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 […]
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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?
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
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
Salum, Acting Centre Manager, was born in Kindwitwi and has been associated with FRRTL and its predecessor organizations for over twenty years. Originally, he trained as a shoe maker and has attended several courses in prevention of disability. He is married with six children. He is now responsible for the […]
Meet Salum and Tatu, employees of FRRTL – our partner ...
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
Did you know you can raise funds for us at no extra cost to you when you shop on line? Give as You Live is a Fundraising Platform, if you start your shop from the Give as you Live Online website, then find the store you’d like to shop with, […]
Raise Funds for Rufiji Leprosy Trust when you shop online.
We are very lucky to have Mr. Uhuru Mplaza as chair of the Foundation for Rapid relief of TB and Leprosy (FRRTL), our partner organization in Tanzania. Uhuru has been chair of FRRTL for nearly three years now, but his association with Kindwitwi goes back much further than that as […]
Meet Uhuru Mplaza, Chair of FRRTL – our partner organization ...
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
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
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
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
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 […]
Sad news regarding Mzee Nguogani
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
Maintaining strong connections with the team in Kindwitwi is vital for the effective stewardship of the donations you make to RLT. It is also an important way of making sure that we, as a trust, understand the continued and evolving needs of the community in Kindwitwi when it comes to […]
Next trustee visit
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
The Kindwitwi Kindergarten has 61 children at the moment, 33 boys and 28 girls. All children that attend the Kindergarten are children from Kindwitwi Leprosy patients and their families. They go to Kindergarten from 2 years old, and then join Primary school when they are 6 or 7 years old. […]
Kindwitwi Kindergarten and Village News
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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
Last month, our co-chair Dr Sarah Feather presented at seminar hosted by the Britain Tanzania Society. Entitled ‘Leprosy in Rural Tanzania: Detection, Treatment and Overcoming the Stigma’, Dr Sarah Feather talked about leprosy and some of the issues faced at both a global and local level. “Although the burden of […]
A short summary of our recent presentation at the Britain ...
Jenny training for the New York marathon in Mexico On the 6th of November 2016, our trustee and newsletter editor Jenny Cosgrave will be running the New York Marathon – her first marathon – and we are delighted she has decided to use this opportunity to raise funds for us […]
Trustee runs her first marathon for Rufiji Leprosy trust
Last year, we funded a training course for health workers in the outlying districts to enable them to recognise and treat leprosy. However, our outreach work goes beyond this. When health workers go to villages where people who have had leprosy are living with their families, they also work […]
Outreach work – prevention of disability
People living with leprosy experience numbness and as a result, they need specially made footwear to protect their limbs from becoming damaged. Even so, many have severe disabilities as a result of late diagnosis and infection. Having the right footwear can help these people to walk – giving them greater […]
The importance of shoes
Today, Tuesday 22 March is World Water Day. Organised by UN Water, the day is part of a global mission to get safer water for all. World Water Day dates back to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development where an international observance for water was recommended. The United […]