Goodalls Blog - Arrival in Tanzania (Aug 2025)
- Barney Goodall
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
Habari Everyone,
We have now arrived in our new home in Arusha, Tanzania!
If you blinked and missed what happened in the last year, let us fill you in! Liz completed her training in the UK to be able to work as a Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist. During this time, Barney was working as the VP of Finance at Mercy Ships. We felt a call back to Africa to help women with childbirth and the ensuing injuries such as fistula. So we were delighted to both be offered positions here in Arusha with Maternity Africa/ the Barbara May Foundation! We left the NHS and Mercy Ships, and stepped into a new adventure…

After a 24hr+ journey from London via Doha, Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro, we finally arrived into Arusha late evening on the 6th August. The kids did very well through the long journey, making full use of the different segments to catnap en-route!



Though it was a long trip, it was also filled with amazing examples of God’s goodness and demonstrations of fantastic ‘just-in-time’ answers to prayers.
The first was early in the journey at London Heathrow when we were initially told by the airline that we weren’t allowed to check-in with the type of ticket we had. Namely because we were due to apply for ‘visas on arrival’ in Tanzania – as our resident permits were still in process. This was a very tense 15 mins at the check-in desk with lots of phone calls going back and forth and some furious praying by the amazing chaps from Church who had very kindly brought us to the airport. Ultimately the green light came when a senior member of the airline team messaged a colleague of his (who happened to be at Kilimanjaro airport at that moment) and who very kindly went over to speak to the Tanzanian immigration team for us in person. There were huge sighs of relief all round when the news came through!
Then later when we arrived at Kilimanjaro airport and were waiting at the immigration desk, notification of the granting of Liz’s resident permit came through while we were queuing - literally 30 seconds before it was our turn to present paperwork! Suffice to say, this made the visa conversation much easier and quicker – which was a huge blessing, as all of us were running on empty at that point.
Thank-you to everyone who has been praying for us across the UK, US, Australia and Tanzania – it’s been hugely appreciated!




Following our arrival on the 6th Aug, the kids went straight into an induction day at their new school on the 7th – which, while full-on, was also a great chance for them to see their classes, meet other fellow new-starters and get a feel for what their first full day on the 11th Aug was going to be like.

We also had the opportunity to attend a local house Church that meets on the Hospital grounds on Sunday and connect with some lovely people. For those of you that have seen Luna on Sundays, you’ll know that she equates Church with snacking... This was going to be a bit of stretch for us with our limited shopping to date – however she was very pleased to discover a chap frying mandazi (a fried donut-like snack) near the hospital entrance and that went a long way towards ‘calming the waters’!


At the moment we’re staying in a small apartment onsite at the hospital and will hopefully soon be moving into a house nearby on a local farm that is approx. 10-15 mins from the hospital. In the interim the kids have been loving the outside space!
The last few days have been a whirl of ‘how do you do ….’ or ‘where can I find…’ moments, however the hospital and school communities have been really welcoming and supportive – to the point where both Liz and I now have working Tanzania phone numbers, have navigated a few food shops and have leads on where to acquire some of the household essentials (plates, towels and a kettle!) for when we move out of the hospital.
Liz and I will shortly be joining the Kivulini Hospital team in our respective clinical and non-clinical roles and we’re looking forward to getting stuck-in. The team here have been incredibly welcoming and we’ve really appreciated the grace as we find our feet and get the kids settled.
Thank-you again for all the prayers, kind words and financial support and it truly means so much to us. We genuinely couldn’t do this without you.
All the best,
Liz, Barney, Noah, Judah and Luna
What a wonderful surprise to see this pop up in my email! It's been a few years since we became acquainted working together in Senegal in 2019on the AFM. Excited for the entire Goodall family for this new chapter in your lives. Great to see the boys growing up and the addition of little Luna. All the best to you.
Fond regards,
Ginger Freitag
All so amazing. We thank God for your safe arrival and praying for the new journey ahead 🙏🏽
Thanking God for answering all our prayers for journey mercies, safety and a warm welcome. Mungu ni mwema, tunasema asante kwake! (You will soon be speaking fluent Swahili 😃)
Grace has been so excited to see the photos of Luna 😊
We continue to cover you with prayer as you start your new roles and pray for the children to settle well in school and make godly friends.
Lots of love from Stephen, Njambi, Rasheiy & Grace.
Mungu awabariki
Great to hear you made it to Tanzania. Sounds like you've already had quite the adventure - glad it worked out in the end! Loving the UWC shirts on the kids. I'm sure they will make amazing friends at their new school. Good luck with your new jobs. Looking forward to hearing more updates. Take care. The Matsumiyas