How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected children at City of Hope in Tanzania this year? We recently received an important and informative report from our Tanzania Country Director, Hudson Mahare, and his wife, Hilda.

Hudson reports that it has been a unique year, but God is still at work. Even with all the challenges that the pandemic has presented, the children have been resilient, and he has seen so much positive change.

“Someone once said that until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change, nothing really happens”, Hudson tells us.

He goes on to tell us that challenges are not designed to leave any human being the same way. “We at the City of Hope have refused to remain the same. We have been pressed in from all sides, but we have not been crushed. Life is on our side. Generations that are with us now and generations unborn are waiting for us to press on”, he told us.

And City of Hope is pressing on and doing well.

“City of Hope has responded to the pandemic this year along with our sponsors, partners, donors, pupils, teachers, board members, and workers. Everyone has responded and pulled together in an incredible way”, said Hudson.

He reported to us that he has faced some of the toughest moments of his life this year as he had to break the news to some children that their biological parents have died from disease. But even in the face of COVID-19, “nothing will derail us from our purpose of taking care of the kids at City of Hope.”

COVID-19 has presented us with some unique challenges in the community around City of Hope. It has limited the ability to move around in the community and to get supplies for our construction projects. It also required that we social distance, sanitize, and lock down our facilities.

“But we have not allowed COVID-19 to take us away from the focus on the children that are counting on us. We remain committed to their dreams and their future”, said Hudson.

It is possible that this will be the first year in our history that we have not been able to receive any visitors from the United States on our campus in Tanzania. And this will be the first time that schools had to be closed for three months. But Hudson also reports that one of the highlights of this year is that City of Hope has been able to implement online studies for the children through the use of cell phones, and many of our classes have been able to carry on for the children. Hudson reports, “We are the only school in the area that has been able to do that. And schools were able to resume full time as of this past July.”

During the pandemic, Tanzania has seen a surge in domestic violence and teenage pregnancies. In one district alone in the country, over 4000 teenage girls have become pregnant.  But City of Hope has been able to provide a place of refuge for young girls in our care so that they can have a future.

Hudson reports that, particularly in this difficult year, he has observed inspiring growth and maturity as our children rise above these circumstances. “They are learning to become leaders and assume positions of responsibility”, he said.   He is seeing fewer discipline cases this year as “the children are learning the ways of God and experiencing increased spiritual maturity, increased prayer life, and an increased love and passion for the kingdom of God.”

We are so grateful for what God is doing in our children’s home!

“We have seen the girls that we care for become more modest and more intent on pursuing their education. They are refusing to embrace the negative and harmful cultural practices that are happening in the villages.  We have had two girls graduate from college this year and become teachers, and for that we give God the glory. We have two more girls in college majoring in computer science and another entering college this fall majoring in pharmacy technology”, reports Hudson and Hilda.

This is a whole new dimension of education for girls in Tanzania!

We also have several boys who are moving on from secondary school into an advanced pre-university level. They are pursuing science-oriented subjects and they will be able to go on to college.

We are so excited about these advancements despite this challenging year.

Hudson reported to us that City of Hope is playing a pivotal role in keeping children on track this year. “Our teachers are very committed every day. They are working on a condensed syllabus to make sure all students get a whole year of learning this year”, he said. We are also seeing incredible growth in our Dr. John Chacha Secondary School. We started with 51 kids in 2017 and now we have 173 students in 4 levels. This is especially amazing since we are a private school. It is really a testament to our school’s positive performance that we are attracting so many students now. In our region of 130 schools we are rated as one of the top 10 schools.

Our primary school is also equally up to the task as we now serve over 300 children there. They just finished exams and we are praying for good results.

Hudson went on to report to us how our school and home are also able to impact the outlying community in a positive way. “The community around City of Hope is stabilizing despite the pandemic. We have seen new job growth in small local shops and businesses. Because of the jobs that we provide in our institution, we have seen more commerce in the community outside of the school. Businesses now stay open later as they have electricity at night now because of the City of Hope’s presence in the community. People that left this community are now returning and investing in the area around us.

Our medical center is thriving this year. It takes care of a population of around 2000 citizens. “We care for inpatients and outpatients and we offer maternity care.  From January to September we delivered 90 babies. Also, from January to September of this year we vaccinated over 4,700 infants. Some of the prevailing diseases we treat are things like malaria (which is the number one killer) and this year we have treated 1570 people for malaria, and they have successfully recovered.

Our construction projects are also on the move despite the pandemic. We are in the process of completing 12 apartments for our teachers so they can be available 24/7 for our kids. We are growing our dormitories for the secondary students and, once those buildings are completed, we will be able to house 800 students.”

Hilda reports that our girls are doing very well. She is a teacher and a counselor of girls and women at City of Hope. “The challenge that girls in this community face is that they come from a region that practices harmful cultural rituals like Female Genital Mutilation.  Girls in this area are also at high risk for school dropout. Anytime a family in this area feels financial constraint, as they have during COVID-19, they will opt to keep their sons in school but pull their daughters out of school. This continues a cycle of poverty where girls are not given equal opportunity to advance.  COVID-19 has multiplied instances of sexual and domestic abuse in this community. This is the background which we have rescued girls from. At City of Hope, we help girls to think as leaders in their own lives”, Hilda states.

Check out Hudson and Hilda’s full report here: