Community Development Project in Arusha,Tanzania

Project Overview

   This project is a great way to get a board and diverse experience of volunteering in a community development project in Africa and gain a great cultural experience at the same time. This project is involved in a number of welfare and development programs so giving you that broader volunteering and learning experience.

   The project involves a two day orientation in Arusha and briefing of the project to come. A Swahili lesson will be given to help volunteers intenerate better and have a more profound effect in their work.

   The project than takes volunteers to a remote village located near Nduruma ward, deep into the Maasai steppe. Here volunteers will participate in the following programs:

• Teaching – Plan and implement English, Sports and Healthcare lessons in a Maasai primary school. Work with a volunteer coordinator and Maasai Translator in creating an affective teaching plan for English and healthcare lessons. The children at the Maasai primary school are under educated and are not receiving the proper attention that they need. Most days they receive up to only 2 hours of teaching per day.

Health care is very primitive in the village and most cannot afford to treat simple illnesses. Many of these diseases and illness can be prevented with simple health care education. We intend to educate the children in this area so that they can prevent and reduce potential and unnecessary health issues.

Sports and recreation sessions in the school is a time where more than often the pupils are left to their own devises with no equipment. We aim to provide productive sports sessions and equipment for the pupils and develop their physical fitness and skills.

• Maasai Educational Community Outreach – Volunteers in Tanzania will spend a good amount of their time living closely in the Maasai village and will get to know the community members well. This includes getting to know their culture and their hardship. The community is poor and often only survives on livestock. Education is minimal and tourism and conservation concerns are pushing these people out and reducing their lands for their livestock to graze on and to find water and live on.

Many of the Elders and warriors want to learn English and business skills but cannot afford to go to school. The Maasai women also want to learn but are confined to their homes and attending to their role in their society which comprises of child care other home activities.

   Learn from the truly unique sustainable life style that they lead and understand more about their needs. This program is here to bring about a better understand and awareness of one another’s cultures.    

            This is a chance for our volunteers to engage in a relationship with a few of the    Community members and for us to teach English, Health care and any other       

Previous experience or qualifications we have, such as teaching, business,             agricultural, animal husbandry, irrigation qualifications.  

If Volunteers feel they have no previous experience in these areas then there is plenty of practical work to be involved with in the village such as building work on the water project or village school development.

• Orphanage Care and Development – Maasai International Challenge Africa work with Olokii Children’s center where currently 120 orphaned children, aged form 6 months to 14, live. The center has to provide food, shelter, healthcare, education, and guardian support for all these children. This is a large responsibility and also costly. Much of the running costs are funded by volunteers and visitors. Each volunteer that participated in this project, Global Safaris give a donation to the running of the center.

Volunteers will assist in the running of the Orphanage. This will include the following activities:

• Teaching Lessons to the day school pupils and assisting with home work for those whom are educated in the local primary schools.
• Leading recreational sessions in their free time, in terms of story reading, sports activities, singing songs etc…
• Small building projects in the centers grounds. This can be an organic garden, chicken coup, playing facilities or small building facility.  
• Emotional care and support. With so many children at the orphanage the orphanage support workers do not have the time to tend to all the children’s emotional needs and many go unchecked.  
• Decorating the Orphanage building in terms of paintings and educational posters.

Extra Activities Included

   During the weekend our project volunteers have some time off to relax and get to enjoy some of the wonderful things to offer in area that they are staying in. This includes taking a cycling ride up through the banana plantations and forest of the Great Rift Valley wall. Arrive at the Rift valleys waterfalls and swim in the natural pools.

   Take the change to see some of Tanzania’s great wildlife by going on an afternoon’s safari trip deep into the Maasai steppe. Whiteness Elephants, Giraffe, Zebra, Gazelle, Ostrich, Fish Eagle and a diverse range of other Tanzanian wildlife and bird life.  

   Spend a day by the pool side taking in the African Sun, and beautiful environment spending some hard earned rest after the weeks work.

