AS today marks five years since the demise of Dr Rajni Kanabar, the founder of Regency Medical Centre is still in people’s minds.

Dr Kanabar is remembered for the way he helped 3,700 children and some adults to get free heart treatment in India.

Dr Kanabar, through the Tanzania Heart Babies Project, coordinated in collaboration with the Lions Club of Dar es Salaam (Host), worked tirelessly to find various donors to help underprivileged children get treatment in India.

Dr Kanabar, who died on June 25, 2019, in Dallam, USA, is remembered for his kindness and working tirelessly to help poor Tanzanian children with heart problems get free treatment in India.

One of the people who used to work close to Dr Kanabar, Ibrahim Hussein said at the end of the week that Tanzania and the whole world lost a kind and good man who gave his life for others.

"I will remember Dr Kanabar for his goodness and most of the time he told me that I should help the poor. Every time we met, he used to tell me that Hussein should not forget to help the poor because we are only passers-by in this world," he said.

"Dr Kanabar touched our lives throughout his lifetime and beyond with his service to the underprivileged and his kindness. A fine orator and fundraiser his legacy lives and his philanthropic work. He facilitated 3,700 plus congenital heart surgeries for Tanzanian children in India, to the 75,000+ subsidized /free haemodialysis session he organized at Regency Medical Center,” he said.

In 1979 Dr Rajni Kanabar introduced a project to send heart patients to India where more than 100 children were sent for free heart treatment every year.

Through the project known as 'Tanzania Heart Babies Project' most of the patients with heart valve problems were being sent to various hospitals in India including Narayana and Hyderabad.

Dr Kanabar, who was the coordinator of the project in collaboration with the Lions Club of Dar es Salaam (Host), was at the forefront of finding donors to contribute money to send the children with heart problems abroad for treatment.

Among the main sponsors of the project is the former Executive Chairman of IPP Companies, the late Dr Reginald Mengi who every year used to contribute money to send more than 50 patients to India.

 Dr Kanabar was born on November 9, 1940, in Mwanza and later studied medicine in India and Dublin Ireland, and then returned to the country where he established Regency Medical Center (RMC).

For more than three decades, Dr Kanabar has received various awards due to his contribution to serving the community, especially in the health sector.

 The 'Tanzania Heart Babies Project', which he introduced in 1979, has been a great help to thousands of Tanzanian children who have been sent to India for free treatment until 2015 when the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) was established.

 Dr Kanabar for several decades, Kanabar had been collaborating with hospitals abroad to send Tanzanian patients for treatment, even non-cardiac treatment at low costs.

 Due to his contribution to the health sector, the President of the fourth phase, Jakaya Kikweye, and the President of the third phase, Benjamin Mkapa once gave Dr Kanabar an award for excellence in the sector at different times.

 In 2010, Dr Kanabar was also awarded the highest honour of the President of India, Pratibha Patil called 'Pravasi Bhartiya Samman.

 Regency Hospital staff have remembered the founder by promising to continue the good things he did in his life serving as the RMC Chairman.

Speaking at the hospital yesterday, one of the expert doctors, Gertrude Senyingo said that she will not forget Dr Kanabar in the way he touched his personal life and the lives of many because people who were unable to get treatment he gave them a discount on up to 60 percent.

She said that due to his sense of humour and gentleness, he used to call him ‘Babu’ because he raised them as his grandchildren by guiding them gently even when they were wrong.

"He encouraged love a lot and even if you had personal family matters, he listened and solved them on the spot, there are few leaders whom you can wait at the main gate and tell your problem and solve it on the spot, ‘Babu’ was able to do that,"  she said.

Nurse Midwife at the hospital, Judith Mahandela said they remember Dr Kanabar for the way he lived with them without discrimination or favouritism and the way he cared for the interests of his employees.

She said through Dr Kanabar, the Heart Babies project he managed, many Tanzanian children with various heart problems had the opportunity to go to India for treatment for free and return with a smile.

"‘Babu’ had a lot of love for people and for many who were undergoing dialysis he gave them a 50 percent discount and some for free. He helped people who failed to pay for treatment and even us employees when you had a problem, he was very responsive," she said

Another nurse, Justina Kazoba said that he was personally accompanying heart patients to New Delhi, India, where they went to be treated for heart disease.

She said Dr Kanabar was not a racist and he raised all the employees of the hospital without classifying them and he cared about their benefit.

 "Indeed, we have lost a person who cared for his colleagues with all his heart, ‘Babu’ used to insist on loving and supporting each other, saying that we are only passing through this world and we will leave with nothing, we miss you ‘Babu’" she said.