First Things Foundation

Check out what’s been keeping Sarah busy in Mozambique! 🇲🇿

“May and June have been full of new learning! Not only lots of language, but also lots of tradition. I have finally started working in the village and I am enjoying learning all about braiding African hair. I have also learned how to make donuts which are the local equivalent of beignets. I have been watching in awe at the convent as the sisters process an incredibly large rice harvest. The mat pictured is probably about a tenth of what they have harvested. Lastly, I also got to watch as a local women brewed up some fresh cabunga, which is a fermented corn drink popular with women of the village. Little by little, I am building trust with women all around Corrane and I am so grateful for their hospitality!”

May 1st was “Worker’s Day” in Mozambique! Our Field Workers feasted on goat, beans, rice, and cake as they celebrated at Deep Roots Farm. 🇲🇿

Photos by Field Workers and Sarah Mather

Join me in wishing a warm welcome to our new Field Worker, Tuba Kök!! She joins Sebastian, Ozzy, and Liam in Guatemala, and we can’t wait to see what she gets into. 🇬🇹

“Tuba was born and raised in Turkey and has mostly lived and traveled overseas. From 2014 to 2017, she worked as a homeroom teacher and volunteered with children from war refugee families in southeastern Turkey before leaving the profession to begin a very long journey. During this journey, mainly in Asia, she cycled from Thailand to Japan. Over the years, she has also lived in Spain, Thailand, Ecuador, and Tajikistan, supporting herself mainly by teaching English. Much of her life on the road has been slow and simple. She often camped outdoors or spent nights in temples, mosques, and churches along the way. Some days and nights passed in deep silence, far from towns or people, where she simply kept moving forward and left herself to the road. Beyond cycling, she has completed solo long-distance hikes in the Himalayas of Nepal, on Sri Lanka’s Pekoe Trail, and on the Lycian Way in Turkey. Teaching remained her main work, though over the years she also supported herself through outdoor guidance and translation. Having spent much of her adult life traveling slowly, often by bicycle, and living in developing regions, she developed a strong interest in working closely with communities and contributing to projects that create tangible change. By the age of 35, when her path crossed with the FTF, she knew she had found people made of the same fabric.”