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If you want to volunteer abroad in Africa then Tanzania and Kenya are your options with Outreach International. Tanzania is one of the largest countries in Africa. A country with stunning landscapes and warm, friendly people makes it a great location if you want to volunteer in community project. The projects we support are humanitarian projects seeking to help local communities.
Volunteers have the opportunity to support a number of projects centred around semi-rural town of Moshi, in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. Volunteers work with children in a good but basically equipped school, as well as offering support to children’s refuges that offer care and a home to children who can no longer be supported or looked after by their family.
Creative volunteers with an arts background have a rare opportunity to get involved with an arts and crafts business cooperative. This provides young Tanzanians with training in life skills to earn a living.
Medical students, doctors and nurses wishing to volunteer can consider helping in a local medical centre to gain experience in an African outpatient clinic. This is a great opportunity for students seeking a career in medicine or volunteers qualified in medicine who would like to help on a project in Africa, and potentially help on outreach medical tours into local villages.
On the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme, Tanzania ranked 152nd of 187 countries in 2013. It is estimated that one third of the 45 million Tanzanians live below the basic needs poverty line, and well below the international poverty line. Poverty reduction has been slow and unevenly shared.
There is an evocative mixture of people and cultures including the Masai, Sukuma and Chagga who live in the Moshi area, farming the foothills of Kilimanjaro where our projects are located. Despite having over 120 tribes, Tanzania has successfully become one nation, in part due to the adoption of Kiswahili as the national language.
Accommodation is in a simple and comfortable guesthouse close to the projects.
A quarter of its 95 million hectares is designated as ‘wildlife protected areas’, which is more than the combined area of France and Belgium. This includes such famous areas as the great Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. The massive game parks, challenges of Mt Kilimanjaro, stunning beaches and beauty of Zanzibar provide opportunities for volunteer travel outside of their project work.
See more of our volunteer projects available in Tanzania
Benjee has a first degree in Psychology and a Masters in Economics, Policy, Management and Society, specialising in Sustainable Tourism Development, from the University of Oregon, USA. He has worked on development projects in Spain, Nigeria, Jamaica and Uganda before settling in Tanzania. He now lives in Moshi, is the managing director of our medical research project and through this has close connections with our other Tanzania initiatives.
Moshi and Arusha provide an excellent gateway to the safaris in Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire national parks. Different safaris of different lengths and accommodation types can be found to suit all budgets.
If you have the time to add a week on your trip, then think about taking your adventure up Mount Kilimanjaro. The approach walk will take you through an ever changing landscape and layers of forest, before finally summiting in snow-capped peaks. Day hikes can also give you a flavour of the trip.
Discover how the coffee is farmed and produced locally in a tour of the cooperative coffee plantations at Materuni, which can be extended to include a short trek up into the beautiful hills, past local farms, to an impressive 70 metre waterfall
A 90 minute drive out from Moshi will take you to an incredible an oasis in the middle of a scrub area, where you can swim in an idyllic natural spring. A perfect place to while away a Sunday afternoon.
A trip to Lake Chala will allow you to enjoy the great outdoors free-style. A massive lake that borders both Tanzania and Kenya, you can kayak on the lake and camp in the park (with the right permissions)
Kiswahili is the official language and will be widely spoken. It is a fun language to have a go at. English is spoken in business and education and you will usually be able to get long if you are in town. Rural areas are more difficult.
Tourist visas can be obtained on entry and then these need to be upgraded to volunteer permits when you are settled. This is done by your Outreach in-country coordinator in Moshi. Permits for over 90 days can be expensive ($650USD at time of writing).
The Tanzanian Shilling (TZS) is the local currency, although you will find US Dollars can be used for tours and even taxis, although often at less favourable rates. There are c. TZS3,250 to £1 GBP at time of writing.
Even if the air temperature is moderate, the sun is strong and normal precautions need to be taken. Moshi is a relatively quiet semi-rural town that is used to tourists and volunteers. Nevertheless volunteers need to be aware of the risk of petty theft or robbery, especially at night.
