Support For International Change (SIC)

This is the most powerful experience i have ever had. It has completely changed my perception about many things, including what is means to be happy and to have a problem. I have also met amazing people.

I volunteered with SIC in the summer of 2005 and it changed my life. Teaching about HIV and AIDS in Tanzania opened my eyes to the power of education. Educators have the ability to uplift and improve the lives of their students, their communities and the world we live in. Because of my experiences in Tanzania, I chose to become a teacher and will be an life-long educator.

I spent the summer working with American and British volunteers in addition to Tanzanian college students who served as translators during our teachings. After undergoing and intensive orientation, I was placed in a group with 3 other volunteers and 2 Tanzanian. I lived in a homestay with another volunteer. Our host family was very welcoming and we became very close to them over the course of the summer. We taught in primary and secondary schools, at churches, at village meetings, and to the local soccer team. We also held testing days where community members could find out their HIV status. Additionally, we created a peer education club made up of students who were willing to continue teaching about HIV/AIDS after our volunteer group left the village. I would highly recommend SIC to anyone who is interested in HIV/AIDS, international health, learning swahili, or just being submerged in Tanzanian culture.

I whole heartedly recommend this program to anyone who is thinking about going into any sort of international health or development field. You will not only gain valuable experience and insight into how public health programs are implemented in low-resource settings, but you will also establish a network with your fellow volunteers and SIC's staff that may prove invaluable in your career.

SIC's volunteer program is expensive relative to some other programs in the region. HOWEVER, the organization is a not-for-profit and about half of the volunteer program fee goes to fund the organization's programs including year-round community health worker programs, mobile HIV care and treatment programs, secondary school peer educator programs and others. This means that SIC has established relationships with the villages where it places volunteers and that after volunteers leave SIC staff continue their work through year-round programs. Without these programs the volunteer experience would be quite hollow (as I suspect is the case with many other pay-to-volunteer opportunities). Furthermore, for the two month program there is a ten day intensive orientation led by a professor from a US university to prepare volunteers and introduce them to international public health issues.

SIC's volunteers certainly have a good time, but expect to spend 90-95% of your time in a village where drinking is discouraged (possibly even forbidden?). If that's your main interest this probably isn't the program for you. In terms of safety and staff responsiveness I think that SIC outshines many other programs. For each group of volunteers SIC has three program coordinators in the field and a program manager. These staff are accessible by phone 24/7 to both volunteers and parents (volunteers are provided cell phones). The one time I got sick the program manager picked me up that same day and took me to the clinic in town.

Four years later I'm working in the field and I still find my contacts from SIC very useful.

I have never travelled before, and surprised everyone when I applied for the SIC programme in 2008 (myself most of all!) What I enjoyed most about volunteering with SIC was how closely integrated to the communities you are. I had alot of friends who had done development work with larger companies, and had been put up in nice volunteer hotels. Nice, but a little detached in my opinion. Living with a Tanzanian family and working with the University teaching partners was a truly unique way to get to know the community and the people of Tanzania - who are probably some of the most kind and welcoming people in the world. You can see the changes you are making with your own eyes. I never felt worried the whole time I was there, as the SIC staff were always on hand to help you out if you were physically sick, or just homesick - the only time I ever felt unsafe was riding on an overcrowded bus (which the staff recommended we shouldn't do anyway!!)
Its quite a bit cost (I think more so now than when I did it) but you can fundraise your fees, and Id really recommend (if you can) making some savings to do other things whilst you're there. You get free weekends, and there is plenty to do and see!
Its often hard, its often dirty, its sometimes frustrating. I got a few tummy bugs, I sometimes cried and wanted to properly wash my feet! But it is 100% unique as an experience, and has really helped me with my teaching and research in International Health and Development. I wish I had made more of my once-in-a-lifetime trip, and I also wish Id taken a pair of jeans and a hoodie out with my - sometimes Africa is COLD! and sometimes you dont want to go socialising in your pyjama trousers. 3 years later and I still miss my SIC friends, my Tanzanian hosts, and even rice and beans. If you said I could go back tomorrow, I would.