Leaving My Heart in Tanzania

My project was the perfect combination of volunteer work, cultural immersion, and travel. Living with a host family created an environment where I was truly allowed to live the local life--I ate African food for every meal, practiced Swahili with my host family, and gossiped with the house girl while she would braid my hair. I lived with another volunteer, my new Japanese sister, who I would ride the daladala (Tanzanian public transportation) with to work, the Maasai Market, and the office. The staff at the Projects Abroad office in Tanzania was always incredibly helpful and welcoming to all of us. On the weekends, the other volunteers and I viewed amazing animals on safaris, laid on the beaches of Zanzibar, hiked Mount Meru, and swam in the Hot Springs. I made connections with people I’ll consider friends and family for the rest of my life.

Next, I couldn’t imagine how much I would fall in love with my work placement. At the orphanage, there were about 60 children with ages ranging from three to nine and only two teachers. Projects Abroad also has a child database so that volunteers are able to monitor and track benchmarks for the children at the orphanages. This allows for consistency despite volunteer turnover. I was placed in the middle classroom with the older students and immediately worked to adapt to their daily routine. We always began the classroom with ten minutes of song and dance and despite seeing it almost every day for a month, it never stopped being cute. The teacher would write the lesson on the board and I would help the children who were struggling and grade their work when they were finished. We would then have break where all the students would play together and I never once found myself alone. Whether I was getting my hair braided by the older kids, holding a younger one on my hip, or playing “Muziki” and dancing with them all, I kept busy. Everything about my placement I fell in love with; the children, teachers, cook, chickens, all of it.