Project summary

Join a variety of local building projects in rural villages in a remote and poor, but very friendly and beautiful location, working with a small charity called Village Africa.

Click here for more information about the charity Village Africa.

What will you be doing?

There are a number of building projects that are being undertaken with the assistance of Village Africa. These are all 'local' projects so volunteers will work closely with local builders, carpenters and labour.

The project you will do depends on what is in progress at the time but ongoing work includes the building and renovation of classrooms, health posts, accommodation and toilets.

By providing new and renovated buildings there is great benefit to the local community, schools, healthcare and the running of the charity.

The location

The villages are located in the the Usambaras, in the North East of Tanzania and form part of the Eastern Arc Mountains.  Each village is quite different even though they are located nearby.  Milingano is perhaps how most people imagine an African village, fairly dry and hot with the classic African red earth.  Yamba, being located much higher up is colder, lush and green, with stunnng views of the surrounding area. 

A huge part of the adventure of Tanzania is the environment you will live and work in. The villages are in an extremely beautiful area with a mixture of forest and farmland. There is lots of wildlife including dikdiks, rabbits, chameleons and birds. The people who live here are subsistence farmers and, despite it being fertile, are incredibly poor.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and as such the standard of living appears very low to us. The Tanzanian way of life is extremely laid back, relaxed and friendly. Society is generally not money driven and provides a very different view on how to live. This can lead to a degree of culture shock for people visiting, but more often leads to culture shock on the return home at the end of an extended period of time living in a local environment. Longer term this can help to produce a much deeper and more mature understanding of our own society and a more tolerant and caring view of other peoples and societies.

How you can make a difference

By providing new and renovated buildings there is great benefit to the local community, schools, healthcare and the running of the charity.

You will be helping some of the poorest people in the world and supporting the work that Village Africa is doing.  The programme benefits you, the work of Village Africa and importantly the local communities.

What's included

• A comprehensive information booklet and pre-departure support
• Pick up and drop off at Tanga
• Transfers to the village
• Local introductions and tours
• Training for the building project, including health & safety
• Accommodation (shared with other volunteers)
• Food (main meals) is included for 2-3 week placements
• Ongoing support, help and advice from our local team

What else to budget for

The following items are not included and estimates are given as a guide for your budgeting: flights (£450-£600), visa ($50), travel insurance, personal spending / living costs (£40-£50 per week).

Other projects you might also be interested in....

* Summer Camp in Tanzania

* Other roles in Tanzania

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More details

Volunteer accommodation and food

Volunteers live together in simple but comfortable houses in the village, with a short walk to school. A housegirl is employed to fetch water, shop, cook and clean and a watchman is employed to oversee the houses at night.

Freetime and travel opportunities

You will soon adapt to the Tanzanian way of life that is dictated by the hours of daylight. With the absence of electricity, waking hours become fairly similar to daylight hours.

During the 2 weeks you will have plenty of time to get to know the local communities and also a couple of days off to explore the local area.  There are some great local hiking opportunities including viewpoints of Kilimanjaro and the Tanzania/Kenya border, waterfalls and historical caves.

If possible, we highly recommend adding an extra week on to your stay to go on safari in some of the most outstanding national parks in the world, or explore the stunning spice island of Zanzibar.

Challenges

Due to the nature of the project, the work is physically challenging and very tiring!

This is a remote and rural village environment with no running water and electricity.

You should be adaptable to living and working in a group.

Where does your money go

PoD is run as a non-profit organisation and does not receive any external funding. We charge a fee for all our placements to cover the overseas costs of volunteering and the costs of running our organisation in the UK. 

For this project approximately 55% of the fee you pay is passed directly to the project, an important source of funding for their work.

Volunteer reviews

Click here to read volunteer reviews for our teaching in Tanzania volunteer project.