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Zanzibar Tanzania Teaching and Community Development Volunteer Project

ZANZIBAR RURAL TEACHING AND COMMUNITY PROJECT
ZANZIBAR ISLAND, TANZANIA

Although Zanzibar is a beautiful tropical paradise, its local communities are badly affected by poverty, lack of education and training and unemployment. By getting involved in local nursery, primary and secondary school education, tourism training schools and environmental programmes to help the local communities, volunteers have many opportunities to make a real impact on the lives of the people affected by these problems. Volunteers to this project should have a good command of the English language as much of the project work involves teaching English and in particular the adult literacy lessons can be quite advanced.

VOLUNTEER ON ZANZIBAR ISLAND
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Location:

ZANZIBAR ISLAND, TANZANIA

Dates:

Any date throughout the year

Fees:

£795 - 2 weeks

£1,185 - 4 weeks

£1,565 - 6 weeks

£1,655 - 7 weeks

£1,945 - 8 weeks

Payment:

£180 deposit at time of booking – balance payment of project fee due 12 weeks before departure

Reference:

AV008

General Information

Zanzibar is situated just off the Tanzanian coast in East Africa. It is a fascinating archipelago with an interesting history, many different cultures and beautiful beaches and sea life. Indeed it is well known for the white-sand beaches and turquoise blue water, and is home to many historical monuments, Chumbe Island Marine Reserve and Jozani Forest, the home of the endangered red-colobus monkey. The chance to swim with dolphins in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean is not to be missed. The capital is Zanzibar Town, known as the Stone Town, which has a unique mix of Indian, Arab and African mainland influences. The town has narrow alleyways and bustling markets and mosques. Volunteers on this project will spend most of their time at Jambiani, a village located at the southern part of the quiet east coast. Jambiani is about one hour’s drive from Stone Town and the village stretches along the coastline – offering the opportunity for walks on the long sandy beaches in the sunny, tropical climate as well as swimming in the warm waters. The insights and experiences gained into life on this wonderful island will be treasured for a very long time.

Highlights

Gain teaching experience in various schools and a tourism training institute
Assist with teaching English to children and also to their teachers and community leaders
Help with building and improving the educational facilities in the community
Enjoy cycling to and from the volunteer projects
Play developmental games with pre-school children and take part in sports afternoons on the beach
Help with keeping the beach/marine and village environment clean and tidy
Glimpse life on the island and make a real difference to the poor community
Experience the local culture – and even learn a bit of Kiswahili
An opportunity to explore the island, try some water sports and experience some of the finest safari destinations on the African continent

Projects

Pre-Schools

There are four pre-schools in Jambiani and volunteers will support local teachers in educating and playing with the children. Volunteers with a TEFL qualification are most welcome. Volunteers will get involved in:

Teaching English to the children, teachers and local adults
Singing and dancing with the children
Helping to develop the children’s creative skills through painting and drawing, and other crafts
Playing developmental games with the children
Helping with the general upkeep of the school

Primary and Secondary Schools

With so many children to educate and very limited resources, two school sessions are run each day. Although the schools are ill-equipped, the children are so keen to learn and the volunteers will assist the teachers, helping them to provide the children with a better education, especially helping with English language lessons. Volunteers will assist by:

Teaching English in all the classes (qualified teachers only and pre-arranged before the trip)
Taking extra English classes before and after school for teachers
Organising sports afternoons for the children and helping to maintain and re-build the run down school facilities

Volunteers with TEFL qualifications are really helpful on this part of the project. However this is not essential.

Ramadan and School Holidays for 2010

Term 1: 3 January 2010 - 26 March 2010 (Holidays: 27 Mar 2010 - 5 Apr 2010)
Term 2: 6 April 2010 - 30 May 2010 (Holidays: 31 May 2010 - 7 June 2010)
Term 3: 31 May 2010 - 10 August 2010 (Ramadan: 11 Aug 2010 - 20 Sep 2010)
Term 4: 21 September 2010 - 3 December 2010 (Holidays: 4 Dec 2010 - 2 Jan 2011)

During school holidays volunteers are likely to do more manual tasks in the mornings and perhaps play sports with children in the village in the afternoons, or help with the adult literacy classes.

Ramadan in 2010 will take place from 11 August 2010 - 20 September 2010. The is an Islamic religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This is a time of fasting and during this month school children will be on holiday and the schools closed. There will be NO volunteer work associated with the schools during this month, but there is still plenty of work to be done and volunteers could get involved in some of the following activities:

providing manual labour such as painting, repair work or even some building depending on the needs at the time;
environmental maintenance such as litter collections and tree planting;
making new resources for the schools such as posters and lesson plans
hopefully adult literacy classes will continue - depending on the energy of the students while fasting!

During Ramadan volunteers cannot eat, drink, smoke or chew in public. However normal meals will be provided at the project house. Volunteers should be aware that everything will be slower on Zanzibar during this period as all locals will be fasting, and hence tired!!

