As a childcare volunteer in Tanzania, you will brighten up the lives of young children, making a vital contribution to their daily lives. International volunteers with children in Tanzania work to support daycare facilities in Arusha, organising educational activities and games whilst assisting in tasks to complement the work of local staff.
BACKGROUND TO THE CHILDCARE PROGRAM
It is estimated that around 1.4 million Tanzanians are infected with HIV. Furthermore, for every 1,000 births, almost 6 women die in childbirth. These factors along with general widespread poverty and minimal state welfare have resulted in an alarmingly high level of families lacking adequate childcare in Tanzania. Tanzania childcare volunteers work with several daycare facilities in Arusha that strive to address and improve this aspect of life in Tanzania.
The daycare centres you will be supporting during your time volunteering in Tanzania help to provide adequate childcare for children who often have single working parents, and cannot afford childcare. The projects assist in allowing their parents to be able to work to make a living whilst providing an opportunity for the children to gain early childhood education before beginning school, which they would otherwise not have.
Children attend the daycare centres during the day and then return to stay with family, friends or relatives in the afternoon. Our projects in Tanzania currently support four centres within Arusha, where the efforts and enthusiasm of volunteers are greatly appreciated.
CHILDCARE VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES
Sunshine Daycare - This is situated in the Meru district of the Arusha region, in Machumba village, around 15 minutes away from Arusha city. The centre houses 15 kids aged 5-10 years (8 girls and 7 boys). In addition to the kids who live on-site, 30 children attend the nursery classes that are offered daily from Monday to Friday, returning home to their families in the afternoon. Sunshine Daycare employs 8 local staff, 3 house mamas, 2 nursery teachers and 3 cooking/cleaning staff.
Tristan Day Centre - This daycare is situated in the Mbauda district of the Arusha region, around 15 minutes away from Arusha city and the volunteer house. The centre accommodates preschool children from the ages of 2-6 years old. Around 30 children attend the nursery classes that are offered daily from Monday to Friday, returning home to their families in the afternoon. Tristan Daycare employs 8 local staff, 2 nursery teachers and 3 cooking/cleaning staff. When working on our abroad volunteer programs, participants support and complement the work of local staff members. This ensures that these children receive the attention and support that they deserve.
Star Daycare - Founded in 2020, this centre was created to provide support to the surrounding community who were struggling to afford childcare after the pandemic. Star Daycare hosts children from ages 1-6 and can provide nursery and preschool education to local children. Based in Sombetini, this centre is located about 15 minutes from the Volunteer House. As a newer centre, the support and extra hands volunteers provide go a great distance in helping this centre run. In turn, expanding support to the local community.
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN TANZANIA
Return Airport Transfer - Your return airport transfer is not included in your Program Fee. Our local team can help arrange onward transfers to the airport or an alternative destination from the volunteer accommodation. Making specific arrangements once in Tanzania provides more flexibility as plans can often change and participants may be on similar flight plans. The costs depend on your method of transport and your final destination. This can often be split across multiple participants if you are travelling with someone else on the program. It is strongly advised not to travel by public transport or tuk-tuk back to the airport. Whilst this may be cheaper, it is far less convenient and comes with additional safety risks.
Resources - On the childcare project in Tanzania, resources can be very limited. Volunteers are recommended to bring materials to the project each day to maximise their productivity and day to day involvement. It is therefore important for volunteers to prepare well in advance to get the most out of their childcare volunteering experience in Tanzania.
Project Locations - Childcare and teaching participants on the Tanzania volunteer program are sometimes based at the same site. In these instances, volunteers will be able to travel together accordingly. At the volunteer project, teaching volunteers will tend to work with slightly older children. Childcare volunteers will work with children of preschool age. Although similar, they each follow different daily itineraries and setups.
Yellow Fever - Recently, the Tanzania Embassy has changed legal requirements for the Yellow Fever Vaccination. The government now states that this must only legally be obtained by:
• Individuals who are travelling from a country with a risk of Yellow Fever transmission
• Individuals who are transiting through one of these at-risk countries for 12 hours or more
However, some participants outside of these parameters have still been asked to show evidence of the vaccination upon arrival in Tanzania. You may, therefore, wish to still obtain this vaccination to avoid any confusion or difficulties upon arrival into the country. To obtain this vaccination, you must ensure you allow yourself plenty of time to arrange this before you go.
There has been a lot of debate on this issue. However, from our team’s experience, we have always been asked to show proof of our Yellow Fever Vaccination. We therefore strongly advise all our volunteers to do so as well to avoid any complications on arrival.
Placement Settings - We do not provide volunteer opportunities in orphanages in any of our locations. Research and studies have shown that visiting and volunteering in orphanages has the potential to generate an industry that separates children from their families. In turn, putting children at increased risk of neglect and abuse. Therefore, we do not support these institutions with our volunteer network.
Instead, we focus on offering alternative childcare volunteer opportunities whereby children come to and from the placement setting each day. In other words, our local teams collaborate with childcare projects which do not offer any form of residential care. These are safe, responsible, and vetted projects, where participants continue to provide valued assistance supporting local staff.
Weekends - Your project work in Tanzania runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Tanzania Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend.
