Report from a primary school in Tanzania

Planning, arrival and accommodation

At the beginning of 2017, I really wanted to get out of my everyday life and decided to go abroad for a longer period of time. The application and registration went really quickly and easily. The previous discussions about projects were also very uncomplicated and quick, since I already knew pretty well what I wanted to do. The rest of the registration, submitting various documents, etc. was a sure-fire success, so that I finally started in mid-August: off to Tanzania, time out from everyday life in Germany, into what I was to discover was a great adventure.

After my arrival, I didn't go straight into a project. I spent the first month with a group of students and traveled around the country with them. I didn't need all my bags for that though. However, I was able to temporarily store them in Dar Es Salaam for the time being. After that month I finally arrived in Mtwara where my project location was. I worked there for a total of 12 weeks at a primary school.

We lived in a small village, Mbae, right next to Mtwara. The way to school was about 10 minutes on foot, we were at the beach and in town in 15 minutes with the Bajaji. The accommodation was a student house. We lived there with 7-9 volunteers and 4-5 Africans. There is also a sewing project housed there, so we had a lot going on in the morning. The Tanzanians in the village were very friendly and after a short time we knew each other, so that we had a little chat during the daily visit to the market.

Everyday life and work at a primary school

My everyday life started around a quarter past seven. After breakfast together, I went to school with two other volunteers. This only consists of three classrooms and a tin shed under which we taught. Once there, the schoolyard was cleaned up and then sang with the whole school. Then the lesson began.

Since we were the first volunteers at the school, the teaching team was not always aware of what volunteer work should ideally be like. So they gave us all the freedom and we could decide for ourselves what and how we wanted to work there. That's how we mainly did our lessons in the third grade - I did math, the other two English. That also worked well. Whenever we needed help, a teacher was always there to support us. Since we divided the class into two groups because of the very large difference in learning levels, one part was taught under a tree.

Every two weeks we take the kids to the beach to learn how to swim. We also did sports, art and music with the children. Our work usually ended around half past midnight. Since the school was still very young and we could choose our own times, there was a lack of structure in some places, so we were there longer, sometimes shorter. But admittedly, around noon I was exhausted because it was really very hot! In retrospect, this great freedom was great for us, but the cooperation at the school fell short because we always designed and carried out the lessons on our own.

It would be better if you do it together with a teacher from the preparation to the follow-up of the lesson in order to learn something from each other. However, our feedback is currently being communicated with the school so that the exchange and cooperation with future volunteers will work better.

Life and leisure in Tanzania

After school we cooked together with all the volunteers and then, when everyone was back from their projects and had recovered a bit, we did something together. That was very different. It often went into town or to the beach. But we also did a lot on the house ourselves, for example repairing and building things, doing handicrafts, tending the garden, taking care of the animals, playing with the children or kicking football.

There was always something to do. If you weren't in a good mood or needed a break, you could safely withdraw, for example to the tree house or the roof terrace. There was both action and break. In the evenings we usually made a campfire and whatever was popular was bread on a stick! We also frequented bars and mingled with the locals. We did different things on the weekends. Excursions to other cities, going to parties or completing larger projects on the house.

Conclusion: Educational and inspiring

All in all, the time there was very instructive and inspiring for me. The contacts you make, the conversations you have have bring you so much further and allow you to look at many things from a different perspective. I can only recommend the project and the location, especially to those who would like to help shape and get involved themselves.

Report from a primary school in Tanzania, by Niklas K., 05.02.2018