Called back to the place that first gave me hope.

The First Month's recap:)

Hello friends and family,
The last four weeks have felt so foreign—I’m not even going to lie. Learning a new language is hard, in fact I have mastered exactly four words thus far lol; the general greeting Mambo (how are you), Powa (I am doing good), kahawa (coffee), and sawa-sawa (okay, okay). If honest I definitely mastered the word for coffee (kahawa) first because around here if you ask for “coffee” you are actually asking to be slapped across the face 😂. So yeah, as a coffee lover I had to learn to say kahawa so I can tell people what I am sipping out of my coffee mug every morning lol.
The language barrier has definitely been one of the hardest parts of forming connections. Simple things like small talk feel complicated to carry out but we are all trying our best. Not very many people here are fluent in English (the staff and kids often have to tell me to speak slowly so they can understand what I’m saying). That said though, I’m really grateful for some coworkers who are able to translate from Swahili into English and help bridge that gap. Last Sunday one of my co-workers translated the whole sermon at church lol. It felt so awkward for me in the moment but in hindsight it was a lovely blessing that I got to understand what he was preaching.

April has been a big month for us here at Upendo. Its been a month of stepping into the call. We have been observing and taking not of what needs replacing, fixing and all the new things we need. as we start establishing the family of Seeds of Hope here at Upendo. In April we stepped into preparation mode. We have prepared room for more kiddos:). We have started building relationships with local and regional social workers and members of the community. At this point, all that’s left to do is wait for the call.

In the meantime, we’ve been discovering just how much work needs to be done around the home. One of our first tasks was making a lists of essential items that needed replacing—like fire extinguishers, one of which we actually ended up using when a small fire broke out in the outdoor kitchen no damages were done and no one was hurt😅. We also did an inventory count and deep clean of the kitchen/pantry and we uncovered some very large roaches in the process. One thing I definitely do not like about living in Africa is the bugs. Ugh, I loath the bugs lol.

Another focus of ours this past month was looking into Christian private schools for our future young children. Currently, Upendo is home to three teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 17, all in secondary school. We had four but the oldest one had to go to boarding school to study for the grade ten (form four) final exams (its mandatory across the country).

From what I’ve learned so far, children in government schools here don’t begin learning in English until secondary school which is like 9th grade only its called form 3 here. As you can imagine, that makes for a really difficult transition—trying to learn an entirely new language while also keeping up academically.
It actually reminds me of my own experience moving to Canada in 2014. Before coming, I had skipped Grades 6, 8, and 9 in the Zambian curriculum and entered straight into Grade 10 of the Canadian curriculum. Even though I grew up speaking English in Zambia (English is a national language there), it was still a huge adjustment. So I can only imagine how challenging it must be for these girls starting English much later in their school years.

One of Seeds of Hope’s goals is to give our children the best possible faith and education foundation—raising them to know Jesus while also learning English from an early age, so that they get a chance at the best life has to offer through any future opportunities. A couple of weeks ago, we began exploring schools in our district to find Christian primary education options. We visited some prospective schools, but not many not many private Christian schools in the area, so we’re still searching and trusting God to lead us.

I have also learned just how much welcoming and generous Tanzanian people are. We’ve had members of the community stop by with donations—rice, soda, and other supplies—that have been such a blessing to both the kids and staff.
Also… word travels fast here. I had only been in the country for a week when staff started telling me that people outside already knew there was a mzungu (a white foreigner who only speaks English) living here.
When I went to church my second Sunday here, it felt like the whole congregation knew I was new. I think what surprised many was that I’m Black, but I don’t speak Swahili lol. I won’t lie, I felt like I was on display because of all the attention, and the language barrier didn’t help. If you know me, you know I don’t like being the center of attention, so it was definitely uncomfortable. But I’m learning that being seen as “different” is just part of my life. I am a Black mzungu now—and I just have to embrace it lol. I am being reminded daily that the Lord has not sent me here to become Tanzanian but rather to be a part of His handy-work through seeds of hope. I am just glad to be here for such a time as this.

As I mentioned up above, we went from four girls to three girls on site as one of our girls in grade ten (also known as form four here) went to finish her schooling at a local boarding school (also known as Kemp). It is mandatory country wide for all form four students to finish their high school at Kemp. We had a little going away party for her where we got some coconuts from our tree and the cook made a nice lunch. I shadowed the caregiver in dropping her off and I got to see her new home.

That is the April recap. I might do biweekly updates so you don’t have so much to read lol.

Today at bible study, one of the girls chose Psalm 41 verse 1 as the focus verse. It says; “blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him.” As this new month starts, please consider us in prayer. Here are some ways you can do so.

Prayer Points:
- For Upendo home to be filled with children in need of our care,
- For the health and wellbeing of children and staff,
- For provision for all the updates needed as well as all the supplies needed to make this home as homey as possible.
- Also please pray for us to find a church that is Christ centered that we can call home (hopefully near Upendo home) as we have been looking for one.

If the Lord puts something encouraging on your heart please don’t hesitate to share. I would love to hear from you as well. Thank you to all who have reached out with inquiries on how I am doing. I appreciate all of you!

God bless,
Mattea