Why did you decide to volunteer with GLA in Tanzania?
Arvind: For the past two summers previous to my GLA trip, I was with Action Quest in the British Virgin Islands, but I wanted a change of scenery and decided that I would like to do a camp in Africa. I was very keen on doing community service as well as being able to do some photography, which I am interested in. I saw that GLA was offering the Tanzania program, which combined community work with safaris, hikes and other activities. I then looked through the preview of a typical trip, and it looked absolutely great.
From the brochure I could see that the community service work, 45 hours in total, was really effective for the local community. The extra activities apart from the community service also looked great; the two-day safari at the Ngorongoro crater and Tarangire National Park were INCREDIBLE and the hike around Kilimanjaro and the weekend with the Maasai were also great experiences.
Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Arvind: Our day to day activities during the week Mon-Fri we were based in the base camp, doing community service and activities at base camp, but during the weekend we would go on trips.
During the week we would wake up at around 7:30/8 every morning, shower and have breakfast. We would leave for the school at 9:30 am and at 10:10 we would start to teach our class of students. We usually planned the lessons the night before, and the next day we would give an hour long lesson to them.
Afterwards we had half an hour to play with the children during their break time. When the students returned to lessons we would start ‘phase’ 2 of our community service, which was more hands on. There were three projects during our trip: planting trees, painting classrooms and building chairs.
We usually worked for two hours before going back to the base camp for lunch. In the afternoons and evenings we would have different activities like batik art workshops, painting or talks hosted by different NGOs.
What made this experience unique and special?
Arvind: My trip to Tanzania with GLA was special and unique because of how close everyone got with each other. The age gaps were not felt at all and within a good day or two we were all best friends. There were no separate friendship groups or anything like that, we were all one big family. More so, the interaction between staff, whether local or international was exceptional, everyone made such good friends with the staff, and the staff didn’t treat us like students but more like family.
It was incredible to be with such international mates, from Hong Kong, to The Netherlands and America. All of us on the trip were going through the same experience together, which really helped us relate to one another. Still today, 9 months since the trip, all of us still Skype and email each other, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Arvind: The trip has impacted my future a lot, both personally and professionally. When I returned home I made the decision to join a boarding school in England, an idea that I would have been totally against before my Tanzania trip, however when I returned I felt more comfortable with the idea and was more open to it; I applied and got into my first choice school. The trip also changed my career choice quite a bit.
Before the trip I wanted to be a pilot, but afterwards I realized that I was not as interested in pursuing that career choice and turned towards more environmental careers, such as Geographer or Geologist with a particular interest in Economics. I realized that Economics and Geography were my passions- interests I would never have thought of before. The trip definitely made me reflect on how much we take for granted at home, how much more we should appreciate our livesa, how fortunate we are, and how happy people are with just a skipping rope. Getting the latest smartphone no longer seems as important to me as it was before. The Tanzania trip with GLA is definitely a life changing experience and totally worth it. I definitely recommend it to everyone!