease’. The aim is to have zero disease, zero stigma and zero disability by 2030. In 2023, 1454 new cases of Leprosy were detected in […]

Leprosy case finding trip

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The house renovation programme is going well. The Board of FRRTL, our beneficiary organization in Kindwitwi, met and appointed a local builder to commence work on the programme. One of our beneficiaries wished to remain living in a traditionally built house. He is pictured here at the start of the […]

House renovations in Kindwitwi

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Funding the education of young people who are the children and grandchildren of leprosy patients,or who are from very poor families, has been an important way that the Rufiji Leprosy Trust has sought to address some of the many barriers that people from Kindwitwi can often face.  As we know, […]

Education Sponsorship

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Children at Kindwitwi - October 2022
Between 6 and 15 October 2022, Geoff O’Donoghue (Co-Chair of RLT) and Jennifer Cosgrave (RLT Trustee) travelled to Kindwitwi to spend some long-overdue time with the team on the ground and re-connect with the community that your donations support. The impact of the pandemic has meant that the trustees have […]

Trustee visit to Kindwitwi – October 2022

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Your support means that the Rufiji Leprosy Trust can provide young people to access educational opportunities that they might not otherwise have. In our last newsletter we shared with you how RLT supports young people to go to University but did you know that for many years RLT has supported […]

Education in Kindwitwi

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This is the latest news from our colleagues in Kindwitwi, specifically Salum.  Salum’s main responsibilities are to make specially adapted shoes for people who have disabilities as a result of leprosy.  He was trained as a shoemaker using funds that you provided to RLT.  We are grateful that Salum collates […]

News from the village November 2020

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It is heartening to hear, despite the challenges of COVID, our outreach service has continued, and our teams are still able to help and support those who have contracted leprosy. Here’s what Salum, our talented shoemaker told us: It has been very challenging to carry out our usual outreach work […]

Outreach continues in COVID

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Salum, our talented shoemaker, recently sent us the following update on life in Tanzania generally: On the 28th October Presidential and Parliamentary elections will take place in Tanzania and the political atmosphere has been tense over the past weeks and months. The current President, Mr Magufuli is seeking re-election for […]

Situation in Tanzania

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In August, James Steel paid a visit to Kindwitwi. James is a colleague of one of the trustees of the Rufiji Leprosy Trust, Geoff O’Donoghue. He stayed at the Father Robin memorial rest house and spent four days getting to know Kindwitwi and the surrounding areas. Here James reflects on […]

What’s so special about Kindwitwi?

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This young lady, Acheni, has worked hard and has overcome many challenges as she works towards her dream of becoming an engineer. Acheni’s four grandparents came to the village many years ago when they found out they had leprosy; they were ostracised from society and had no hope and no aspirations. […]

Celebrating women in Kindwitwi – part 2

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International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. In Kindwitwi, there are many remarkable women who have overcome adversity in their lives – the stigma of leprosy has been one of them! Over 50 years ago, Mrs Nguyu arrived […]

Celebrating women in Kindwitwi – part 1

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