Cheka used to be a school, but is now a newly established daycare system in Arusha for the low-income families. The daycare is a place, where parents can leave the kids for the day while they leave for work, and then pick them up again in the evening - just as any daycare system in Europe or America. However, this opportunity is rare in developing countries, which is why Fursa is more than thrilled to be supporting this sustainable solution as an alternative to the many orphanages in or around Arusha. This daycare is keeping the families together instead of splitting them of and where the kids will be under supervision by experienced teachers - and you, if this sounds like something you wish to be apart of!
Fursa is all about making sustainable solutions and making an beneficial impact on the local community, which is why we require our volunteers to be at the placement at least 4 weeks. The reason for this is, that we wish to create as much consistency for the children in the daycare as possible. Volunteers are more than welcome to work at Cheka even longer, as there is no maximum limit to this placement. Cheka means "laughter", which is was we wish our volunteers to be spreading through the work with the permanent teachers and the love and energy, the volunteers will bring.
Anyone who has a heart, that cares for children can volunteer in this placement. As the daycare is run by 3 educated teachers, we don't require the volunteers to have a certain degree of education to volunteer at this placement. You must however be minimum 18 years and provide a clean criminal record when applying for volunteering with us. If you do however have previous experience of working with children, this will only be an advantage.
Typical day
The daycare houses about 20 kids with ages varying from 1-5 on a daily basis. The parents will drop of the kids in the morning, where they will be provided with breakfast. Here after the day typically goes with different educational activities, both teaching and playful. The youngest children will be putted down for a nap before lunch and after all the children will be provided with a lunch meal. As a volunteer, your job is to show love and care for the children as well as helping out with the daily routine. Our volunteers are also more than welcome to help put with planning and organizing the daily activities. All in all, this work is about showing love and care for the children and to take good care of them, while their parents are unavailable.
As a volunteer, you day will typically begin at Cheka around 8:00 AM in the morning, which is this time most of the parents will be delivering the children to the day care. After the children have had a meal of breakfast, which you as a volunteer also is a part of helping organising, the mornings and mid-days consists of playing, learning activities and maybe small trips around the area. When we reach lunchtime, you will assist the children in eating. After lunch, the same activities as in the mornings fill the rest of the day until the parents return to pick up their children. Depending on your wish and individual agreement, you can either stay until 3-4 PM and eat your packed lunch-box from the hostel with the kids, or you can leave the daycare around 1:30-2 PM and return to the hostel for a late lunch. When you arrive and sign up with us, these details can be planned further.
Details on Arrival
Free-time activities
As well as safaris there is also plenty of possibility to hike our beautiful mountains, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. Regarding both these mountain treks we can help you arrange everything and advise you about number of days, the different routes and so on.
If you are more in the mood for day-trips, there are tons to choose from. Hiking to Mt. Meru waterfall, visiting authentic Masai villages, swimming in natural hot springs, making coffee the hills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, visiting man-made underground caves and visiting banana plantations are just few of the suggestions, we can give you. All these can be arranged from the White House upon your arrival.
During the afternoons when you are off work, there's also plenty of things to do and see. In the warm weather here in Tanzania, it can be well needed to cool down in a cold swimming pool. Most of the hotels in town offers guests from outside the hotel to use the pool for a small fee. This way you and your friends can get to relax after a day of work. If you are more adventurous and in the mood for an activity, we recommend you to go to Lake Duluti just outside of Arusha, rent a canoe and paddle around the lake for some hours while watching the birds and monkeys along the shore. This relaxing experience will help you gain energy for the rest of your work-week. In case if rainy weather, Arusha has one museum to offer - the Museum of Nature and Wildlife. It doesn't take many hours to walk through, but it can be a fun and different activity. Or you can pay a visit to the Cultural Heritage Center, which is a gallery that has many small shops to visit too.
Souvenirs
Zoo
Program Requirements
Included Services
Before your journey
On-site services
- Voluntary Work in Tanzania
- Work permit in Tanzania
- Project fee
- Single or shared room with full board during entire stay
- Assistance from a local coordinator
- Orientation on your first day
- Airport pick up
- Any personal expenses, soft drinks, bottled water
- Any entrance fee during sightseeing and traveling
- Insurance
- Tourist visa fee
- Immunization
- Plane tickets
The hostel consists of various room types differing from double rooms, twin rooms with separate beds, triple rooms, quadruple rooms and finally an 8-person dorm room, which are all facing a common courtyard with couches, pillows and a daytime bed for chilling during the warm afternoons in Arusha. The common area is also where our guests, both volunteers and travelers, will come together and enjoy their meals. In the house, breakfast, lunch and dinner is all included in the prices and is eaten together in the courtyard. We find these times to be a good possibility for our guests to share experiences and ideas and even to plan future trips together.
The bathrooms in the house are all shared, which means that the rooms don't have individual bathrooms. The bathrooms are located at the end of the courtyard and consists of bathroom booths with both shower and toilets. And compared to many other Tanzanian accommodations, we always have warm showers to offer!
Location wise, the White House is only 15 minutes walk from the central city, where you will find cafes, ATM's, shops and restaurants. Our hostel is located in an area called Daraja Mbili, which is a more authentic Tanzanian area than the ones you will find in central town, but perfectly safe. Our guests are more than welcome to walk anywhere during daytime, but at nighttime it is no longer safe to walk on foot (this is the case all over Arusha). However, it is very easy to arrange taxis or other kinds of transportation to the White House during nighttime.
Included in your accommodation price, you will also find a good functioning WIFI at all times, so you can easily communicate with your friends and family at home.
The three daily meals included in your accommodation price is prepared from fresh groceries everyday and served to our guests at the given mealtimes. Our chefs are Tanzanian, which means that the meals usually consists of local dishes. The breakfast consists of toasted bread with a side of eggs and fruits, while the lunch and dinner are usually either a side of rice, potatoes or pasta served with maharage (beans), choroko (lentils), mboga mboga (vegetable stew), makande (beans and maize) or either beef or chicken prepared in various ways.
In case of any allergies or intolerance or other special needs, feel free to let us know and we will try our best to come up with an alternative for you. As said earlier, all these meals are included in the price but our guests are free to leave the house and go out for dinner whenever - all we ask is that you let us know to prevent unnecessary food wastage.
In the White House we have a small bar that sells cold water, soda and beer for affordable prices. Drinks ARE NOT included in the accommodation fee, ONLY meals.
Program Fees
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