Tanzania

I had a great experience volunteering in Tanzania. I worked in a hospital and was exposed to many different diseases I don't see at home. It was quite the experience to see healthcare in a developing country. I enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone in a new city and trying new experiences. I traveled on the weekends. I met a lot of interesting people from that country and also from other countries. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I was in Arusha, Tanzania for ten days. While the trip was roughly short due to my school starting so soon Projects Abroad was so incredibly helpful! They oriented me to the city my first full day in Arusha and provided support before I left. They helped me obtain a visa, a work permit, vaccinations, and placed me with a wonderful host family! My host family was so incredible as well as my placement in the labor ward at Mount Meru Hospital. I got to assist with many births and had a wonderful time learning new things from the doctors, nurses, and students that were in their residency program there.
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Projects Abroad. They were so supportive and checked in every day to make sure I felt comfortable with my host family as well as my hospital placement. I highly recommend volunteering abroad with Projects Abroad, and of course I recommend going to Arusha for the beautiful people and the beautiful scenery!

I decided to volunteer with Give a Heart to Africa Women Empowerment in Tanzania because I wanted to volunteer with a small organization, which didn't have large overhead costs, so that I knew I would be directly impacting the local community.

At the time, I had just graduated from my undergraduate studies in International Development and African Studies (I studied Swahili!) and I was eager to have an opportunity to see what I had learned in the classroom at the ground level in East Africa.

I will always remember the people I met during my trip - both my fellow volunteers and the students at Give a Heart to Africa. This was my first overseas volunteer experience by myself and I always felt welcome. It was such a positive and safe volunteering experience.

I learned so much from each and every one of them and they impacted my life in so many ways that I did not expect. I still continue to keep in contact with my fellow volunteers and with many of the students. I love hearing about their success stories - how the resources they gained from the classroom helped them to improve their livelihoods.

My worldview was enhanced in the most amazing ways as a result of volunteering for Give a Heart to Africa. I believe experiencing life in Tanzania was very humbling. I had an opportunity to connect with our students and had insight into their lives. This gave me a greater appreciation for everything I sometimes take for granted at home - especially my education.

This past summer I spent two weeks volunteering with Projects Abroad in Tanzania for the Care and Community High School Special program. I spent two weeks building a kitchen for East Africa Orphanage in Arusha with five other volunteers. In addition, we spent time with the children at Fruitful Orphanage in Arusha teaching and playing games with them.

During my time in Tanzania, I lived with a host family with the other volunteers sharing a room with two other girls. The food was delicious and I felt very at home in the house and with the family. I was provided a bed with sheets, pillow, blanket, and a space for clothing. I had to bring my own towel.

Over the weekend we went on a safari, hiked around a lake in the jungle and visit a real Maasai village. We also tool short classes on Swahili and the Maasai culture. On the first day in Arusha we were given a tour of the city.

There were time when the electricity would go out in Arusha and we were left with only solar powered lights and no hot water but even then were were always given a hot mean and felt totally comfortable.

The staff was always very helpful and I enjoyed spending the two weeks with my program coordinators.

Living and spending all my time with the other volunteers we got very close. We played card games every night and talked about the day and our lives. I am still in contact with the other volunteers and talk to them often.

Last I would like to emphasize that I NEVER felt uncomfortable or unsafe during my time with Projects Abroad.

I HIGHLY recommend Projects Abroad and the High School Program. It is absolutely life changing to meet the children and know I am improving their lives. After this trip I know I want to spend my life working in third-world countries helping children receive the education they deserve.

MOSHI - Tanzania

My girlfriend (23) and I (24) spent 4 weeks in Tanzania (Moshi) doing a volunteer program.

First of all I have to say that it has been the best life experience I have ever had. We lived in a guest house with other amazing volunteers all over the world. We lived as a family and we had two incredible local people living with us, who take care, shared moments and cooked for all of us.

I worked in a Hospital (I finished my 5th year in Medicine degree) as a volunteer. I went there every morning. I took an easy ride with a funny bus to the hospital. There I could attend the morning passes, I could go to operating room and help also in some operations. I spent some time in the emergency department. It was an incredible experience. I could share knowledge with local doctors, learn from them and try to do my best in order to help the patients.

Afternoons I often went to the orphanage where my girlfriend volunteered and play with the children and also take care of them. Then evenings and weekends we spent most of our time with the other volunteers. Going to karaoke and having a beer and chating with locals was one of our main hobbies. People there is really friendly, they speak quite a good english and like talking with foreigners and everything was really safe, none of was got in troubles or something that people can thing before going to other countries.

