Volunteering in Tanzania

Tanzania is situated in East Africa, and its economy runs primarily on tourism. It is a country of geographical extremes like the highest point being the Mount Kilimanjaro peak and the lowest point being the lake bed in Lake Tanganyika. It also shares a part of Lake Victoria, which is the largest lake on the continent. But Tanzania has much more to offer than this and one such place is the Serengeti. The Serengeti is a national park and a haven for animal lovers as you can spot the big 5’s of Africa and the fastest animal on the plant: the Cheetah.

Why Volunteer In Tanzania

Although tourism is good in Tanzania but it is still stricken with poverty and children often die in the formative years due to malnutrition, AIDS and other diseases. A beautiful country, Tanzania needs help from volunteers to preserve their wildlife, which also seems to be depleting due to extensive poaching. As a volunteer in Tanzania, you will be able to get close to the heart of Tanzania, their people and their lives. You will be able to get access to some of the most spectacular landscapes from Mount Kilimanjaro to the wide grassy savannahs that teem with wildlife, and above all, you will be able to know more about the Masaai woman and the tribe.  

Types Of Projects Available
As a part of volunteering in Tanzania, you will get to choose the kind of project you are interested in. The different types if projects available include:

• Cultural Experience: As a volunteer in Tanzania, you can be a part of the culture of the country and take back with you immeasurable cultural experiences. As a part of this project, you will be able to speak with the local people, mingle with them and collect data for enabling research on the Tanzania people and society.

• Internships: There are different types of internships available in Tanzania, which can vary from medical training to community trainings and are normally of a longer duration than most of the other programs. The internship programs can be from 9 weeks to a year depending on the nature of the project.

• Soccer coaching: Soccer is the new craze in Tanzania and they have been preparing for the FIFA world cup for a long time. In fact soccer is the chosen sport in most of the urban and rural schools. So if you are a soccer player or have played the game at any level then you can volunteer for this specific program. It will be grueling as well as fun and present a new way of looking at the younger generation of Tanzania.

• Teaching in schools: Most of the Tanzania teaching programs are for schools situated in the rural areas. As a volunteer in Tanzania, you can teach different subjects in rural schools from English to mathematics, science, economics and others. Most of the rural schools don’t have proper building structure and lack educational infrastructure. As a volunteer, you can assist the existing teaching staff and also teach.

• Women's development: There is a lot of work going on in Tanzania to uplift the status of the Masai women. The Masai tribe is the original people of Tanzania but they have been left out for a long time. As a volunteer, you can impart your experience and teaching and help in strengthening the Masai women for the future.

• Cheetah Conservation: Cheetah is the fastest mammal on earth and exists only in the African wilderness. There are some interesting Cheetah conservation projects for which you can volunteer. Cheetah’s are almost on the brink of extinction and these conservation projects help with the breeding in wild and captivity for cheetahs and also take care of educating the African farmers so that they don’t end up killing any more of this beautiful animal.

Volunteer Requirements


Age: The minimum age for volunteering in Tanzania should be 16 or older.
Duration: The duration of the projects can vary from 4-12 weeks depending on the nature of volunteer activity


Fee and Other details

There is a fee attached to each of the projects that you volunteer for. The fee is charged in advance and is charged for the following:

1. Accommodation

2. Food/meals

3. Transportation within the region

4. All types of training material

Conclusion
Volunteering in Tanzania is an opportunity that can’t be missed because Tanzania needs us and we can’t let them down.