My name is Sarah, I am 19 years old and come from near Frankfurt. In October I flew to Arusha, Tanzania for 3 months.
My decision to go to Tanzania was relatively spontaneous and so I was very pleased to find an organization that made this possible. In addition, I had a very good care alone before leaving. I was helped with the selection of the project, explained to me how everything would work out and with questions I always had an immediate answer.

So I went in October to the airport. I was pretty excited! What would me
expect? How would I cope there?
After a stopover I arrived in Arusha, where I received a warm welcome from one of our volunteer supervisors. Even at night you could see how different everything was, which amazed me even more the next day. I was fascinated by the streets and houses that were actually partially dust roads, the houses were small and made of clay.

Our hostel, however, was way much bigger, partly each of us had our own room, it was nicely decorated and the location, was great.
Of course, the first day was very impressive. Everything was new and different. I met the four other volunteers, all of them from Germany, three of them stayed for 3 months, as I did, and got help from Leonie, our volunteer supervisor, who was always there for us, and organized safaris or excursions for us.

The next day I went to my project “Baby Centre”. The kids were super cute! I played with them, tried to teach them their first words, fed them or put them to bed. It was a very nice time, because the Nannys were very nice! From them you got there also a few words Kiswahili taught;)
During the weekends, together with the other volunteers from our house, we made trips together. We went for example to a waterfall close to Mt. Meru. Another weekend we went to Moshi and learned how to make your own coffee. And we even visit Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park, which we, as we were the first volunteers were given as a gift. It was simply breathtaking to see giraffes, elephants, zebras and lions in the wild. A Zoo is nothing comparing witht his experience.

After 6 weeks, however, I changed my project and then worked for another 6 weeks in the “Children’s Home in Arusha”. There the kids were a little bigger and so I taught there, played with them, partly helped with cooking and Fridays was our Sportsday :D. The work there was also a lot of fun! And I already miss the kids!
Towards the end we treated ourselves once more to Zanzibar for 5 days. You can not describe that … you have to experience that! White sand beaches, turquoise sea and really warm temperatures … and that in December;)

The people in Tanzania are very friendly! On the way to the project or back you got a “Mambo” called from all sides, which means “how are you”. You were actually invited everywhere with “caribou” (“welcome”), whether for tea or just sitting there. Often one is also invited for dinner or to the church. Anyone, whether fathers, mothers, teenagers or children, goes to church in Africa. We look forward to the church and have a happy experience. So we were very enthusiastic after the first time and were there more often. You sing, dance and really celebrate the service. It’s a happy get-together.

The farewell was of course very difficult. To say good-bye to the kids, to the friends you found there.

In these 3 months I have experienced a lot, got to know a lot of new things, met a lot of people who were very close to my heart and had an unforgettable time. It was definitely one of the best decisions I could make
Tanzania to go! I can only recommend it to anyone interested!

– Sarah