Tourism Training Centre

Tourism is felt to be the activity with most potential in Zanzibar and through this sector there is a drive to deal with the issues of reducing poverty and improving the environment . The Jambiani Tourism Training Institute was set up to address such problems and tackle the issues of outsiders from Tanzania mainland and Kenya being employed in local tourism initiatives, rather than the local villagers. The Centre aims to train local villagers from Jambiani so that they can gain employment at local hotels and other tourist attractions and volunteers will help with this training by:

Teaching English
Teaching keyboarding
Life-skills teaching
Teaching basic administrative tasks
Teaching basic computer skills, eg writing a CV
Helping with cookery classes and food and drink management
Helping to supervise the students in practical things such as handling money, role play etc

Please note that the Tourism Training Centre is seasonal and does not run all year round.

Jambiani Marine and Beach Conservation

The community of Jambiani is very reliant on its natural resources - especially the ocean (fish, crabs, seaweed etc) and the local crops that can be grown in the area. JAMABECO is a locally run non-governmental organisation that helps to sustain the environment in Jambiani and volunteers will be involved in any current projects such as litter clean ups and tree planting.

Whenever there is a Zanzibar Public Holiday, volunteers will have the day off to either relax or take part in any of the tourist activities on the island.

A typical day in the life of a volunteer ...

7.00	Get up and get ready for the project
8.00	Breakfast and lesson preparation for classes
9.45	Head off on foot or bicycle to the project placement
10.00	Start work at one of the local nursery schools etc
11.45	Lunch break – all volunteers will return from their projects by cycle for lunch at 1.00 pm and some time out
15.00	Return to the allocated placement, or undertake some community work such as painting or gardening
17.00	Home time – volunteers will make their own way back to the volunteer house where they may swim, have a cool drink, visit the internet cafe, socialise with other volunteers – or just relax and unwind on the beach. The evenings are a great time for all volunteers to get together and talk over the events of the day over supper or perhaps go for a drink to one of the many cafes and hotels on the beach.

Volunteers should see this as a typical day but itineraries may differ depending on the needs of the project and number of volunteers at any one time, but this is a good example:

Optional Excursions

There are many tours and safari options available, perfect for a weekend break and the project staff will assist volunteers with any arrangements they may wish to make. These include visits to Stone Town (the capital of Zanzibar Island); Spice Tours; swimming with dolphins; the Jozani Forest and the Turtle Centre as well as trips to Nungwi and Kendwa. Three, four and five day safari packages can also be arranged to the Mikumi National Park, the Selous National Reserve, the Ruaha National Park and the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater.

“I loved my time here in Zanzibar and would love to stay longer to work with the new volunteers and see the project progress. I haven’t done a volunteer project before, but am very happy that my first one was here” Sue, Age 25, UK

“I really hope you know how much of a wonderful time I had. This trip was more than I could ever ask for and everything that you and Timo did truly made it perfect. I miss the kids SO MUCH.” Annie, USA

“The group I was in was filled with such great people! I feel we made lifelong friends and being right on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world was really incredible. Meeting and working with Mr .Okala was defiantly a highlight , we learned so much about his native home and way of life from him.” Veronica, USA

Project Age Limit: Minimum 18 years of age; maximum age dependent on health of potential volunteers

Support

Support and advice is available from the Project Managers whilst on the project and from the UK Amanzi Travel Team.
Find out more about Amanzi Travel support

Orientation

A comprehensive information pack will be sent to all volunteers upon booking their trip and further advice and information will be provided via telephone and email before departure. A full orientation will be provided on arrival at the project by the local support team including information on the current status of the projects and familiarizing you with the local surroundings.

Accommodation and Meals

Volunteers will be accommodated in bungalows set just off the beach - and they can see the ocean from the front door! They will share rooms with either two or 3 other volunteers and each bungalow has an en suite bathroom. However, please note that there is no hot water for showering - this is the same all over Zanzibar. Rooms are fully furnished with bunk beds, mosquito nets and fans in all rooms. Meals, prepared by the chef, will be taken at tables in the shade of the back garden and housekeeping and laundry will be done on a regular basis. Bedding is provided but volunteers should take their own towels. Beach recliners are provided in the back garden and volunteers may sleep outside on hot evenings if they wish. The Project Manager is resident at the accommodation.

Getting There

Volunteers will need to fly directly into Zanzibar Airport in Stone Town, Zanzibar, where they will be met by one of the project team. There are direct flights from Europe, the United States and South Africa to either Nairobi (Kenya) or Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and then easy connections on to Zanzibar Island.

Fees

What is included

Airport transfers from Zanzibar Airport or ferry port/harbour on arrival and departure
Full on site orientation and support from project staff
Daily transport to and from project if required
All accommodation including three meals a day in Jambiani
Weekly laundry service
A contribution to the project itself to help fund equipment, supplies etc