Tanzania and all the sub-Saharan African countries are badly affected by the epidemics of poverty and HIV/AIDS. The number of orphans and street children is growing. Efforts have been made by various local organizations to protect these children by offering much-needed education as well as skill-development training.
Thousands of orphaned children who suffer from extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS and hopelessness leave their villages and travel to Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Moshi and other cities, where they most often end up worse off on the street. Most orphanages in Tanzania lack resources and are under-staffed. Some are extremely poor, and struggle just to feed the children. Not all of the children can attend school, as they lack sponsors to pay for uniforms, books and so on. Other orphanages are more fortunate and even have their own school close to their premises. All of them, however, rely on volunteer workers and donations of all kinds in order to be able to run the orphanage and maintain an everyday, secure environment for the children.
Some orphanages are in rural areas and volunteers will have to take one of the local minibuses (called “Dala Dala”) to get there, a cheap way of transportation. there, a cheap way of transportation. You can buy a weekly pass for a “dala dala” minibus. Cost approx. $ 5.
Volunteer tasks usually are:
This is just a general picture of daily tasks. Each orphanage has its own routine. You will receive detailed information about your work place before travelling.
Tanzania has taken many steps in recent years to improve access to, and the quality of, education, but in many communities there is still a lack of resources and adequately trained teachers for children with special needs.
Volunteers who wish to support these children can make a valuable contribution by participating in our Special Education program in Tanzania. On this program, volunteers work at a center for special-needs students of all ages and assist both inside and outside the classroom. Depending on their experience and what kind of help is most needed, volunteers may help in areas such as preparing lessons and directing classes, assisting with speech therapy sessions, and caring for the children.
Volunteers may also help with extracurricular activities such as art, music, and crafts. Some volunteers work with the students to make handicrafts that can be sold as souvenirs, earning money for the students and for the center.
Our volunteers in Tanzania can expect their days to be a combination of meaningful volunteer work, cultural experiences, and free time for relaxation and reflection.
The sample schedule below represents a typical day for a volunteer in Tanzania. Keep in mind that when volunteering abroad, a typical day can be anything but typical!
7:30 am – 8:00 am: Breakfast with your host family or at the volunteer apartment. Breakfast in Tanzania often consists of fruit, freshly baked bread, eggs, and a cup of locally-grown coffee or spiced milk tea.
8:00 am – 8:45 am: Walk or catch the local bus to travel to your volunteer project site.
8:45 am – 12:30 pm: Work at volunteer placement.
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Lunch with your host family, at the project site, or at a local affordable restaurant. Lunch in Tanzania often includes a combination of wali (rice), beans, ndizi kanga (fried bananas or plantains), spinach or other greens, maandazi (bread rolls), sambusas (triangular pastries deep-fried and filled with vegetables or meat), or nyama choma (a piece of goat meat, chicken or beef grilled on an open fire).
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Work at your volunteer project.
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Free time to stop by the market, hang out with other volunteers, visit the internet café, watch a rugby or soccer game, or play soccer with the local children.
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Dinner with your host family or at the volunteer apartment. Dinners in Tanzania often include beans, meat, or fish with rice, ugali (porridge made of cornmeal) or chapatti (fried flatbread).
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Relax at home, practice Swahili and watch a movie with your host family, prepare for the next day’s volunteering, or plan a weekend excursion to go hiking, go on a safari, or visit Lake Victoria, Mount Kilimanjaro, the coast, or one of Tanzania’s beautiful national parks.
Project and class schedules, meals, and free time activities may vary depending on the details of your placement.
Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. Successful volunteers are hardworking, flexible, and open to truly immersing themselves in Tanzanian culture.
The housing for volunteers in Tanzania varies by project. Some volunteers live with host families, a fantastic way to become immersed in the local language and culture. When living with host families, volunteers build relationships, practice the local language, and learn about traditional culture, food, and customs.
All host families are welcoming and friendly, and they are hand-picked by our team to ensure that each placement provides a safe and positive environment for the volunteer. Other volunteers may live in apartments in town, usually sharing a room with another volunteer, or in accommodations at their project sites. Housing accommodations may differ from Western norms in terms of space or amenities, but they are always safe and clean.
Tanzania has seen economic growth in recent years with the increase of tourism to the region, but many Maasai people in Tanzania, particularly women, have difficulty making a living. Our Women’s Development volunteers in Tanzania work with a local nonprofit organization that teaches Maasai women how to make hand-crafted items such as clothes, beading, souvenirs, and household goods and sell them on the international market. Volunteers may help teach the women English or facilitate communication with English-speaking customers. If they have experience with crafts, some volunteers help make items to sell or train the women on a new craft or technique. By cooperating with local people, volunteers can help build a stronger economy in Tanzania and assist Maasai women in becoming self-sufficient.
