Social Work for Disabled Children

About Zanzibar
Known as the Spice Island, the beautiful island of Zanzibar on Africa’s east coast is bursting with culture and history, seemingly at odds with its idyllic geography of white-sand beaches with palms swaying lazily in the sea breeze. Together this makes Zanzibar a fabulous place to explore as well as a dream to relax and unwind. Zanzibar is the semi-autonomous part of Tanzania in East Africa. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja (Zanzibar) and Pemba.
The capital of Zanzibar, Stone Town, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Every culture lover will love this diverse island with many Arabic influences. Zanzibar has a rich history, which is largely characterized by slave trade.
Zanzibar has been the entrance of eastern Africa for centuries and it was here where most slaves were sold; and Indian, Chinese and Arabic merchants would arrive to trade their wares and buy spices, ivory and slaves. The history of Zanzibar has created a unique mixture of Indian, African and Arabic influences which can be seen in its people, food, culture and building styles.
In Zanzibar it seems as if time has stood still. People live very traditional lives. The local Zanzibari are 95% Muslim. As a volunteer you have an exemplary role in the community and it is important that you show respect for the local community, its people and culture.
This means that you adapt to the culture and customs. That is why all our volunteers need to dress appropriately (shoulders covered and long pants).
On the beaches you can of course just walk around in swimwear.
For this volunteer program we are looking for serious people who don't come to Zanzibar for the parties. We are looking for people who really want to contribute to the community, our children and the project. People who want a unique experience and who want to work together with others and learn from each other.

About our volunteer program
As a social work professional or student, you want to empower people. The children that More Africa supports are all children with incredible potential, but at Zanzibar they don't get the opportunity to develop in their own way and at their own pace.
At More Africa we believe that every human being, regardless of (dis)ability, has the right to education and development.
As a social worker you train our local staff. You support them where necessary, guide the children, teach them social skills, report and evaluate.
Because a large part of our children cannot talk, we offer all our education in Swahili.
During your stay here, we also offer a basic Swahili course. This way you will be able to communicate more easily with our children and local teachers.

A typical day at More Africa looks like this:

07:30: The volunteers eat breakfast in the volunteer house (bread).
08:00: We pick up all the children together.  We do this to make sure that the children actually come.
09:00: Start school and physiotherapy. The children play outside.
10:00: Start lessons. The children start with a welcome moment. After this we start with the didactic lessons. We do this partly in a group and partly individually, so we can respond to the level and needs of the individual child. We teach the children practical skills, which they can use in daily life. We teach the children shapes, colors, fruit/vegetables, family members, bodyparts, animals etc. The children with a higher level learn reading, writing and mathematics. In addition, we offer music lessons, sports lessons, geography, science, creative lesson and for some also English lessons.
12:30: Lunch. The children bring food from home. Some children don't get to eat well, that's why we share everything.
13:00: We bring the children home.
13:30: Lunch. The volunteers eat in the volunteer house (bread).
14:00: Reports and preparations for the next day. The volunteers write the reports. Important things are written down. Once a month an evaluation is made and every three months goals are adjusted. Also the work for the next day is prepared. Think of preparing toys for experiential learning, preparing the creative activity, writing and maths exercises.
16:00: Depending on what needs to be done you will be ready between 15:00 and 16:00. A few days a week we also have an afternoon program with Swahili or beach/village cleanups. We find it important that our volunteers are immersed in the local culture and customs and participate in local life.
The other days you can enjoy; take a dip in our pool (if there are any guests) or go to the beach.
18:00: During weekdays we expect our volunteers back at 18:00. At 18:00 dinner is ready, which is prepared by our chef. In the evening the volunteers can play a game together or watch a movie.

The working days are from Tuesday to Saturday. Volunteers have weekends from Saturday afternoon until Monday evening.
In the weekend we can arrange excursions and trips for volunteers. We expect volunteers to return on Saturday and Sunday at 23:00 and on Monday at 21:00 at the latest.

The care offered by More Africa is 100% free for parents. Parents do not pay for transport or education. We do this deliberately, because people here either have no money, or do not see the need. This makes More Africa 100% dependent on donations.
To make the project self-sufficient, we opened a guesthouse with 10 rooms in 2019. Guests staying in our guesthouse donate directly to the project. Volunteers with a background in tourism/marketing are welcome to volunteer within our guesthouse.

In your free time you can discover all the beauty that Zanzibar has to offer. We can help you book and arrange everything for you. As a volunteer you will pay the cost price, we will of course not charge you any more!
We advise you not to book tours locally or on the beach.

On our website you can find all information about excursions. There is something for everyone; diving / snorkeling, kite surfing, relaxing on a sandbank, visiting national parks, or culture sniffing in Stone Town. We can even arrange a safari for you!