Travel to Tanzania and Volunteer
To travel to Tanzania and volunteer is becoming a popular way to
experience another culture. Both young people in their gap-year
and older people taking a career break travel to Tanzania in
order to spend time working and traveling.
By traveling to Tanzania the volunteer makes a difference to our
communities in parts of Tanzania that are rich in culture,
variety and natural beauty; but where there is poverty and
disadvantage. Some companies arrange placements and courses for
volunteers to develop skills in towns whilst others send
volunteers to remote rural but areas of the Tanzania.
Volunteers fall into several groups the gap students that prefer
a volunteer program that is ccomprehensive, fun and challenging.
Normally from one to six months month programs which - including
training, on-site support staff, accommodation and travel
insurance.
Summer Mini-Gaps are summer programs, for school leavers going
straight to University, or University students during the summer
break.
School Expeditions: are from tens up to four week expeditions
for school groups. This involves work in a community or school
building project and then a safari or to climb Kilimanjaro.
Career Breaks are a fulfilling two week to six month program,
which can be incorporated into existing travel plans - including
training, support and initial accommodation. Designed for over
21s and those looking for a more independent placement.
Popular volunteer work in the towns usually involves working
with the street-boys. These programs need volunteers to commit
to at least three months. They are quite involved and require
working on the streets to build up a relationship and trust with
the street-boys. Once they have come to the hostel returning
them to their families is a priority with a follow up program to
ensure the boys readjust to family life. The boys who are not
able to return home or indeed have no families are sent to
school, guided on how to live healthy and life skills are
taught. Volunteers are expected to get involved with all aspects
of this work.
The rural area's normally offer teaching positions. A normal
week will have around 15 hours of English lessons. During
lessons the volunteers may work with a Tanzanian teacher or may
have a class all to themselves. The volunteers role is to focus
on improving speaking and listening skills and building the
children's confidence to communicate. This means lots of fun and
interaction, including games, songs dressing up, and any other
creative activities that get the kids using English. There are
also roles at kindergarten where the children are normally
between the ages of 4-7. There is a great opportunity for
someone who loves playing with and entertaining children as well
as teaching them basic English. The kindergarten is a less
daunting environment but equally challenging and rewarding.
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and as
such the standard of living appears very low to us. A huge part
of the adventure of living and working in Tanzania is the
accommodation and living conditions; great for those with a
sense of adventure. Volunteers soon adapt to the Tanzanian way
of life that is dictated by the hours of daylight. With the
absence of electricity, waking hours become fairly similar to
daylight hours. There will be plenty of free time to relax,
enjoy Africa, get to know local people. It is important that
volunteers come equipped to entertain themselves with books,
musical instruments, paints, running shoes and a host of ideas
that can be swapped with other volunteers.