Gulbanu Kanji Mohamed

Gulbanu Kanji Mohamed

Town of birth

• Arusha

Country of birth

• Tanzania

Date of Birth

• 18 Feb 1932

Date of Death

• May 17
• 2023

Place of Death

• Vancouver

Country of death

• Canada

Place of longest stay

• Nairobi

Profession or occupation carriedout for the longest period in life

• Hotelier
• Plums Hotel
• Nairobi

Where-City or Country

• Kenya

Family tree

Parents

Kanji Mohamed Jivan 1912–1981

Sikina Kanji Mohamed 1912–2006

Partners

Haiderali Essa Karim 1932

Children

Karim Haiderali Karim

Nazil Haiderali Karim

Born in 1932 Arusha

Sikina Kanji Mohamed(Born in 1912).

Kanji Mohamed Jivan(Born in 1912).

Gulbanu Haider Karim, our aunt, passed away on May 17, 2023.

She was 91, and although she had aches and pains and had been in hospital for six weeks prior, we were shocked by her passing. We find solace though in knowing that she is reunited with her daughter, Nazil who we lost in 2018.

Auntie Gully was my mum’s oldest sister. She was born in Arusha, Tanzania to Kanji and Sikina Mohamed and moved to Kisii, Kenya when she married her husband, Haider Essa Karim. They moved to Nairobi where they owned the Plums Hotel and the finally moved to Vancouver, Canada in the late 70s.

They had two children, Karim and Nazil and four grand children; Imran & Irshad, Karim & Rosie’s sons and Nayaab & Naseeba, Nazil & Arif’s twin daughters.

Auntie Gully was the person who kept in touch with everyone and wanted you to reciprocate. She had an amazing memory and was super smart. My mum often said that if she had had the opportunity, she could have been a doctor. She was a homemaker in Kenya and was a caregiver in Vancouver. She was artistic and creative and was a great cook. I remember when she came back to Arusha for my grandfather’s funeral in 1980, she made these delicious but complex Indian sweets and it took her all day to make them, but so worth it!

She hand washed her “good” clothes and added decorative elements to them. It wasn’t surprising that some of her clothes were decades old but were still precious to her. An environmentalist before her time!

When you’ve lived with family all your life, living on your own especially in the latter part of your life can be hard. But my aunt thrived in her new retirement home. She made new friends and kept herself busy. During the pandemic, you couldn’t call her in the middle of the day because she was on various Zoom ‘waez’ calls (religious lectures). She’d call in on her phone and engage with the lecturer and ask all sorts of questions. She came to visit us in 2019 and she remembered so much of our family’s history that I encouraged her to start writing it down. She did and through the pandemic too! I look forward to reading what she wrote one day.

Our aunt was special & we will miss her.

Rest in peace, Auntie Gully! 🙏🏼❤️

By Minaz Asani-Kanji, Toronto