House of Blessings
Nyumba ya Baraka, the House of Blessings, is a place of welcome, safety, education, and belonging for vulnerable children in Songea, Tanzania.
The Congregation of the Mission, founded by St. Vincent de Paul, arrived in Tanzania in 1993. Fr. Pascal joined in 1996 and was ordained in 2006. In 2007, inspired by that same spirit of service, he and Sr. Benigna quietly began what would become Unitas Charity.
It did not begin as a formal mission. It began as a simple act of compassion. Three young children, whose parents were both mentally challenged, began coming to a local kindergarten for porridge because there was no food at home. Fr. Pascal stepped in to help them, never imagining what that small act would grow into.
By 2011, as more needs arose, Fr. Pascal rented a small room to support a secondary school student while continuing to care for the original three children. Over time, more children arrived, each with their own story of need. What began quietly became something much larger, shaped not by strategy, but by love and necessity.
When I first visited Unitas in 2021, I expected to witness a mission. Instead, I found a family. Sr. Benigna is not only their caregiver; she is a mother and grandmother to the children, and her love for them shines brightly. This was not an institution. It was a home built on love, resilience, and unwavering commitment to each child's dignity and future. That experience changed me.
Food, clothing, school fees, basic supplies, and steady daily care.
Building improvements, facility upkeep, and future expansion of living space.
School support now, with a long-term vision for an elementary academy.
Success Story
Every child at Unitas arrives carrying a dream. Some dreams need years of school fees, books, uniforms, transport, and someone willing to keep showing up.
Valeriana wanted to become a pharmacy technician. She had wanted it for as long as she could remember. But dreams cost more than the wanting of them: school fees, books, uniforms, transport, and years of certification.
She had the dream. A sponsor helped clear the path. The rest, she did herself.
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A family from a partner church in Iowa stepped forward to sponsor Valeriana's education. They helped cover the books, the fees, and the years.
Valeriana brought everything else: discipline, perseverance, late nights, and the quiet daily work of showing up for her own future.
Food, shelter, family, and the first promise: you are loved.
Books, uniforms, transport, school fees, and the daily ritual of showing up.
A first paycheck, a chosen life, and proof that long-term support leads somewhere real.
Your support helps provide food, school fees, clothing, daily necessities, building improvements, and a future filled with possibility for the children of Unitas.
She went because she was called.
She stayed because they needed her to.
Brandy Vath’s work in Songea, Ruvuma, Tanzania — educating girls, providing health resources, and building the House of Blessings. One woman. All in.