The offer of a volunteer service here is a win-win option to gain resources for the development of this community.
Since we are well connected on site, we have the opportunity to place the right workplace for every interested person who wants to work on a project. Tell us about your wishes and ideas. All income from the placement and from the stay with us goes entirely to the project.
These are our volunteering options:
- Volunteer in our Orphanage
- Volunteer in a hospital
- Volunteer in a public school
Volunteer in our Orphanage
We currently offer an internship in our orphanage. This is currently run as a half-day school with more than 30 children aged 2-6 years. During the afternoon, the children go home again, so that the afternonns and evenings are available for free.
Do you want to know our kids you’ll stay with? Get to know them here!
Volunteer in a hospital
We have a partnership with two hospitals in Arusha. These are the St. Joseph Healthcare International Hospital, a private clinic in Arusha and the small rural hospital in Moivaro, Arusha. We have deliberately selected two very different hospitals so that you can decide where you would like to make a bet. It is also possible to work in both hospitals.
Public Hospital Leganga Arusha
This public hospital is located just outside of Arusha, but it can be reached by public transport in 25 minutes. It offers complete basic care. In the emergency room, up to 400 patients are currently treated per day. There is a small blood bank and specifically a family counseling service. The management is very committed, and there are always enough medications and bandaging materials for the work.
St. Josephs Healthcare International Hospital
This hospital is completed until 2020. The hospital has a capacity of 100 beds at 250 employees. Per day can be provided to an additional 150 outpatients. There are only private rooms with 1-2 beds in this hospital. They have their own laboratory where the most common blood tests can be carried out, as well as radiology with computed tomography, X-rays, mammography, and an MRI. A dental clinic is also available and is attached to the hospital. An emergency, a medical department, a chirugia as well as a children’s clinic and a women’s clinic with a maternity ward as well as an intensive care unit belong to the hospital. In diagnostics, the most varied examinations are carried out by means of endoscopies. As in every hospital, there is also a separate pharmacy in which the necessary medications can be obtained against prescription.
Moivaro Hospital, Arusha
This public hospital is located in an outlying district of Arusha and serves the mainly rural and living population. With 18 beds it is rather small, but quite able to provide the necessary basic medical care. There is a consultation, a small emergency, the possibility of wound care, a women’s clinic, as well as a maternity ward and a small laboratory, as well as a pharmacy. Unfortunately, this hospital, like all public hospitals in Tanzania, is equipped with only the most necessary. There is hardly any sterile material. For this, the supply of medicines is above average good.
Requirements for employment in a hospital
Medical training and a few years of professional experience are a prerequisite for success for both sides. You have to be very aware that the local health system in no way corresponds to our European requirements. You will also see and experience things that have not existed in Europe for a long time. You really need thick skin and good nerves.
What to bring:
Work clothing such as your own blood pressure meter, stethoscope and gloves must be brought along. All hospitals are happy to receive medical material that is no longer needed. We would like to explain in more detail what is useful and what is not in a subsequent contact.
Volunteer in public a school
The public school in Baraa, Arusha teaches about 2000 children. All of them can be completed there from kindergarten to graduation. After a first conversation with the director, you can discuss where you would like to join in. There is no special training for it. The school speaks Swahili and English. English should be mastered in words and writing. The school is happy to give the volunteers an insight into their everyday school life.
Voluntourism? Is that ok?
The motivations for volunteering are many. The main reason is because you want to experience helping in a project in another culture. Volunteering is a good way to do this, after graduating from high school before you start your studies, or even for a break if you have been in the professional world for a long time.
But remember: helping should not be a paternalist action. You don’t have to think that you can transfer your own knowledge and culture to a project. In our case, Africa’s way of life and way of thinking are fundamentally different from those in Western countries. If you come to Tanzania with the idea of paternalism and a western vision, you will be disappointed very quickly. It is also simply not possible to change anything in a short time. This idea is a wrong incentive to do so. Everything here is a little different from yours. So you have to keep in mind that help is really welcome, but who has to change our world is ourselves, with resources, knowledge and enrichment of points of view. We want to learn from you, we want to share our vision with you, and we also need economical and material resources to help us grow stronger.
Volunteering is an enrichment for one’s own life and lifes of other cultures. No matter what project you are in. Is a win-win as long as you see us as equal fellow beings living in the same planet, just only with less resources and different knowledge than yours. In order to immerse yourself in this other way of life, you must be able to consciously engage with the people and the culture here. Enriching friendships can last longer than the volunteer period.
We are always happy to meet you. People in Tanzania and, especially the children, often have nothing else than a smile and the gratitude of having you around us.
There are different opinions about volunteering in an orphanage. Some believe that it is not good for the children to get used to new caregivers who leave after a few weeks or months. But our children have their local caregivers. Our employees, some of whom have been with us since the beginning, are the main reference people for the children. The children are attached to them. But they are always happy with white people who come from far away to spend time with them, to play with them, to cuddle, to learn and also to help spreading their knowledge. Friends from around the world always leave a mark on us. This is how we learn from you, and you learn from us.