   Visit the local Maasai market and immerge yourself in their culture, foods, drinks and then after join a Maasai celebration with song and dance.

 Project Itinerary

Arrivals are on the 1^st Sunday of the month.

The first Monday and Tuesday of week one are spent in Arusha where volunteers receive an Orientation day, Briefing, Swahili lessons, town visit and sightseeing.

The time table that volunteers will follow once out in Nduruma is as follows:

Mondays: Maasai Village community work

Tuesdays: Orphanage care

Wednesdays: Orphanage  care

Thursdays: Teaching at Maasai primary school and Maasai Market

Fridays: Teaching at Maasai Primary school

Saturday: Day trips

Sunday: Day of rest

Location

   During the first two days of the project you will be located in the centre of Arusha Town which is roughly one hour away from Kilimanjaro International Airport or 10 minutes drive from Arusha central coach station.

   The rest of the project is located at Nduruma ward, 1 hours drive from Arusha where volunteering is in two nearby villages called Olokii Village 

Accommodation and Food

   The first 2 days will be located in our volunteer house in Arusha. The volunteer house will allow you to meet other volunteers who are on the same project as you or working on other projects in the area. It is a great change to share ideas and support one another in you experience.

   The house provides a comfortable, safe, homely environment and includes shared living facilities, running water, hot showers, western style bathroom facilities and TV/DVD sitting room for rest and recreation in the evenings.

   The Accommodation for the rest of the stay will be located at Oldenderiti village and will be simple shared or single living arrangements with shared Bathroom facilities.

   Three meals will be provided each and every day at both accommodations, and normally consists of a variety of local style foods, Meats, seafood’s and vegetarian options.

 Qualification requirements

   There are no specific qualifications that are necessary to volunteer in this program; just a good dose of enthusiasm and any previous experience is warmly welcomed. Whether you are a gap year student, undergraduate, on a career break, looking for something different from life or retired everyone is welcomed onto this program.  

 Skills requirements

   You need to be able to work comfortably by yourself and be self motivated as there are times where you are left to your own devises.

Physical fitness

   Volunteers need to be physically fit as the project requires movement from one place to the other and at some times being on your feet for long periods of time. Also the local environment can take its toll on some people especially those who are not use to tropical weather or the African heat. This climatic condition can tier some people very quickly and in some cases if spent too long in the sun can make you feel ill.

Know before you go

   Remember that there is an addition Volunteer Visa cost of $250 which will be dealt with in country after your arrivals to Arusha,Tanzania. Also take care in knowing what medical insurance and vaccinations to take before your departure. Will we provide you with all the relevant information and advice once you have signed up to this project?

 Optional Extra Activities

   For further information on the below activities contact Maasai Land Explorer

• Safari – Serengeti, Nogorogoro Creator, Tarangrie, Lake Manyara, Masai Mara and Arusha national Park.   
• Zanzibar Beach resorts.
• Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru Climbs.

Enrolment

   To enroll, fill in our volunteer application form located at Maasai Land Explorer website www.maasailandexplorer.com.   

Please add a letter of motivation in English describing yourself and explain why you wish to work as a volunteer, attached with a picture of yourself.

Upon receipt of your enrolment, we will mail you a confirmation, an invoice, and a pre-departure handbook.

    Your program fee contributes towards personalized volunteer placement, project donation, language instruction, cultural education, meals, accommodation and transportation to and from all Maasai Land Explorer placements and programs. It also contributes towards pre-departure guidance from Maasai Land Explorer headquarters staff and 24 hour access to in-country staff.

Let us serve the poor, the unfortunate and the lonely according to the graces we have received. Let us do the humble work adventurously with enthusiasm.

Whenever you think, you alone won’t make much a difference to the deprived

Remember: You alone matter MUCH to them.

 Contact info

Maasai Land Explorer

5th Maasai Land Explorer Office HQ

P.O. BOX 14,950 Arusha -Tanzania

Tel/Fax; +255 767 707 352

Website; www.maasailandexplorer.com.   ; E-mail; info@maasailandexplorer.com