Weekends we used to make excursions, ride bikes, visit falls or even caffe plantations.. It is a life experience that I strongly suggest to anyone that want to spend some time abroad and want to have an amazing experience!!

I went on my five week expedition with Projects Abroad in January of 2015. However, my experience with Projects Abroad started long before that point.

Projects Abroad came to my school every year during the volunteer fair at the beginning of the school year. The people at the booth were always friendly and knew a lot about the program. They sold its diversity and because of those booths, I kept this organization on the back of my mind. In the summer of 2014 I was finally ready to actually try going abroad and volunteering. The Projects Abroad website provided me with all of the information that I needed and it was easy to navigate. After I applied, the support I received was phenomenal.

In Tanzania, I was in the Medicine program at Mwananyamala Hospital in Dar Es Salaam. That experience was what made everything worth it. During the five weeks that I was at the hospital, I rotated through the laboratory, the minor surgical ward, the major surgical ward, obstetrics, gynaecology, and paediatrics. The doctors in most of the wards were extremely helpful and taught us a lot of the medicine that they were practicing. It was a very hands on experience and I not only got to learn a lot, but I got to do a lot as well.

A really cool thing that they did in Dar Es Salaam was have Dirty Days. These days wouldn't be spent doing the normal project, but would instead have all of the volunteers from all of the programs come together and help the community. I ended up spending a day at an orphanage and another day painting a couple classrooms.

The only critique that I have has to do with how I ended up choosing my country. There are so many places to go that narrowing down your choices has to do with 1) Your personal travelling desires and 2) The differences between the programs between countries. For me, the differences of the medical program were not clearly defined during my investigation phase and I was personally told that every country, in Africa, was the same. Part of me felt lucky that I had chosen to go to Tanzania and had gotten the hands on experience I did. However, because I did not go to any other country with Projects Abroad, I cannot conclusively say that my experience would have been any worse of better had I instead chosen to go to Ghana, which had been my original first choice.

Overall, the experience was completely worth it. There was so much support from Projects Abroad that it felt like it was impossible to go wrong.

In January 2015, I volunteered abroad in Arusha, Tanzania with Projects Abroad. I spent 5 weeks working on the Microfinance project, and had an amazing experience! I’ve always been interested in travel, volunteering and entrepreneurship, so this was the perfect project for me as we got to spend time working with women to build individual and group businesses.

My host family, staff, and other volunteers were very welcoming and friendly which made the experience even better. I’ve actually kept in touch and have visited some of the volunteers I met during my time in Arusha. The project was very interesting, and revolved around us managing microloans for the women we worked with. We would help them keep track of their books and we would spend time working with them on English and Math lessons. We also gave them feedback for their businesses and helped come up with new ideas for group businesses. On the weekends, I had plenty of time to explore the country. Two big highlights for me would be getting to go on a safari, and getting to visit a Maasai village. Overall this was an amazing experience that I urge everyone to try at least once!

Unforgettable trip! My 10-year old daughter and I spent two weeks in Tanzania and it exceeded all our hopes. I was hoping my daughter would learn that she can make a difference in the lives of others, and indeed, she came back sharing with others her experience - the friendly people in Tanzania, and some of the challenges and how we can help. I was likewise surprised by the incredibly welcoming environment, very happy to get to know people in the Rau Village where we stayed, and make a difference in the lives of many students at a local school and orphanage. We, were comfortable, happy, we made a difference, and we also had great fun seeing animals, scenery, and exploring the wonderful country of Tanzania.

Highly recommended trip!

The Discover Corps Tanzania 14-day trip exceeded my expectations. We helped teach English to school children and worked to renovate one classroom. We also visited a local orphanage and took supplies, plus met twice with a local family in their home.
The itinerary was exceptional. We took four major outings: spent a day at a Masai village, hiked the lower portions of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and spend two days on photo safaris. We also visited a coffee plantation, saw two different dance performances, learned how to batik, created a painting and had a bit of shopping.
I left Tanzania with a personal connection to the people and the culture and felt I had helped it some small way. I would do it again without hesitation.

I volunteered with Cross Cultural Solutions in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania in June of 2015 and completely fell in love. This program absolutely exceeded my expectations and the in country director and staff is amazing. I truly feel like I now have a family in Tanzania. I felt that it was a well balanced program with volunteering and cultural activities. The guest speakers really gave me a deeper insight into the culture. I think the program fee was completely worth the experience I gained and I could never have gained this experience just as a tourist on my own. The food was exceptional and I felt totally taken care of throughout the entire program. This is a great organization and they were very organized through the entire process of my volunteer experience from start to finish.

I highly recommend this organization!