Art in Tanzania testimonials issued by participating volunteers

I am Vibeke from Denmark, and my project was Education Support. I was assisting teachers in two local schools. The kids were adorable, and I enjoyed seeing them develop. I love that people were so friendly and forthcoming. Everyone said hello to me and wanted to teach me some Kiswahili. I had problems getting used to Tanzania life back home, if we say five minutes, it is sharp, but in Tanzania, it may take half an hour. You need to be open-minded and friendly to people, and they will be sure kind to you. Things that I feel are good are the lovely weather and that people always want to help each other. I think I made some difference. I taught a local school a different way of teaching. How to learn through playing. 

I am studying at the university of Waterloo. I am studying arts and business and majoring in speech communication. I worked as a business management intern with Art in Tanzania during my co-op term at the university. I was pleased with the experience in Tanzania. I would say that there is a need to use more structure. As part of the project, I did English classes evening time for adults so that they could improve their verbal and written English. Also, I spent a few days a week teaching basic computer skills to the teachers. I found this as a fantastic place to gain cultural experiences and meet people from around the world. I would recommend this to people who want to improve their sense of the world and gain more experience and learn about other cultures. The team leaders seem to know people from everywhere, even Dar is such a big place. The compound uses dry toilets, and I wish they would be real toilets. Also instead of bucket showers use real showers.

We are medical doctors from Finland. We worked in Mawenzi hospital and another clinic and donated medical equipment and drugs. We regret that we did not study introductory Swahili small talk before travelling to Tanzania, as it would have helped a lot at the workplace. We climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and enjoyed the experience. Thereon we went for five days safari to N'gorongoro and Serengeti, Lake Manyara and also visited Masai village. We enjoyed the trips and working in Tanzania.

I am Leo Puyol, studying business and law in France. My program was human rights in Africa as part of my mandatory overseas internship for my studies. I was dealing with Children's Rights and Gender equality issues. The Children's issues included child labour and child marriage problems. In gender equality terms, the focus was on women's rights to education that may be harassed due to financial and other factors. As an outcome of my work, I would like to mention the children's open interaction in discussions of their rights. I was working with the Art in Tanzania Human Rights team, including the team leaders and other interns present for the same topic. The group visited a mining location where we faced the reality of child labour. It was essential to see the problems in theory and practice. We discussed with many women in the area the importance of the children not working at the mines but going to school.  Sometimes we faced challenges as the children did not speak English at some schools, but the Art in Tanzania team leaders joined these sessions translating between English and Swahili. Also, the African way of life was much different compared to France and Europe, so it was essential to accept it. I am proposing that Art in Tanzania arranges for a practising lawyer to visit the human rights intern team on and off to add options to get involved in everyday legal work. For the potential new interns, I would advise working with Art in Tanzania; you can work and make a change. You need to be able to work as part of the team, and if so, it will be an excellent experience for you.

I am a teacher in Sweden, and I volunteered with Art in Tanzania in UNICEF Children's Agenda program. I was focusing on children's rights issues. We advocated children's participation in decision-making in society. We highlighted gender equality issues for the children. We also developed the Youth Reporters program, where children talk about their own lives and get their opinions heard. It has been a great experience to work on this project. I will take the idea back to Sweden and use it in my work as a teacher. Unfortunately, I found the communication between the different organizations working for the children's agenda program poor. The Art in Tanzania Youth Reporters program results hopefully inspires other organizations to share their experiences and develop the Children's Agenda activities.

I am a graduate of environmental studies and public education. I enjoyed the program and stay. I taught in kindergarten. I was painting the school walls for the kids and using plastic bottles as recycled construction material. I enjoyed the stay, and the best meal was the African chapati.

My project was on the socio-economic and education sectors. I enjoyed my time with Art in Tanzania and socializing with the local community. It is a lot easier to socialize in Tanzania than at my home place in the UK.  I enjoyed my time, and I may come back later on. 

My program focus was on domestic and sexual violence against women. We produced a short documentary interviewing women and the Art in Tanzania team about their view of empowering women who face domestic rights issues in their society.

I am a community health graduate, and I was performing a public health program with Art in Tanzania. Initially, I was looking to work with women in medical facilitation centres. I ended up connecting research work and also performed home visits. It has been a remarkable experience for me. I was working on violence against women issues, which was a very emotional experience. Working with women is my passion. I feel Art in Tanzania can affect societies not only in Dar es Salaam but in Tanzania overall.  I think what ART is missing is strong partnerships to make a crucial strong effect in societies. I will never forget the friends I made and the women I worked with. I am coming back. I think ART can focus on empowering the projects that are already existing rather than adding more projects, as that would easily make a stronger impact.

Art in Tanzania is a superb NGO facilitating people to perform unbelievable community tasks. I am a nursing student from Finland. My project was to assist in the medical clinics, perform home visits and educate teenagers in the schools.  I spent the best month of my life, and I would not change even a second of my experience. I learned more than I was expecting about Tanzanian culture and medical sector work.  My biggest challenge was the lack of medical workers to help everyone in the home visits program, highlighted by the travelling problems caused by COVID-19. Also, there is a need for the more intensive cooperation between the Tanzania medical clinics and health sector personnel. I found Art in Tanzania being one family where everyone supported each other to perform.

I performed in Children's under-school-age program with Art in Tanzania. I worked with nursery schools and with two orphanages. I enjoyed the stay and my work very much! It's lovely to meet the kids who are so welcoming and eager to learn. I feel it is easy to make a difference, and you can also feel the progress. People are very welcoming, and I loved the African music and the culture. What was difficult for me was the African Hakuna Matata daily life meaning things move slowly. To join the programs in Tanzania, please carry with you some patience and open-mindedness.