Cross-Cultural Solutions: Volunteer Abroad in Tanzania

I volunteered in Bagamoyo, Tanzania for 4 weeks. Upon arrival at the airport we were picked up by knowledgeable and welcoming staff who then drove us to our home stay location.
During out stay we volunteered from Monday to Friday and then were given the weekend to travel and explore the rest of the country. The local staff gave us valuable information about places to visit and tour operations to help us along the way. The weekend trips were wonderful and a nice way to explore the rest of a country on a budget.
Prior to our volunteering, each volunteer met with the individuals that we would be volunteering with. We arranged a schedule and discussed what role they wanted us to play during our time together. I was placed in a small rural school, about 1 hr outside of Bagamoyo. The only downside was that the location was far, and the roads were horrible, the major reason why it took us so far to get to. There were also no facilities at the school, but you learn pretty quickly how to quat in the bush! The school that I was at was incredibly welcoming. The students were superb and very well behaved. They were eager to learn, and loved the fact that I played with them during recess times. It was an absolutely incredible experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Throughout the week CCS also provided language lessons, cultural tours, and other activities that allowed us to learn more about the area. We had ample amount of time to enjoy the beach and explore on our own also.
This organization is very well prepared and works hard to match you according to your abilities and where you feel comfortable. They prepare you very well before your arrival and while there, there wasn't a time when I didn't feel safe.
Again, I highly recommend them! I made many relationships with the staff that still hold strong today.
This will be a life changing experience if you choose to participate!

Volunteering with CCS was the greatest experience of my life. They provided great support before, during, and after our trip and I felt 100% safe. While in Tanzania we volunteered 5 days a week at our placements and then went back to the homebase for a variety of experiences. The in-country CCS staff made sure we were comfortable at our volunteer placements, provided us with cultural lessons, kiswahili lessons, and cultural experiences. We went to a Maasai market, a waterfall, neighboring towns, blacksmith, and many other things. I fell in love with the culture, people, and especially children of Tanzania. I hope that everyone can have an experience like this one and I would, without hesitation, recommend CCS as the program to volunteer through.

I woke up everyday around 630 a.m. and ate breakfast which was prepared by the host program we stayed at. The host program then drove us to our respective locations to work from 730 a.m to 100 p.m. Teaching was difficult because the students barley spoke English, and the teacher didn't either. However, the students were very loving (they were aged between 3 years old to 6 years old). I taught English, math, science, arts and crafts, and sports for about 45 minutes each. There wasn't a lot of teaching equipment to work with. I brought my own chalk, pens, and paper. Good thing I did because the school didn't really have any. The experience was very rewarding though and by the end the students did learn a lot. One of the students picked up on English extremely fast and by the end was able to have basic conversations with me. While the teaching was difficult because of the language barrier, I would defiantly do this again.

I volunteered at Mwasama Primary teaching second graders. Each and everyday I met new and interesting people who were enthusiastic about the volunteers. The kids I taught touched my life in a way I can't explain in words. It's 4 years later and i still think about my time in Tanzania. From teaching in school to walking to the local shops and meeting people from the are each day was an experience to remember. I plan to volunteer again with CCS in the future and would highly reccomend it to anyone interested!

I learned about CCS from a friend who had completed two volunteer projects with them, one in South America and one in Tanzania. After hearing about the wonderful experience that she had, I wanted to try it myself. Shortly after arriving in Africa, I realized that words could not describe this experience and that my life was going to be changed.

CCS picked me up from the airport and the staff was easy to identify. Everyone was extremely friendly and made me feel comfortable. Only a few days into my stay, I contracted malaria. Being only 20 at the time, this was something that would normally make me very worried and want to go home. However, the CCS staff helped me tremendously and I got through it without ever thinking that I wanted to go home. CCS also provides cultural activities, which are really fun!

Another wonderful thing about CCS is that we received daily Swahili lessons. I learned a lot in a short period of time, and still try to keep up with it. The staff was happy to help us practice and teach us more words.

While I was in Tanzania, I was teaching English and Math to children around the age of 9. Seeing as I did not know Swahili well, it was sometimes hard to control the classroom. Our drivers offered to come to the school with me and help! The entire staff always went above and beyond.

I could not have asked for a better experience. I would absolutely volunteer with CCS again, and I hope that I find the time to do it!

I had a very positive experience in the CCS Bagamoyo Program. I really enjoyed the cultural activites that were provided the first week. We were kept really busy that first week with all of our activites and planning lessons for my volunteer placement, but after that week it was less structured. I was placed at the Bagamoyo Young Artist Centre with another volunteer and we split our time up with the teachers of the group and the children that they serve. With the teachers we would give them ideas on how to sustain the program and how to prepare documentation to apply for funding. The children were so eager to learn and I would teach them songs in English and they would teach me songs in Swahili. I really enjoyed my time with them the most and I miss them very much. I loved it so much that I plan on going back, again!

My experience with the CCS Tanzania program was a great one. The staff was absolutely amazing, and I considered them to be my family away from home. In addition to the volunteer placement, I was able to go on safari and to nearby Zanzibar on the weekends. This was an experience that I will never forget. The town Bagamoyo (where I volunteered) means "lay down your heart," in Swahili. I definitely left part of my heart there.

Volunteering with CCS was very mediocre. Yes, they give you food and a place to sleep, but the staff seemed very over protective and more concerned with rules than with preparing their volunteers to do useful, sustainable work. The best part of my trip was when I left the home base and spent 2 weeks traveling in Tanzania on my own. While with CCS, I worked with a local public health organization and found out during my time there that the program staff really had no idea what the organization does and could offer no advice on how to help them in a sustainable way. Also, the program is extremely expensive and I always got nebulous responses when I asked what the money was used for. Additionally, the program staff didn’t seem to understand that after having paid the tremendous program fee, I was now travelling on a very tight budget. All of their suggestions for post-program travel were for the fancy “mzungu” (white person) hotels and busses and beaches which is not at all what I was looking for. While at the program base, there are so many required activities that I didn’t feel that I got much of a chance to explore the town where we were working or get to know local people – I spent most of my time getting carted around from one activity to the next with upper-middle class white Americans. The program staff even found it strange when I would refuse a ride to my placement which was a mere 5-minute walk from the homebase. I did learn a fair amount of basic Swahili there, but I can’t say that was thanks to the lessons that we had. Our teacher was less than spectacular and mostly gave us long lists of vocabulary words that she would read out loud to us. If you’re really looking for an easy and comfortable first trip out to another country CCS will give you that, but if you’re looking for a deeper experience with a lower price tag I would recommend looking elsewhere.