Our volunteers in Tanzania can expect their days to be a combination of meaningful volunteer work, cultural experiences, and free time for relaxation and reflection. The sample schedule below represents a typical day for a volunteer in Tanzania. Keep in mind that when volunteering abroad, a typical day can be anything but typical!
7:30 am – 8:00 am: Breakfast with your host family or at the volunteer apartment. Breakfast in Tanzania often consists of fruit, freshly baked bread, eggs, and a cup of locally-grown coffee or spiced milk tea.
8:00 am – 8:45 am: Walk or catch the local bus to travel to your volunteer project site.
8:45 am – 12:30 pm: Work at volunteer placement.
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Lunch with your host family, at the project site, or at a local affordable restaurant. Lunch in Tanzania often includes a combination of wali (rice), beans, ndizi kanga (fried bananas or plantains), spinach or other greens, maandazi (bread rolls), sambusas (triangular pastries deep-fried and filled with vegetables or meat), or nyama choma (a piece of goat meat, chicken or beef grilled on an open fire).
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Work at your volunteer project.
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Free time to stop by the market, hang out with other volunteers, visit the internet café, watch a rugby or soccer game, or play soccer with the local children.
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Dinner with your host family or at the volunteer apartment. Dinners in Tanzania often include beans, meat, or fish with rice, ugali (porridge made of cornmeal) or chapatti (fried flatbread).
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Relax at home, practice Swahili and watch a movie with your host family, prepare for the next day’s volunteering, or plan a weekend excursion to go hiking, go on a safari, or visit Lake Victoria, Mount Kilimanjaro, the coast, or one of Tanzania’s beautiful national parks.
Project and class schedules, meals, and free time activities may vary depending on the details of your placement.
Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. Successful volunteers are hardworking, flexible, and open to truly immersing themselves in Tanzanian culture. Women’s Development projects are open to both female and male volunteers.
International human rights include the right to work, to an adequate standard of living, to participate in cultural and political life, to education and to freedom of religion. Even though Tanzania has ratified some human rights conventions, they are far from complying with them all in practice.
This Human Rights Centre in Arusha is run by a small, private NGO that aims to provide legal aid and counselling services to poor and disadvantaged women and children in both rural and urban areas. It operates by conducting seminars, workshops, camps and conferences, organizes legal aid, socio-economic support and Human Rights education, both at the centre and in the media. The Centre strives to help as many people as possible but focuses primarily on women.
If you have a relevant academic background and wish to volunteer or be an Intern, you can work in this Centre for Human Rights. Depending on your experience, education and interests, you will be involved in different activities like
As a volunteer you will work on grass root level alongside experienced people to make a difference in the local community.
The longer you stay, the more interesting your task will be.
We recommend you prepare your volunteer work by studying for example the following homepage: http://www.humanrights.dk/human+rights
Tanzanian Maasai women are economically weak though Maasai culture is one of the major attractions of tourism industry in Tanzania, Maasai people are not benefited from the tourism industry. A local NGO in ILKDNGA and Monduli district is presently running different programs to uplift the economic condition of Maasai women.
ILKDNGA has been setting up projects run by the Maasai woman to generate self sustainable income. In this project Maasai women are trained to make traditional Maasai crafts, beads, clothes and other goods. These products are later sold in the market to generate their income. This is a wonderful project for people who feel they would enjoy the unique Maasai culture and the rural life of Maasai tribe.
Volunteers Role
There are 18 Maasai women’s groups in 8 different villages of Mt. Meru. These Maasai women’s groups are coordinated by ILKDNGA. You will work and live closely in these different villages each day and support them. There are a number of activities in which to devote your time in.
Besides the women’s group you can run English language classes for Maasai children and the local youth with a little English knowledge Maasai youth can work as tourist guides making additional income for their families.
The HBC program is our core activity that provides cares for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS. Through the HBC program, which operates in 3 regions of Tanzania, we currently supports an average of 730 patients at a time and 2,800 of their family members. Using our 110 trained HBC workers to make regular daily visits to the patients, we provides informed nutritional advice and support, HIV/AIDS education, cleaning and chore assistance, as well as financial support for food, transportation and medicines.
We have noticed a significant improvement in many of our Home Based Care patients. Many are no longer bed ridden and are improving steadily because of improved nutrition and the use of antiretroviral (ARV) medication. Many have joined Village Community Banking (VICOBA) groups within their communities and are able to take part in Income Generating Activities (IGA’s) with the guidance of our volunteer organization. These activities allow them the opportunity to have a healthy diet and exponentially improve their quality of life.
Village Community Banking (VICOBA) was started with the aim of helping people cope with the numerous responsibilities they face in an increasingly unfavorable socio-economic and religious environment. This is done by training participants in crafts production and other activities that can increase their household incomes. In addition, participants contribute individual savings to a savings and credit fund which, in turn, makes small loans to its members.
