Women's Empowerment Project - Volunteer in Tanzania

I spent 4 weeks with Give a Heart to Africa and it was not long enough for me! GHTA is such a special organisation. The small and grass-roots nature makes for an experience that is very personal and you make a very real difference in your time there. With GHTA you are so much more than a tiny cog in a huge machine of an NGO.

The program is very well run and I felt looked after throughout my time in Tanzania (speaking as a solo student without prior experience in the country). There is also a great honesty and transparency to the running of things which is hugely refreshing.

A typical day would involve teaching in the morning (I taught English) followed by lunch and working with the kids program for neighbourhood children or helping out at one of our co-ops in town.

There is also great flexibility for getting the most out of your time in Tanzania, as well as lots of advice on how to go about it, be it safari or a weekend in Zanzibar.

The highlights for me were the home visits to a student that are conducted once a week. It was a fantastic opportunity to see how the students live and learn more about each others cultures.

Overall, I can't recommend GHTA highly enough to anyone who wants to make a real difference and have a great time while doing it.

I volunteered at GHTA for two weeks, and my only regret was that I couldn't stay longer. I've been a teacher for 20 years, and have never experienced students so eager to learn, so excited to be there, and so appreciative of the opportunity! Although I've never taught English, there were clear and detailed lesson plans to follow, so it didn't take long to get the hang of it. As others have said, there are translators in all the classes, so don't worry about not speaking Swahili! If you do want to learn some Swahili, though, you'll find the students eager and happy to teach you, and it's fun to be able to learn from each other :-)

The volunteer house was safe, clean, and comfortable, located right at the school in a nice colonial-style house surrounded with beautiful vegetation. You can walk or take an inexpensive taxi into town to buy food for your breakfast and lunch, and lovely, always-smiling Margaret cooks dinner for the volunteers every night. It was hot in January when I was there (the peak of summer), but you get used to it after a few days. You realize that, even though your living conditions there aren't what you are used to at home, they far surpass the locals' living conditions, and seeing local life is a real eye-opener.

Monika, who founded and runs the program, is terrific in every way! She was very responsive by email in advance, so all questions were answered and you will arrive prepared, and on-site she always made sure we all had whatever we needed. You can learn a lot by watching her interact with the students and other locals. I really enjoyed her combination of warmth, spunk, determination, humor, and know-how.

I would go back in a heartbeat, and hope to be able to return soon. Even though the program name implies that the volunteers are giving a heart to Africa, I personally felt like the women of GHTA gave a heart to me. You should go. It will change your life, too!

Most rewarding. I've never seen students more enthusiastic. Great adventure like nothing I've ever done. Can't wait to return.
Certainly loved the scenery and doing some climbing of Kilimanjaro. Also, went to Serengeti on safari. Not to be missed!

I volunteered at GHTA for 2 months as a Maths teacher, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to make a real difference in a community that needs it. GHTA is a relatively small organisation in Moshi where everyone's individual contribution really mattered, and this was perfect for me - you really get out what you put in.

* My review turned out longer than I expected, so I've broken it up into sections for you:

1) VOLUTEERING

Teaching the Mamas was both a joy and a very humbling experience, as they were just so keen and eager to learn. Each volunteer teacher is paired with a local translator who is familiar with the course, and together we taught the Mamas from 9am-12pm, four days a week (Mon-Thurs). It was challenging at times, trying to figure out how to help them best understand a concept, but patience, perseverance and creativity won through every time. It's particularly rewarding to see how pleased your Mamas are when they realise how much they have learned - especially given that many of them haven't studied past standard 7, and most haven't been in school for many many years.

Every Monday and Thursday from 2-4pm, we ran a play group for our students' children as well as other children who live close to GHTA. Together, we would play football, hopscotch, skip, dance, build lego structures, make arts and crafts, read, colour and draw, and just generally have a good laugh! I really do miss the children, they are funny and energetic and beautiful and so loving.

Fridays were reserved for home visits - this is where we spend the morning visiting a Mama from our school, to meet and get to know her and her family in her home, and observe first hand her living conditions. These home visits gave great insight into how our Mamas lived and I really enjoyed getting to know our Mamas better.

