Traditionally the Sukuma chief in western Tanzania welcomed all people to his
home and to a meal without discrimination or favoritism.  A Sukuma proverb says
The chief eats with the rotting person (leper), on the theme of "God’s
Love For All People."  He welcomed everyone to his table: the leper with rotting
skin, the lame person, the witch, the prostitute, and so on.  No one was
excluded.  Another Sukuma proverb says The person ran to the chief’s palace
naked.  A certain person was being chased by people and lost his clothes in
the ensuing melee.  Yet the person knew that if he got to the Sukuma chief’s
home he would be safe. 

   
A lot of very old
people with no place to go stayed with the chief as well, adding to the
confusion. They spent their days sitting in the shade and gossiping.  Mentally
ill people, not cared for at home, would run about the area screaming like
children.  The chief had to receive them for they were his people.  The
physically sick and the poor and hungry were always on hand too in significant
numbers.  And lepers!  The chief’s home was the one place from which they could
not be chased. Through this mixed-up confusion, the children drifted in and out,
playing in and adding to the bedlam.