Where did your love blossom?

We all know that finding true love is not as easy as it may seem. Most people will tell you they had been in several relationships before they finally met their life partner. And those already in serious relationships or marriage, always have an interesting story of how they met.

A few couples were generous enough to share their interesting stories.

Andrew Maganga and Harrieth Kiritu

Andrew met the love of his life, Harrieth in 2008, when the two were in their first year at St John’s University of Tanzania in Dodoma. They met at the Lutheran church where they were participating in a youth leaders election.

The 41-year-old father of two says he didn’t know her before. He saw her after the election, when together with other elected leaders stood infront for introductions.

He was so struck by her beauty that he from that time started bumping into her on the university corridors.

“I learnt more about her during the introductions that day. Her name, the course she was pursuing and the fact that like me, she was too in her first year. She was pursuing a Business Administration in Marketing degree course while I was pursuing a degree in Education.”

Abdrew fell in love with Harrieth instantly. He wanted to be close to her and perhaps make her his wife.

“She accepted to meet me at the college but when I expressed my feelings for her, she told me she was in a relationship.”

Andrew did not despair but kept praying. Although Harrieth would accept to meet him when on holiday in Dar es Salaam, she treated him just as a friend. He kept reminding her how he felt about her but she always insisted she was in a serious relationship.

Although heartbroken, Andrew was optimistic that God would one day answer his prayers. He was in love and was not ready to give up on her. Being church youth leaders, the two used to see more of each other during church engagements.

“I made my final attempt when we were in third year and this time she was very furious. I wondered why she was behaving like this. I swore to never disturb her again,” Andrew recalls.

Months passed while he suffered silently until one day, when a friend informed him that Harrieth had broken up with her boyfriend. Andrew decided to try his luck once again by asking Harrieth out, who this time was more welcoming. However, this time around her excuse was the age difference between them.

“I was eight years older but I told her that was not a big deal. She then asked if I would be able to wait for seven years. Although I wasn’t happy with the idea, I agreed on condition that we should be together while waiting for the seven years.”

She accepted his proposal and know what? The two love birds did not wait that long. The were married that same year, in 2012.

Harrieth says Andrew showed her true love but she did not see that since she already was in a relationship. The 33-year-old says she did not trust him and thought he was like some men who just use and dump you.

She thanks God for bringing Andrew into her life although that time, she believed her ex-boyfriend was the one for her. “I really love my husband for showing me true love. Waiting all those years means he was serious about having feelings for me. Only that I did not consider what he used to tell me that time.”

Harrieth too refers to Andrew as the love of her life and does not regret ever meeting him. She says Andrew is not only a good husband but a good father to their sons Derrick, 7, and four-year-old Davis.

Hokelai Mganga and Brittany Karima

Brittany was the maid of honour at Hokelai’s friend’s wedding in Dar es Salaam, in 2010, when he first set eyes on her.

“She didn’t see me at the wedding but our paths crossed again at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) later that year. We became friends and since I was with my sister when we met, Brittany thought my sister was my wife.”

She refused to give him her blackberry pin that time though she accepted his friendship request on Facebook. Brittany returned to the US after the festival.

The two continued communicating on Facebook. She was studying at Princeton University in New Jersey and was on the university’s Princeton in Dar es Salaam programme, through which she came to Dar es Salaam to study Swahili at the University of Dar es Salaam.

When the two met again in Dar es Salaam, she agreed to give him her blackberry pin having learnt that he was not married like she had previously thought.

When Brittany was doing her research in Bunda District, Mara Region, in 2011, Hokelai was working in Dodoma and Morogoro regions. His attempts to meet her failed as Brittany was not cooperative.

“In 2012, I requested her to meet me again in Zanzibar at ZIFF and our first date was at Forodhani. We talked and enjoyed ice cream.”

When she came to Dar es Salaam, Hokelai asked her to meet him again. She agreed and the two went to the movies. Hokelai proposed the same year after which the two started living together. Brittany got a job in New York where they tied the knot in 2013. The couple are blessed with a seven-week-old son, Lolenzo.

Hokelai says his wife is kind and loving and relates well with everybody. Brittany says the same about her husband. “He is very supportive, kind, patient and creative. She feels blessed sharing her life with him and says she loves him so much.

Ritha Komba and John Daimon

Gospel Singer and song writer Ritha met the man of her dreams through a friend, Victoria Faustine, in 2011.

The two lived in the same neighbourhood and John says he used to see her though he was not courageous enough to talk to her.

“I met John as I was leaving Victoria’s house. The two are distant relatives and after introduction, John expressed his interest to know me better,” says Ritha.

John got Ritha’s number and texted her the same day. A few days later, he asked her out. Ritha agreed but asked her friend Victoria to accompany her. John told her how he had been seeing her but did not know how to get her phone number.

She did not want him to know that she lived alone so she lied to him that she lived with her parents. He later found out the truth and begun paying her frequent visits. Although he never mentioned that he loved her, the two became closer by the day. Their relationship blossomed and one day, John proposed to her. “He wanted to go see my parents but I was hesitant because I thought it was too soon to commit. He proposed again after some time to which I said no, again,” recalls Ritha.

Ritha was still not convinced John was the man that God had chosen for her. She did not trust him.

John didn’t lose hope and so he kept asking for her hand in marriage. When she finally said yes, she promised to marry him in 2014 but come 2014, Ritha said she would marry him the following year. John passed the test of time and in 2015, the two walked down the aisle. “I feel very blessed because I know I am not the one who chose him but God did. I prayed to God to give me a good husband and he did,” says Ritha.

John says Ritha is the woman of his life. She is beautiful and kind, she has a good heart and is God fearing. I just can’t find appropriate words to express my love for her. I make sure I put a smile on her face all the time. She means the world to me,” he says.

Email: [email protected]