Tenzi Chacha (’15) is using the gifts and abilities she developed in Liberty’s Family & Consumer Sciences (FACS) program to help a rural village in Tanzania where some of her relatives live.
During her first semester at Liberty, Chacha accidentally attended a meeting for students interested in submitting their designs for FACS’ annual fashion show. Prompted by friends, she signed up, designed two dresses for the competition, and won the Best in Show designer award. Her dress that was styled in a punk rock design and incorporated bottle caps was later featured at the November 2014 International Textile & Apparel Association Conference. This unexpected success inspired Chacha, who studied marketing, to add a clothing and textiles minor.
“Before participating in the fashion show, I had never made my designs or anything from scratch,” Chacha said. “I knew I had always wanted to do something with the fashion industry, but I wasn’t confident in my abilities. This stretched me and showed me I could do it.”
Chacha grew up in Martinsville, Va., where her parents started Teamwork Ministries International, which trains, equips, and mobilizes Christian leaders. But her father, John, felt called to help his home village in Ntagacha, Tanzania.
“My father had been a missionary for a long time, and he wanted to give back to where he came from,” Chacha said.
He founded the nonprofit City of Hope, which established a medical center, a primary school, a secondary school, and a home for 100 orphans. After her father died in a car accident in 2015, Chacha moved to Tanzania in January 2017 to carry on his work and develop the SEW (Sewing Empowers Women) program through City of Hope. She teaches textile arts to women there then offers them jobs sewing clothing and accessories for her fashion brand, TENZI.
“All the women I am currently training were unable to finish what would be the equivalent of a high school degree, and that limits their career options,” she said. “Through this program, they are able to learn a trade. It allows them to be independent and to be able to earn a good wage.”
Chacha said she is grateful for her own training.
“At Liberty, I was able to learn professional skills so I could turn around and help teach others here in Tanzania.”
Even a continent away, Chacha said she still feels love and support from her alma mater. Proceeds from this year’s fashion show were given to City of Hope. During the show, Tanzanian students modeled clothing designed by Chacha and her apprentices. The FACS program has also sewn and donated 600 reusable feminine pads for women served by City of Hope.
“I asked if there was any way Liberty could donate about 60 for us because if girls are unable to get them, they have to miss school,” Chacha said. “Mrs. Howard (associate professor Matalie Howard) said, ‘Yes, we can donate 60, but can you take 600?’ I was just amazed that they were able to do that for us.”
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