The Dymphna Special School is a cute school with wonderful kids, but unfortunately the staff are too poorly organized to adequately make use of their resources. If you go, be prepared to start your own classes and projects on your own initiative. Of the 6 hours that the students are at the school, maybe only an hour and a half is spent in instruction. The school has many resources that are currently sitting on the shelves gathering dust because the teachers are not adequately trained in how to use them. The rest of the time the students play and the teachers sit and chat. This is a great opportunity to learn Swahili.
I would strongly recommend staying in Arusha, and not at the school. The school is in an isolated suburb that is too dangerous at night to walk. That means that you must be indoors by the time it gets dark, and you will not have any chance to partake in any socializing. (Taxis are very expensive, and there is no safe transit to the house.)
The cooking is good, but the variety is very limited. Unfortunately all the cooking is done by the house girl, and there is no chance to interact and learn about Tanzanian foods and cooking
There is no running water. For showering you will be brought a bucket of luke warm water twice a day. This was amusing for the first few days, but remember it is very dusty and dirty in rural Africa. It took me weeks after returning home to scrub off the mud that had become ingrained in my skin!
Response from ITHVtanzania
Hi there,
Firstly let me just say thank you for your candid feedback. We really appreciate the opportunity to improve our programme. Based on your comments we have hired someone to fix the problems with the shower. We have also introduced a discounted self-catering option for people who would prefer to cook for themselves.
Unfortunately in Tanzania things do not always run on time, and 'slowly slowly' is a common motto for most people. That is why we really value dedicated volunteers like yourself who can help to initiate projects, and to motivate and train the teachers.
As you have mentioned the school is located outside of town. The safety of our volunteers is our first priority and as you have quite rightly said, volunteers should only leave or arrive at the accommodation after dark by taxi, however for volunteers wishing to socialise after dark we can recommend a number of safe, cheap, and reliable taxi drivers. We encourage volunteers to fully experience the nightlife which Arusha has to offer and are very sorry that you did not feel able to access this.
Once again, I am sorry that your experience did not fully meet your expectations. We are committed to improving our programmes and to acting upon all the feedback that we receive.
Ellie Crawley
ITHV Volunteer Coordinator