We promotes local community savings and credit groups that build on the traditional “Tontine” methodology where investors pay a sum into the tontine and receive annual dividends on their capital. Tontines are rigid in their structure and provide limited and inflexible access to accumulated savings.
We adds innovative twists that make it more flexible and extremely attractive to local participants. The weekly contributions are accumulated, with an end date in mind, for distribution of all or part of the funds to the individual members. This lump sum distribution provides a large amount of money that each member can then apply to his/her own needs.
The members of the community savings and credit groups make use of the funds for long and short-term needs on a continual basis, so the funds are constantly working for them, earning interest and not just sitting idle in the group.
These loans allow the members to meet their small and medium income generating activities, social obligations and emergencies without having to borrow from a money lender, take an expensive supplier advance, or rely on their relatives. This adds a limited credit perspective to the association. Currently, over 575 people utilize our’s 25 VICOBA groups in Arusha, Dar es Salaam.
We works to educate and empower women, children, foster parents and the general community with special priority being given to vulnerable families affected by HIV/ AIDS in Babati district and Arusha Municipal Council. Trained Home Based Care Workers (HBCW’s), field agents and Peer Educators, in collaboration with our staff, conduct continuous education and women empowerment meetings in six wards of Babati and Arusha.
Identified Community members, female field agents and foster parents can be trained to become quality Village and Community Banking members, trainers of Trainers (TOT’s), HBCW’s, Paralegals and Peer educators. They have continual support through the formation of peer and VICOBA groups and are able to practice paralegal activities dealing with domestic violence, rape, female circumcision, widow inheritance and advocate for general Human Rights.
This promotes good governance, trust and respect within the community and helps alleviate poverty in their areas. This is achieved by increasing economic self-reliance, supporting families affected by HIV/AIDS, establishing village community banking and supplying beneficiaries with food and medical supplies as needed.
Currently, We have established more than 24 women empowerment groups practicing paralegal activities and administering HIV/AIDS education and Home Based Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS and those with chronic illnesses.
Our beaded jewelry business is its main income generating activity. This program allows us to sustain many of our programs and facilities! There have been other small purchases from guests and volunteers that have passed through our office. If you know of an outlet to sell necklaces where you live or would like to order some for yourself, please email us and we can export some to you.
Arusha and Surrounding Maasai Villages
Volunteers have the choice of staying at our volunteer Accommodation in Arusha Town or at our local Tanzanian host families, commonly know as “home stay”.
Our volunteer house is located close to the town centre so has easy access to transport routes, shops, bars and restaurants. The House has single or shared living facilities and western style bathroom facilities with hot water. It also provides a sitting and dinning area with T.V. and D.V.D.
Our host families are active community members who are not only mature but are trained and experienced with international volunteers. You will get a single room (or share with another volunteer) in a home stay. The accommodation will be clean and simply furnished. Local host will provide three local meals a day. During the volunteering period our staff will guide, help, and supervise you everyday while on your volunteer Project.
Placements are open to volunteers and interns all year round but we ask volunteers to arrive on either the 1st or 3rd Sunday of each month.
Placement duration is from a minimum of 2 weeks up to a year.
There is no specific qualification needed to join the women’s project Tanzania. If you have any skills in craft work, beading, and art work than this would be beneficial.
This Program is open to World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples, and Individuals. It is helpful for the volunteers to learn some basic Kiswahili/Maasai language. When you arrive at you project placement the volunteer coordinator will give you an introduction
Community Development Project in the Maasai Bush
This project is a great way to get a broad and diverse experience of volunteering in a community development project in Africa and gain a great cultural experience at the same time. This project is involved in a number of welfare and development programs so giving you that broader volunteering and learning experience.
The project involves a two day orientation in Arusha and briefing of the project to come. A Swahili lesson will be given to help volunteers intenerate better and have a more profound effect in their work.
The project than takes volunteers to a remote village located near Lake Manyara, deep into the Maasai steppe. Here volunteers will participate in the following programs:
Health care is very primitive in the village and most can not afford to treat simple illnesses. Many of these diseases and illness can be prevented with simple health care education. We intend to educate the children in this area so that they can prevent and reduce potential and unnecessary health issues.
Sports and recreation sessions in the school is a time where more than often the pupils are left to there own devises with no equipment. We aim to provide productive sports sessions and equipment for the pupils and develop their physical fitness and skills.
Many of the Elders and warriors want to learn English and business skills but can not afford to go to school. The Maasai women also want to learn but are confined to their homes and attending to their role in their society which comprises of child care other home activities.
Learn from the truly unique sustainable life style that they lead and understand more about their needs. This program is here to bring about a better understand and awareness of one another’s cultures.
