Support for George Kazumbe's Family in Their Time of Loss

George Kazumbe has contributed a tremendous amount of scientific efforts geared towards understanding the natural resources in the African Great Lakes. For this reason, he was known and loved by many scientists, researchers, and trainees from all over the world reaching a near-celebrity status. We will forever miss George's limitless knowledge about Tanzanian fish, his impressive navigation and diving skills, his contagious smile, jokes and dancing steps, among many others. Although, George defied many odds in order to get involved in state-of-the art research in Lake Tanganyika, he generously helped in the training of multiple generations of researchers, including some of today's leading scientists in their fields, while always looking out for his family and loved ones.

George would have helped anyone when an emergency hit. I remember him taking a detour to help a group of fishers in trouble that had become dangerously stranded in open water. I also remember that George liked to attend church in Kigoma -if he could- and he was a pretty impressive open water chef. By working hard in the water, George loved making everyone happy. I will forever remember his joy bringing back the largest or most precious fish that he could catch. He always gave me the impression that everyone in East Africa and beyond knew of or had heard of his legendary catches over the years.

When I met George, he already was an experienced SCUBA diver and he also was so generous sharing all his expertise with me as a novice and as with other people he helped, I partly owe to him my life successes. His boating, diving, and fishing skills paired with an extensive knowledge of Lake Tanganyica and Lake Victoria's most celebrated cichlid fishes make him an irreplaceable loss for the entire scientific community. George Kazumbe was pionneer in many ways, and most recent years had founded the Kigoma Diving & Snorkling Center in the Tanzanian shore of Lake Tanganyica. He is survived by many loved ones, including MSafiri George Kazumbe who acts as the General Manager and has followed the steps of his father. Please consider donating and like this we can together help alleviate the immediate pain his most loved ones feel in this difficult time.

My name is Jimena Golcher-Benavides, I have created this fundraising campaign to assist the Kazumbe family in this time of need to cover any associated costs. It is as well a way of bidding farewell to our Lake Tanganyika guru! *Alternatively, please feel free to donate directly to his Diving Center using this link .

UPDATE: *** Msafiri shared the update that today (10/20) they are heading home from Bukoba to Mwanza for Geroge's Funeral tomorrow (10/21).

I plan to transfer funds 1 week from today, as to give people more time using international money transfer tool Western Union, and I will cover the transfer fee.