Make a REAL difference in Tanzania with Love Volunteers!

I volunteered as part of the Community Development project in Tanzania April 2016 for 4 weeks and the experience has been amazing.

Once you get past the culture shock, there is so much beauty in the country that it's hard to be anything but happy during the whole duration of your stay. I fell in love.

I was staying at the hostel owned by the NGO the whole 4 weeks I was there. There is running water, security, electricity, 3 meals a day and Wi-Fi, although inconsistent and you'd be better off getting a SIM card with a data bundle if you'll be there for a while. The staff are all extremely friendly and fairly helpful in giving tips and advise to aid you.

We did a couple of projects in my time there which included building a pond, planting vegetables and painting the playground of a local self sustaining orphanage, planting trees at a couple of primary schools and around the streets where the hostel is located. Each completed day was met with smiles of gratitude and appreciation by the locals which definitely made it more rewarding. The only thing was the scheduling. Tanzanians are quite relaxed with the concept of time so you might get frustrating sitting around and just waiting to get started.

There are plenty of ways to get around town on fairly cheap public transport too if transport is a worry to you. The local buses only costs you TSH400 (USD$0.20) per ride and if it's too cramped, there are taxis, tuk tuks or motorcyle taxis to choose from.

I definitely suggest budgeting a couple of trips during your stay in Tanzania as well. Safaris are a must do in Africa and in Tanzania, I highly recommend Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park. Unrivalled experience. If you're keen on climbing mountains, Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, is there too. The hostel staff can help you book these trips for cheaper so wait till you arrive to decide.

I've met great people along the way and have received so much support and help from both the NGO and Love Volunteers themselves. It is my first volunteering experience and I wouldn't have wanted it to have happen any other way.

Overall I had an amazing experience and don't have any bad things to say.

I had a terrible experience volunteering in Tanzania through Love Volunteers. I stayed there for a month with two of my friends. We are teenagers who wanted to do some good service work abroad. However, throughout the month, we were continuously lied to by the head of the NGO we worked with. He lied to us about how big the impact each project would be (turns out we spent 4 days installing a water system for a school only to find out that the purpose was to eliminate a 30 second walk for the students), and lied to us about the costs of the projects. We brought money to pay for the projects, and he give us ridiculous prices for all the supplies. Even his own employees were shocked when they saw how expensive he claimed the supplies cost, and they said there was no way those were the correct prices. Still, he took our money and probably most of it went into his own pocket. Several times throughout the stay he showed extremely aggressive behavior towards me and my friends, and yelled at me several times just because I would ask him questions about the projects or prices of supplies. When I reported all of this to Love Volunteers they promised to take action, but in the end they still decided to keep their partnership with this NGO. Do not volunteer here if you are looking for meaningful service work, or if you don't want to be taken advantage of.

I felt the "NGO" that Love Volunteers works with in Tanzania is a total scam. The director was extremely rude, aggressive, and made our stay at the hostel quite uncomfortable.

The "work" that they do in the community is not at all meaningful or impactful. The director himself said that the schools and orphanages don't care about the projects. Volunteers are often told to do gardening work at a school or orphanage, where as soon as they leave the work falls into disrepair and the NGO does no following up and will simply wait until another volunteer shows up and then send them off to do the same project over again.

The director of the NGO spends his time running the hostel and arranging safaris for guests, and takes on volunteers so he has money coming into the hostel. He sends them off to schools or orphanages and isn't concerned with the work they're doing. I absolutely would not recommend this program or any others with Love Volunteers. After I, along with the other volunteers went to them to explain everything that had happened, they said they were "investigating" things, but ultimately they continue to send this organization volunteers.

I volunteer for a week in an environmental project. The program was to build veggie garden for schools and plant trees. The student would eat the veggies from the garden for more nutritions in their diet.

Accommodation was in a secure hostel with three local meals a day and friendly staff. In the first day, they showed me the town and previous projects they have done. Everyday after breakfast, we took bicycle rides to the school, then work a bit, and we go back at around noon when it gets very hot. Then we have lunch at the hostel and then you have the rest of the time for yourself.

On the weekend they can organise tours for you. I went to Mt. Meru waterfall on the weekend. You could also visit a Maasai village.

It was a good experience. learned how people in the village live and was immersed into the culture.

I volunteered in Tanzania for 2 weeks in October 2012 through Love Volunteers and loved it. Organising tmy trip through Love Volunteers was great, they were helpful, friendly and efficient and were flexible enough that I was able to change things once I was there.

The placements in Tanzania were fantastic, I spent time in the Orphanage, School, Daycare Centre and with the widows groups. Everyone is friendly and welcoming and the whole experience was fantastic. The country coordinator is very welcoming and allows you the flexibility of being able to see all the projects and deciding which you like best. The children are so appreciative of any time you spend with them and always extremely happy.

The facilities are quite basic - bucket showers etc (although with a trip to Africa I was expecting this) and it is amazing how quickly you get used to a much more simple life.

During my short stay I meet amazing people and experienced a different and beautiful culture. I would love to go back and would recommend it to everyone.