Morning: A typical morning as a volunteer with YCI begins at your homestay. I was living with one of my co-volunteers while the other two volunteers were in another homestay closer in the city-centre. After eating breakfast and greeting our host family, we would walk to the YCI office to meet up with the other volunteers. The mornings were set out for planning our lessons and special events for the Tanzanian organization we were working with. The office is right in the middle of the city, so it’s a beautiful view of Mt. Meru and the shops and people down below. The walk to the office was usually 30 minutes, but it wasn’t too bad since we would talk to the locals as we walked by. We also had the choice of taking the Dala Dalas (public transportation), or a taxi if we wanted. At the office, we were given time to plan our lessons, have meetings, or sort out our weekly and daily plans for our project.
Afternoon: In the afternoon, we made our way to the organization we were working with. We would take the Dala Dalas to the centre, which took around 30 minutes. Lunch was provided by the centre we were working at, which usually consisted of traditional Tanzanian food of maize or rice. We also had the choice of having lunch before getting to the centre, in which we could go to a traditional Tanzanian restaurant, or go to a Western-style restaurant when we were craving foods like burgers and cake. YCI provides stipends used for water, food, and transportation as well.
The best part of the afternoon was at the centre, when we would teach the students our lessons or plan our community initiatives. Our typical day at the centre ended at around 4 o’clock. On the weekends, we were able to do more tourist things, including going on safari, shopping at the local markets, visiting some national attractions, and spending time with our local friends.
Evening: The evenings always varied as a volunteer with YCI, because this was usually the time when we were given free time (besides the weekends). The four of us would sometimes go into the local market and do some shopping, visit each others’ homestays and stay for dinner, hang out at the cafes, or go straight home if we were particularly tired. The evenings were free time for us and we could do whatever we wanted. One of my favorite things to do in the evening was to go to our homestay and help our family make dinner and play with the children before dinner. The evenings were the times where we could really spend time with the family.
Highlights: This trip with YCI was an amazing experience and one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The highlight of my trip was the community initiative project that we worked on with the students. The students were asked what issue they found important in their communities and we were to help the students take initiative and make change in their communities.
My group decided that Malaria was the greatest issue. As a result, we taught the students about Malaria and how to prevent it. The students then took our information and taught their community members about Malaria, to help create positive change in their community. The students made brochures, did skits, and gave out mosquito nets to their community members, in order to have a lasting and positive effect in their community. Watching our students take initiative to make positive change in their community, and knowing that our students were being seen as capable young people by their community members was very heartwarming. Having had the opportunity to work with Tanzania’s young people was amazing in itself, because we created unbreakable connections that none of us will ever forget.