Education and Teaching Assistant

Children are at the heart of every community in Tanzania. Education of these children is incredibly important, and Tanzanian families are becoming aware of the social mobility that can be achieved through education. However, there are many problems standing between a child and his or her education in Tanzania. Class sizes are extraordinarily large- 90 to 120 pupils per classroom is not at all uncommon at primary level. The majority of the schools we place volunteers with are constantly understaffed and are always in need of teaching support. Individual children suffer from a lack of personal support and attention, and their education falters as a result. It’s clear that classroom volunteers can provide much needed assistance with large class sizes, and help provide exposure to fluent native English. Working with teachers, you’ll help improve children’s education not only in English, but subjects like Maths and Geography are universal as well, and you’ll be looking to help out the pupils’ development in all areas. Working with other volunteers and resident teachers, you'll build on the work of previous volunteers to help the children progress in all areas of the curriculum, through traditional teaching methods, and fun activities such as games, art and physical activity. Working with children is enormous fun anywhere in the world, and it is a great privilege to help a child towards a brighter future, one we’d like to share with all our volunteers. Primary schools students in Tanzania range from age 5 to 13 years.

This project will help people of KIPAWA area in Dar Es Salaam. KIPAWA area is in close proximity with Dar Es Salaam International Airport. KIPAWA area has an estimate of around 90,000 inhabitants and around 60 percent of these are children below the age of 18 years old. The project is located around 1KM from volunteer accommodation. Hence it is just a walking distance, around 10 minutes walking. If one is tired of walking then it is possible to use a bodaboda (motorcycle) which will only cost $4.

Roles of Volunteers and Interns

The volunteer’s duties and emphasis of the work will depend on his/her educational background, past experience and expertise. The role of the volunteer can be:

·         Volunteers assist local teachers with daily classes in Math, English, Science, Social Studies (Geography and History), Art and Physical Education.

·         Develop the curriculums and materials of the technical trainings.

·         Develop the curriculum and improving the pedagogical and methodological capacity of the trainers in life skills, youth participation and environmental education.

·         Support inclusiveness (inclusion of disabled students and students with special needs, inclusion of women)

·         Support in strengthening the school administration and infrastructure. Developing student support services in the polytechnics that participate in the project.

·         This could include for example developing monitoring tools for the polytechnics, student counselling and career guidance, as well as social and psychological support for the students.

What to Bring

A white lab coat might be needed for science classes, however volunteers would be needed to dress a respectable and decent manner.

Your Stay

This could very much be your first time in Tanzania, hence we will send you Swahili learning information prior arrival to help you with basic swahili. Once in country, you are picked up at the airport and taken to your accommodation. You receive three meals a day whilst on the project, and your accommodation is included too- either in group lodgings or you can choose to homestay with a Tanzanian family, which is a great way to really immerse yourself in the culture. The local KiVolEx team, including graduates with degrees in social work, medical  and project management, are on hand 24/7 to help you get the most out of your project. From tours of the city, to being constantly on call to answer your questions, to helping you book onward travel, we will look after you in country, because you will be a valued part of our team whilst working with us

About Tanzania

With such a perfect location, perched on the edge of the African continent, and facing the Indian Ocean, Tanzania’s weather and climate leaves nothing to be desired. Warm and sunny days are followed by cool and balmy nights, and whether you’re on safari on the Serengeti plains or enjoying the tropical beaches of Zanzibar, the temperatures are always welcoming and gentle.

Location: Situated in East Africa just south of the equator, mainland Tanzania lies between the area of the great lakes—Victoria, Tanganyika, and Malawi (Niassa)—and the Indian Ocean. It contains a total area of 945,087 sq km (364,900 sq mi), including 59,050 sq km (22,799 sq mi) of inland water. Comparatively, the area occupied by Tanzania is slightly larger than twice the size of the state of California. It is bounded on the North by Uganda and Kenya, on the East by the Indian Ocean, on the South by Mozambique and Malawi, on the South West by Zambia, and on the West by Zaire, Burundi, and Rwanda, with a total boundary length of 4,826 km (2,999 mi), of which 1,424 km (885 mi) is coastline. Tanzania claims part of Lake Malawi, although its internationally recognized boundary is the eastern shore.

Population: 50,483,923 inhabitants

Capital city: Located in the heartland of Tanzania, Dodoma is the nation’s new official political capital and the seat of government in the country. Today Dar es Salaam remains the principal commercial city of Tanzania and the de-facto seat of most government institutions. It is the major seaport for the country and its landlocked neighbours.

Ethnic Groups: Mainland-native Africans constitute 99% of the total population. About 120 peoples have been categorized into 5 ethnic groups distinguishable by their physical characteristics and languages. Approximately 95% of Tanzanians may be roughly classified as Bantu, a comparatively recent blend mainly of Hamitic and Negroid stocks. Tribes range in membership from only a few thousand to the Sukuma tribe, which numbers more than 2 million. Other major tribes include the Nyamwezi, Makonde, Haya, and Chagga. The Luo, east of Lake Victoria, are the only people of Nilotic origin; the Masai of the northern highlands are Nilo-Hamites. A very small number of Bushmen-like people are scattered throughout northern Tanzania, where small tribes of Cushitic origin also live. The inhabitants of Zanzibar and Pemba are chiefly descendants of mainland Africans or are of mixed African and Arab extraction. The remaining 1% of the populace is made up of non-Africans, including Arabs, Asians, and Europeans.

Languages: The official languages of Tanzania are English and Kiswahili. However, some 120 languages are spoken within the borders of Tanzania. The large majority of these (ca. 100) are Bantu languages. The others belong to the language families Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan and (controversially) also Khoesan. A small number are unclassified. Immigrant languages from Europe and Asia can also be found.

 Religion: Christianity and Islam are the predominant religions of Tanzania. About 40-45% of the population practice Christianity, about 35-40% practice Islam. The rest of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, most of which centre around ancestor worship and nature-based animism. Most Christians live on the mainland, where missionary stations and schools reach deep into the continent. Islam is the major religion of the coastal areas but is also practiced further inland along the old caravan routes.

Transportation within

We will provide you with reliable Taxi drivers phone number,which you could use in case you want to move around. However you could also use Daladala these are buses, public transport that most people use to travel locally on daily basis.  There is also an option of using bodaboda these are motorcycles that are used as taxis. Other volunteers choose to walk whoever if you also choose to do so like any other new environment we encourage you to be very careful with thieves and pick pocketing   

Visa and Permit

A volunteer is required by the government to pay for a Visa and a permit to be allowed to volunteer in Tanzania. Kindly contact us for more information regarding this.