The Most Affordable Volunteer in Tanzania - 25K happy Volunteers Since 2006

Medical volunteering was rewarding and interesting. I was able to use my experience as a nurse to give extra help to the nurses and doctors in the Emergency Room at KCMC. During my time there, I felt useful and welcomed. I loved collaborating with them and sharing stories of how we practice medicine in America. I was also able to offer medical recommendations and practica advice to help improve the emergency room.
My accommodation was very nice and the house was clean. My host mom, Mama Alice, was lovely and felt like my real mother. I always felt like part of a big family. There were other volunteers staying in the house, which made for fun and interesting dinners. Some of them will be life long friends and I am looking forward to visiting them in their home countries. Overall, it was an amazing experience.

I had a great experience volunteering with IFRE in Tanzania. The project was overwhelming in itself. The process was very smooth.

I was greeted by the country coordinator at the airport and she took me to my accommodation. I stayed with the host family and they were very nice. The next day I went to the Orphanage, which is located at the foot of Kilimanjaro in the town of Moshi. It provides shelter and care for the most neglected children in Tanzania. My responsibilities included teaching kids, playing with them, helping them with day to day activities. I had many great memories with the kids there.

During the weekend and I visited the Moshi town, Makoa Waterfalls and the Kilimanjaro Region.

All of these contributed in making my experience a great one. I definitely would have stayed more if it was a possibility.

Today is my first day back in the USA following my teaching stint at Moshi, Tanzania. I spent three weeks traveling the country after I concluded my month at Majengo Secondary School.

This message is in response to a query from you (in late July, I think) asking about my experience with IFRE and the time I spent in Moshi.

I have only positive things to say about my stay in Tanzania. I never had to call on your organization for help because I was given such strong, ongoing support by the Country Coordinator, Mama Alice Mkonyi.

I’d like to offer some further detail about the stalwart job she’s doing for you there.

The accommodations could be fairly described as “no-frills,” but that after all is what one expects in a volunteer job in Tanzania; you know you’re not going to be housed in the Hilton. Alice runs a good, well-managed house, always clean and well-kept. The meals were sumptuous and healthy, and always served at regular times. Each day I was given a box lunch to take with me to school.

The thing I found most praiseworthy about Alice was the special motherly concern she took in the young volunteers who were staying there. She was constantly asking if they had any problems or if there was any way she could help them – and she frequently did just that.

Moshi is her town. She knows all the prominent people in the institutions there: schools, hospitals, orphanages. I can cite a good half-dozen examples of volunteers not being entirely satisfied with their initial postings. Alice was always able, within a day, to find them something better suited to them, thereby making their experience more rewarding. There was no delay on the changes. She has connections and moves fast.

We ate dinner together every night, and I won’t soon forget the warm, family-style atmosphere she created and the wide-ranging, interesting conversations we had. She really cares in a personal way for the people assigned to her.

She had a lot of good advice for the volunteers on things to do and see in the area, and was helpful in suggesting affordable transportation alternatives. She always knew how to get things done in the community. She hooked me up with a safari organizer (somebody she knew!) who turned out to be first-rate and trustworthy in every way.

Moreover, she organized several nights out for dinner that were great fun and really built a spirit of community and friendship among us.

I was a bit over-qualified for the high school I taught at. I’m an upper-level American ESL teacher, and I had to adjust to a setting of large classes and a complete lack of classroom technology. Still, the students and I hit it off and I left with the feeling that I had delivered value to them, improving their grasp of English and stimulating their interest in its possibilities for their future.

So, in conclusion, you can put me down as fully satisfied with the assignment you found for me in Moshi, Tanzania.

With best wishes,
Joe Daggett
West Columbia, South Carolina
30 October 2018

IFRE along with my host family (Mama Alice) have done a great job to make this program the best it can be. I found the process of applying very easy and I truly feel like I have gotten my moneys worth. The project is organized, my host family has been unbelievably warm and welcoming, and I've been able to get out and do some side trips on my own to really experience Tanzania. I would highly recommend this program to others.

I was placed in Moshi, Tanzania by IFRE. I had the most incredible experience. I was originally signed up to work in an Orphanage, but I would have had to walk 45 minutes every day by myself to get to the job. I decided to join the people living in the volunteer house that were teaching at a local school, and in the afternoons I went to the local orphanage that was just 5 minutes away. It was truly life changing, and I could not have asked for a better experience. I am young, only 17. I had been trying to get myself to Africa for about 3 years but the teen programs were always too expensive. I found IFRE because I was trying to find an affordable way to travel to Africa and volunteer, yet still be safe. During my trip I never felt unsafe. Deo, the in country coordinator and owner of the house, was awesome! He was super nice and funny and helped me get set up as soon as I got to Africa. The only complaint I have is that I didn't get my insurance until I was already in Tanzania, when I should have gotten it before. Other than that it was amazing. I created incredible bonds with the children I worked with and with some of the local people in Tanzania. Currently I am still connected to those people through Facebook and email! Because I enjoyed my trip so much, I am planning to go back to Tanzania! I wanted to thank IFRE for giving me the opportunity to have the incredible experience I had.