The project
The Meru Animal Welfare Organization (MAWO) works in the Meru region of Tanzania to protect animals from cruelty by promoting, improving, and developing matters concerning the welfare and understanding of animals in Tanzania. They are fighting for a different perception of animals within their culture and society. They also work to promote the five freedoms of animals: 1. Freedom from hunger and thirst, 2. Freedom from discomfort, 3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease, 4. Freedom from fear and distress, 5. Freedom to express normal behaviour.
Their mission is to protect all animals from torture, abuse, cruelty, diseases and killing. Their vision is for animals to be respected as living creatures who experience pain, fear and suffering. Their aim is to promote, improve, and develop of any matter concerning the protection of animals and understanding of animals among the people of Meru District, Tanzania.
In 2009, MAWO Founder and President, Johnson Lyimo, and other community leaders were brought together to discuss their shared concern for the horrific animal treatment they were seeing in their communities. By 2010 they had completed a baseline survey to study the greatest needs for animal welfare in the Meru region. MAWO was created to address these problems to better the lives of both animals and humans in the area. Since then, MAWO has played a significant role as a champion for animal welfare throughout the Meru District and Tanzania. “Animal welfare” to them means: the concern for the well-being of an animal’s physical and mental state and involves the mitigation of avoidable suffering, injury, pain, fear or distress resulting from unnatural behaviour while used for work, sport, companionship, research, or food. The ethical basis for MAWO’s policies stems from looking beyond the conservation of species to the welfare of individual animals.
Your work
Working
hours will be discussed individually. Your work is diverse and
depends on your interests and knowledge, but you will definitely get
the chance to be creative and do important work!
You are asked to
advise the MAWO Team on how to improve the day to day activities of
animal welfare for good performance of the organization. You will
help to design different programs for animal welfare. You will seek
internal and external donors and apply for grants. You will write and
giving reports to the donors on the progress of MAWO. You will design
fundraising activities and put them into practice. You will design
and write MAWO newsletters, brochures etc. You will perform field
activities i.e. Dog & Donkey Clinics, and you will find and
invite new members (internal and external) to join MAWO from
different areas i.e. tour operation organizations, hotels, big farm
operations etc. Finally, you will provide education in schools i.e.
primary and secondary, communities and also conduct clubs.
If you have a background in any of the required fields like animal care, marketing, fundraising, etc. that would be very good! But even if not, you are welcome to support MAWO. The important thing is to be compassionate, dedicated, and enthusiastic.
Note
You can support MAWO even if you can only stay for two weeks, but since you will have responsibilities and maybe conduct your own projects and activities, you should consider to stay longer. The best effect for you and MAWO will be guaranteed when you support them for three to six months.
Your day depends on if you have a day in the office or if you are on an outreach.
Your working
hours will be discussed individually, based on your interest, skills and the demand of the organization.
If you have an office day you start in the morning and work as discussed with your supervisor in the field of fundraising, marketing or any of the above mentioned fields.
If on an outreach your work differs from day to day. If you are going far out of Arusha it can even happen that you have to sleep in the villages where you work. At dog and donkey clinics you will teach local people about animal welfare, go to school and educate children and communities and much more!
You can start working at
this project any day of the week that suits you.
On your first day
we will do a town tour showing you Arusha, how to use the buses,
where to find ATMs and exchange money and much more.
The next day
one of our staff members will take you to your project showing you
the way and making sure you are always safe.
We offer a wide range of
activities at affordable volunteer rates like:
1. Hiking/Walking
tours to waterfalls, through forests and around a lake.
2.
Swimming in paradise like hot springs with a blimps of the Mount
Kilimanjaro.
3. Cultural tours to Maasai markets and the
possibility to visit different ethnicities.
4. Coffee plantation
tour to learn about the process from the bean to the finished
product.
5. Safaris to the national parks of the Northern Circuit
(Arusha NP, Lake Manyara NP, Tarangire NP, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro
Conservation Area). 6. Climbing Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro.
7.
FREE town tour for all our volunteers!
All pre-arrival support, two airport transfers, orientation tour in Arusha, taking to the project on the first day, donation to the animal welfare organization, 24/7 in-country support, accommodation in a dorm, breakfast and dinner, lunch is usually provided in the project.
In your program fee the pick up and drop off from/to the airport/bus station are included. One of our friendly staff members, will be at the airport/bus stand with our "Viva Tanzania"-Pick-up-sign, just in time when you plane or bus arrives. And after your volunteer experience - when it's time to say good bye - we will take you to the airport/bus stand for the farewell.
The volunteer house has dorms; each contains
comfortable beds & shelves to store belongings, the maximum is
four people in one room. We try to keep the rooms separated by gender
but can not guarantee this. As storage space is limited in the rooms
please consider packing light, too. Accommodation in a single room is
possible (extra charge).
The hostel is located 25 walking minutes
from the city centre. Although the house is close to the busy town
and is surrounded by a green environment. In the garden we have
different fruits, like bananas and avocado. Our hostel dogs Takwa and
Nala are part of the family and stay in the compound as well. The
house is equipped with hot water showers and the possibility to use
the kitchen through out the day.
Moreover we offer you the possibility to stay with a host family during your volunteering with us. The charges remain the same, but you will get the unique experience of sharing your daily live with and in a Tanzanian family. They will provide you with everything that's necessary. All family members speak English fluently and are very welcoming. As their new family member you will have your own lockable room, featured with a bed and access to the living room, kitchen, bathroom and the beautiful compound. If staying with a guest family, we will of course still provide our 24/7 in-country support by our staff members. For further information please let us know that you are interested in staying in a guest family within your application on Volunteer World.
Breakfast will contain tea and coffee, bread, margarine, honey, jam, peanut butter, as well as fruits and vegetables. Dinner will be international as we cook Tanzanian as well as Western Food. Don‘t worry if you are vegetarian (like Tizia), vegan or have any allergy, we can cope with everything. The hostel is also equipped with a fridge and shelves to store your own groceries.
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