2) FREE TIME

I found that I had plenty of time to experience Tanzanian culture. We volunteers usually spent our weekends exploring Tanzania: We went on Safari to Tarangire NP, Serengeti NP and Ngorogoro Crater (super highly recommended), went to Zanzibar, did a day hike of Kili (though if I had my time again I would have done a whole week hike and skipped the day hike), visited Arusha and Marangu waterfalls. I also visited our watchman's Masai village past Arusha which I found fascinating. During the week, we would hang out in Moshi at the local shops, pools, restaurants and bars, etc... Personally, I loved watching local football matches - there were some at the university next to our school (the winning team won a cow!), as well as a league that my translator played in 20 minutes away from our school. I also bought a guitar from a shop and spent a chunk of time teaching others how to play the guitar – my students were friends of GHTA, our watchmen and even some Mamas! I loved these more personal experiences, and made some really good friends along the way.

3) GHTA - THE ORGANISATION

Monika runs GHTA, and she looks after her volunteers well. She gives us enough guidance so that we have an idea of what to expect in terms of volunteering and living in the volunteer house, but also gives us a lot of independence and freedom to do our own thing. I really liked this approach. Our volunteer house was comfortable and safe and had everything we needed (although electricity and water did turn off every once in a while, but this is a Tanzania wide issue). Monika is honest and a straight shooter, and she'll do her best to help you out. At the same time, it is also up to you to ask her questions and bring things to her attention if you need anything.

I also particularly liked how 100% of my volunteer fee went to supporting the school. The only paid staff are the Tanzanian translators, watchmen, cook and cleaner, and Monika really does try to run the school as efficiently as possible. And the volunteer fee is really very reasonable ($300 a week for the first 4 weeks, and $150 for every week after that).

What also impressed me was how donations to GHTA for particular purposes actually went to those particular purposes. (Eg. Sponsorship intended for supporting a past student's further education actually was used for the past student's further education). As a small organisation, it is easier to track these donations, and I feel comfortable donating money to GHTA because I know that nothing is lost in overhead costs, and will actually go to the 'cause' I ask for the funds to go to.

4) SUMMARY

Sorry for the essay, but I really did love my experience at GHTA and wanted to give you as much information as possible! In short, Moshi and these Mamas are a community that will benefit so much from your decision to volunteer there. It is a welcoming community, and if you immerse yourself into the experience, you will make such a difference and feel incredibly rewarded at the same time. I highly recommend volunteering with GHTA, and am happy to answer any questions you may have - just give me a shout.

Volunteering with GHTA was such an amazing experience - I wish I had stayed longer! The people living in Moshi were incredibly welcoming and Monika and the staff made me feel at home. I made friends who I still keep in touch with and we even organized weekend excursions, such as going on a safari. The program is well organized and designed so you really feel like you are making an impact in the community. I felt safe and secure both in the town of Moshi and in the volunteer house. I would recommend this volunteer experience wholeheartedly.

I volunteered with GHTA a few years ago, but still remember the experience like it was last month. I was only eighteen when I visited, but felt supported and safe for the time I was there. The staff of the organisation were inspirational in themselves, their ambitions were so selfless. It was great to see real impact being made. Unlike other agencies, where you pay a lot without really seeing where your money is going (into bureaucrats pockets), this organisation gives back everything it gets. The teaching side of things was difficult to begin with, but with structured lesson plans, a translator and fellow volunteers to help you, it became easier. I came to really enjoy it. It was a big, incredible adventure. I met some people in Tanzania I will never ever forget, and I thank them for a wonderful experience, that was indeed life changing.

I volunteered for GHTA at the end of 2009. It was not an ideal time to go as the school itself was closed for most of my time there (Christmas break). I think I taught English for about a week, when the school-reopened. The students were great, and very eager to learn. Despite the bad timing, Monika arranged for my friend and I to volunteer in one of the student's homes, where she ran a make-shift school for children. That was a truly great experience and I'm thankful for that opportunity. I still keep in touch with the woman and her daughters to this day.

I'm not a fan of paying to volunteer (had a bad experience in Kenya that has left me quite cynical!), but I support this cause. It's small, it's legit, and I would/have recommended this program to those interested in international volunteering.

I also want to add that Monika introduced us to a good friend of her's who operates a Kilimanjaro trekking company. I kept in touch with her and two years later, returned to Moshi and did the climb. I don't think I would have ever considered climbing Kilimanjaro had I not talked to her friend. And that climb was life-changing. So thank you GHTA!

This is a relatively small project, that delivers great results, and because it is small, you are completely involved from the moment you arrive. I taught English at the school, and was completely humbled by these women, and some men, who turned up every day to learn, always impeccably turned out despite the often abject conditions they were living in. My experience with these wonderful people, in this wonderful part of the world, gave me a very different perspective on life, and I hope, made me a better person. It was also loads of fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone!