Teaching/ childcare in Tanzania

For all the first timers in Tanzania there are no words that describe how incredible this country is. The people, the place everything. I always knew that my time volunteering would impact me greatly post travel but I didnt know that aspects other than my actually placement would have such a profound affect on me I did childcare/ teaching and was based at a school called Hillcrest which was a 20 minute walk from the volunteer house. One thing I would advise is for anyone doing this program to check if the kids are on holidays during your placement. The usual kids at the school I was at were all on holiday during my placement which was a shame because I didn’t get to teach but there were a lot of local kids that were still at school in the morning so my experience with the children was still great nonetheless. A tip I’d suggest prior to coming is to plan activities for the children to do while your there or create a teaching plan so that you know roughly what you’d like to teach. I do say roughly as it’s also good to observe a class or two before coming and the children’s behaviour then develop a plan accordingly based around their curriculum and so on. The kids are amazing! You will learn just as much from them as they learn from you. Their smiles are infectious. During the weekends there are endless excursions you can go on. My two favourites which I’d definitely recommend is the 2 day Moshi trip and the 4 day safari. On the Moshi trip you get to go to a coffee plantation and make your own coffee, go to a waterfall, go to the base of Kilimanjaro and go to the most magical hot spring. The 4 day safari is majestic. You get to go to 3 national parks including Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
In Tanzania things will obviously operate differently then back home which might take some adapting. But just embrace this new situation you’re in! “Hakuna Matata” as the locals say and I’m sure you’ll be adopting that line too. Be prepared to have an experience of a lifetime.