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Tanzania - Africa and Asia Venture

Tanzania

Gap Year Teaching in Tanzania

Where?

Your Gap Year teaching project will be In primary and secondary schools around Arusha and Machame (near Moshi). (Tanzania Map >>) This is Maasai country. Arusha is one of Tanzania’s most developed and fastest growing towns at the base of Mount Meru. It is the gateway to Serengeti, Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Arusha national parks.

Machame is a small village about 20 kilometres from Moshi in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro and one of the starting points for trekking the

mountain. A view from the top will give you an idea of the vastness of this country, which will take your breath away. Many Lutheran missionaries worked in this area and their legacy remains.

Outline Experience

Tanzania Teaching Dates & Costs  

Who will I be teaching?

Tanzanians are very friendly but, at the same time, maintain an air of dignity and quiet reserve. Gap Year teaching in Tanzania will see you teaching mostly in primary schools or, possibly, the lower forms of a secondary school. The staff will be friendly and welcoming and the children eager to learn.

Classes tend to vary in size from normal to excessively large (what don’t you do in a Maths class of 137? Answer: take the register or set too much homework!!). The children are a pure delight and will be so happy to play with you and learn from you. Their smiles will make the experience all the brighter!

What and Why?

Education is a priority in Tanzania and primary education is free and compulsory. By the late 1980s the country’s literacy rate was one of the highest in Africa but much of this initial success has been lost. Schools are poor and they lack furniture, textbooks, sports equipment, and even windows and stationery. You will be helping them in all sorts of really valuable and highly appreciated ways. 

The official language is Kiswahili and primary school children have a very limited knowledge of English. So whilst volunteer teaching in Tanzania, if you are in a primary school, you will help mostly with English but also be able to teach art, drama, music and sports. In secondary schools, where the standard of English is much better, you will be invited to help with just about any other subjects that you feel able to teach, and they especially like help with science and IT (if they are lucky enough to have computers!).

Most schools do not offer many extra-curricular activities or sports so assistance in these areas is hugely appreciated.

Ideas...

Think about running a club, decorating a classroom; painting a mural; preparing visual aids; organising a school magazine; inter-school sports matches; a school trip; bedtime stories for the boarders; extra help for less able children. The possibilities are endless – just use your imagination and a lot of energy!

Gap Year Living

During your Gap Year teaching placement you will be living either in pairs or groups of four to six volunteers. AVs are clustered around Arusha and Machame so you will have plenty of friends close by. Your new environment might be a bit of a culture shock, initially.

You will be living in basic staff houses, sometimes with no running water, and possibly a pit latrine ‘long drop’ at the back. Most houses have electricity but sporadically. Don’t worry - after a couple of weeks you will have adapted and you will love your ‘AV’ house.

You will shop and cook for yourselves but many AVs also take advantage of the basic, but filling, schools lunches. The houses are generally in the school compound or within easy walking distance. All schools are near to main roads linking you by mini-bus to Arusha and Moshi, where you will be able to use the Internet cafés for email and change money at the forex bureau and banks.

Gap Year Travel

After 14 weeks of volunteer teaching at your school in Tanzania you will have nearly three weeks of independent group travel to explore the wonders of East Africa. You like beaches? Fine. Try a dhow ride from Dar es Salaam or Mombasa to Zanzibar, or even the fabulous Kenya coastline – snorkelling, diving, swimming (with or without dolphins!) or just sunbathing near one of the many beach bars and restaurants.

Once you feel the rush of energy overtake you, try some white-water-rafting, quad biking or a bungee on, by or over the Nile in Uganda. There are some of the world’s best game parks in Tanzania and Kenya too, not to mention Africa’s two highest mountains. You won’t be stuck for things to do, so plan it carefully.

Gap Safari

Finally, we will arrange a 5-day, all-inclusive safari into two of Kenya’s famous wildlife reserves to see the ‘Big Five’ and masses of other wild game in its natural habitat.

And Afterwards...

If you're like 99% of those who have been before you, you'll agree that it will have been the best five months of your life so far. You'll find leaving difficult...and returning easy!  We say that "Once an AV, always an AV!" What this means is that you will be joining an exclusive club that will be there for you to help out if you ever get into difficulties and will always be pleased to see you again in Africa. As an AV, we hope your relationship with us will continue long after your inital time in Tanzania.

Tanzania Teaching Itinerary l Tanzania Teaching Dates and Costs l Tanzania Teaching Facts

Useful Stuff to know about volunteering in Tanzania.

TANZANIA PHOTO GALLERY 

If you need some help and want to talk about your plans to volunteer, please Make an enquiry