Volunteer Abroad - Tanzania

  Tanzania

• Other Cities in Tanzania: 
Arusha,  Moshi,  Dar Es Salaam

Term: Academic Year, Fall, Spring, Summer, Throughout the year, Trimester, Winter 
Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks and 9-12 weeks
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks
Dates: Beginning at various dates year-round

Description: Volunteering abroad is the opportunity of a lifetime, and our flexible short-term programs let you design your ideal experience in Tanzania. Volunteer from 1 week to 3 months in meaningful projects that will let you work side-by-side with local people and experience Tanzania's culture like never before.

As an international volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions, you're making a positive contribution, by sharing in the goals of a Tanzanian community that warmly welcomes you. You'll gain new perspectives and insight into the culture and yourself. It's an exciting and personally inspiring experience, and you'll develop memories that will stay with you forever.

As a volunteer in Tanzania you will gain access to some of Africa's greatest sights, including Mount Kilimanjaro and the national parks which teem with wildlife, and you will get to meet people from some of the tribes that inhabit the country.

You will experience the warmth of Tanzanian people as you begin to refer to them in the traditional way, calling them by family titles such as mama and dada, meaning "mother" and "sister." You will get the opportunity to learn about the unique Tanzanian culture through guest speakers, Swahili language instruction and daily chats with people in the local villages.

Volunteers in Tanzania are involved with:

* Caring for infants and children
* Teaching children
* Teaching English
* Assisting teachers
* Working towards women's empowerment
* Sharing their professional skills/experience
* Observing and assisting local health professionals
* Caring for people with disabilities
* Working with people affected by HIV/AIDS
* Assisting teachers of special education

Cross-Cultural Solutions is a recognized leader in the field of international volunteering, with more than 4,000 volunteers each year. Founded in 1995, we are an international not-for-profit organization with no political or religious affiliations. CCS has a worldwide staff of more than 300 people, and operates in 12 countries, with administrative offices also located in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. We are in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, and have been profiled in more than 500 news outlets.

Highlights: Unlike much of Tanzania, which is mostly savannah and scrub, the area of Arusha is very lush. An agricultural center of Tanzania and the base for northern safari parks, the city of Arusha was born from rural roots unlike the capital of Dar es Saalam. The village of Patandi, in the township of Tengeru, is a small farming village. In the morning, you can watch villagers walking down from the mountains with baskets on their heads heading off to school or to town for a day at the market selling their goods.

Friendliness between cultures and tribes in Tanzania extends to a neighborly ethic within communities. Community is important in Tanzanian life, and neighbors check in on each other regularly. Additionally, whenever a guest is in town, Tanzanians are expected to treat them with the highest respect and hospitality. Tanzanians will invite neighbors over to meet their guests to prove their kindness and generosity. Despite not having many material possessions, Tanzanians are warm and friendly. They appreciate what they do have, and therefore expect those who can afford to dress professionally to do so. Because women are responsible for family life and provisions, they are held to a particularly high standard of respectful behavior.

Cross-Cultural Solutions offers a wide variety of programs and experiences, but all of our volunteers come away with the same benefits:

- Personal Growth
- Having a Purpose
- Gaining Independence and Confidence
- Connecting with Others
- Seeing a Country from the Inside-Out

* The CCS Home-Base

CCS offers volunteers unprecedented support, and our entire infrastructure is designed around volunteer safety. Each of our programs is located close to a CCS Home-Base, your "home away from home" while volunteering abroad. Each Home-Base is exclusively for CCS volunteers, and designed for your safety and comfort. Here, you can connect with other volunteers and CCS staff, reflect on your experiences, enjoy meals together, read, and relax.

The CCS experience also includes cultural and learning activities so that you can learn about the local culture. These include an in-depth orientation, language training, guest speakers and more. Volunteers also have plenty of free time to relax, reflect, or explore the community and country.

Qualifications: No special skills are required.

Cost in US$: Visit our website for program fees.

* Personalized Volunteer Placement with our Partner Programs, based on your skills and interests, including all the coordination, in-person visits and communication necessary with each local organization.
* In-country Perspectives Programming that includes excursions to nearby points of interest, special events and discussions with a variety of local cultural, professional, governmental and community agencies and people.
* Cross-Cultural Solutions' Home-Base structure, providing you with a comfortable, safe place to live, the basic amenities, all of your meals, and transportation to and from all Cross-Cultural Solutions' placements and programs.
* An experienced U.S. based Cross-Cultural Solutions Program Manager (and former volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions) who will serve as your coordinator, guide, and liaison with our in-country staff.
* In-country basic language assistance (optional).
* Professional, locally-based staff to provide orientation, supervision and guidance throughout your stay.
* Travel medical insurance and emergency evacuation insurance, applicable to participants worldwide.
* Important documents, including in-depth pre-departure packs, orientation information, and all in-country informational materials.
* Country-based airport transportation.
* Local phone calls.
* In-coming international phone service.
* A toll-free 24-hour emergency hotline in the U.S.

Credit Available: yes

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: While other volunteer programs may require certain skills or degrees, Cross-Cultural Solutions' programs are open to everyone. No matter what you believe your skill level to be, you have something meaningful and helpful to offer. We are dedicated to providing a meaningful placement for anyone willing to volunteer, and believe that the only skills required for international volunteering are a willingness to learn and an open mind.

Age Range: 18 and up; younger volunteers accepted with application

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Tanzania Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently

Application Process Involves:

• Other

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home

Cross-Cultural Solutions's Mission Statement: Our mission is to operate volunteer programs around the world in partnership with sustainable community initiatives, bringing people together to work side-by-side while sharing perspectives and fostering cultural understanding. We are an international not-for-profit organization with no political or religious affiliations.

Year Founded: 1995