Report from the deaf school in Tanzania

The way into the unknown

"Oh shit.. Now there's no going back" and "I'm finally going to fulfill my dream, it's going to be great" were my alternating thoughts on the plane on the way to Tanzania. Arrived in Dar es Salam, after a short rest, we started the adventure with the orientation program, in which we were shown the basics in Tanzania, such as food and public transport. The next day was the eleven-hour bus ride to my final destination, Iringa.

Work in the Deef school

At the beginning of my work, I was the only volunteer at the school, so I had to do my first, rather sobering start alone. But the longer I was at the school, the better my volunteer work became, which was mainly due to the fact that I started to give myself the tasks and not wait for instructions. After initially supporting the teacher in a class, after a few weeks I started private lessons with a student who was mentally behind the other children and needed support.

When another volunteer came to the school and we saw the dormitories of the boarding school, we gave ourselves a new task with the project of making them friendlier with a little color. Overall, I got along very well with the children and teachers and, surprisingly, communication worked quite well. For me, going to school was not only a way to work, but also to study, since I learned sign language and Swahlili here.

Volunteering at the Deep School wasn't always easy overall, but in addition to having lots of fun, I was able to gain a lot of new experiences. In addition, I was able to fly back home very satisfied, because I had the feeling that I had made a difference and made a positive change - especially with our design campaign.

Life in Iringa and the student house

In the student house we were between three and eight volunteers from RGV and our contact Shedrack and his family during the seven weeks. We got along very well and spent the weekends adventurous hiking tours, relaxing massages and interesting cave paintings. I found Iringa to be a very pleasant city, whose inner city is more like a German community, but is Tanzanian.

My conclusion

The time in Tanzania was an exciting, eventful, thrilling, sometimes strenuous and difficult, instructive time that I will never forget and the experiences I gained there that nobody can take away from me. So I try to keep some values ​​from Tanzania and just relax when I'm stressed. Hakuna matata!

Report from the deaf school in Tanzania, by Annika A., March 2019