This is a chance for our volunteers to engage in a relationship with a few of the
Community members and for us to teach English, Health care and any other
Previous experience or qualifications we have, such as teaching, business, agricultural, animal husbandry, irrigation qualifications.
If Volunteers feel they have no previous experience in these areas then there is plenty of practical work to be involved with in the village such as building work on the water project or village school development.
Volunteers will assist in the running of the Orphanage. This will include the following activities:
During the weekend our project volunteers have some time off to relax and get to enjoy some of the wonderful things to offer in area that they are staying in. This includes taking a cycling ride up through the banana plantations and forest of the Great Rift Valley wall. Arrive at the Rift valleys waterfalls and swim in the natural pools.
Take the change to see some of Tanzania’s great wildlife by going on an afternoon’s safari trip deep into the Maasai steppe. Whiteness Elephants, Giraffe, Zebra, Gazelle, Ostrich, Fish Eagle and a diverse range of other Tanzanian wildlife and bird life.
Spend a day by the pool side taking in the African Sun, and beautiful environment spending some hard earned rest after the weeks work.
Visit the local Maasai market and immerge yourself in their culture, foods, drinks and then after join a Maasai celebration with song and dance.
The first 2 days will be located in our volunteer house in Arusha. The volunteer house will allow you to meet other volunteers who are on the same project as you or working on other projects in the area. It is a great change to share ideas and support one another in you experience.
The house provides a comfortable, safe, homely environment and includes shared living facilities, running water, hot showers, western style bathroom facilities and TV/DVD sitting room for rest and recreation in the evenings.
The Accommodation for the rest of the stay will be located in Mto Wa Mbu and will be simple shared or single living arrangements with shared Bathroom facilities.
Three meals will be provided each and every day at both accommodations, and normally consists of a variety of local style foods, Meats, seafood’s and vegetarian options.
Project Dates
1st July 2023
7th October 2023
7th April 2023
7th July 2023
6th October 2023
2 – 6 Weeks
There are no specific qualifications needed to join this project
This Program is open to World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples, and Individuals. It is helpful for the volunteers to learn some basic Kiswahili/Maasai language. When you arrive at you project placement the volunteer coordinator will give you an introduction
Situated in northern Tanzania, Arusha is the capital of the Arusha Region and is surrounded by some of Africa’s most famous landscapes and national parks. Situated below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, it has a mild climate and is close to Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, and Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as having its own Arusha National Park on Mount Meru.
Arusha balances well the ‘city life’ with the ‘small town’ feel and that makes it even more attractive in the eyes of tourists and travelers from all parts of the world. The city is surrounded by farm estates growing coffee, wheat and maize. These farm estates are being maintained by the Arusha and Meru tribes since the 18th century. Arusha is commonly referred to as the safari capital of East Africa. This is because it is the main starting point for safaris into Tanzania. It is a vibrant town renowned for its streets filled with tourist vehicles, the Maasai warriors and the famous Central Market. Awesome!
When you volunteer with animals in Tanzania you’ll be adding value to the local community, while also developing personally and professionally by:
This wonderful program works in a number of ways to raise awareness of and stop the abuse and neglect of animals, while also providing hands-on care for animals in need. Volunteers can choose to work on the animal welfare campaign, or in the animal shelter – or do both! The need of more adequate animal care and education of the population in…
This wonderful program works in a number of ways to raise awareness of and stop the abuse and neglect of animals, while also providing hands-on care for animals in need. Volunteers can choose to work on the animal welfare campaign, or in the animal shelter – or do both! The need of more adequate animal care and education of the population in and around the Arusha area is huge. The shelter cares for a large number of puppies and fully grown dogs, and some cats.
The animal welfare program works on education and awareness programs in the Meru region to protect animals from cruelty by promoting, improving, and developing matters concerning the welfare and understanding of animals. They are fighting for a different perception of animals within their culture and society and the five freedoms of animals: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and disease, freedom from fear and distress and freedom to express normal behavior. The program works on a variety of initiatives to increase understanding and to make real change to the lives of animals. Volunteers on this program will gain great experience on a variety of initiatives and know that they are truly helping animals in need.
Goals of this Project:
A volunteer’s work day on this project will generally last between 4 and 6 hours and while we ask all volunteers to be flexible in this regard, a typical daily schedule is likely to go something like this:
7:00am Breakfast at the volunteer house
7:30am Bus to your project site
8:45am Pre-start meeting with project supervisor
9:00am VOLUNTEERING DUTIES START
A tea break and lunch break will be fitted in during the day, but often the timing of breaks will change based on the needs of the local staff and number of volunteers on hand.
3:00pm VOLUNTEERING DUTIES END
3:15pm Debrief with project supervisor
3:30pm Bus back to the accommodation
Evenings Volunteers are free to explore the local area, check out the multitude of local restaurants, bars and cafes, or relax with the other volunteers.
