Art in Tanzania testimonials by previous Volunteers and interns

Ms. Linda volunteered in Tanzania to support the Children Under School Age and Women's program support tasks. The Tanzanian people and communities greatly loved Linda. We wish Linda all the best in her life back home and hope to see her one day back in Tanzania.

I am Anouk from Belgium.

I aim to dedicate my dissertation to the exploration of women's roles in emancipation movements within post-conflict societies, with a particular emphasis on Tanzania

In Art in Tanzania, I implemented expressive Art Therapy sessions at the Antonia Verda Care Centre for children with disabilities.

I am Maisara from Egypt. As part of my background, I developed several types of research about different mental conditions such as personality disorders, depression, and Post-traumatic stress disorder. Created different articles and infographics about the Brain, mind, and body. Designed my dissertation topic on 'learning Emotional Regulation via Expressive art therapy.' In Art in Tanzania, I implemented expressive Art Therapy sessions at the Antonia Verda Care Centre for children with disabilities.

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 Tanzanian life back home. If we say five minutes, it is sharp, but it may take half an hour in Tanzania. You need to be open-minded and friendly to people, and they will be kind to you. I feel the good things are the lovely weather and that people always want to help each other. I think I made a difference. I taught a different way of teaching at a local school. 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 in the evening 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. This is a fantastic place to gain cultural experiences and meet people worldwide. I would recommend this to people who want to improve their sense of the world, gain more knowledge and learn about other cultures. The team leaders seem to know people from everywhere, even though Dar is such a big place. The compound uses dry toilets; 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 on a five-day safari to N'gorongoro and Serengeti, Lake Manyara, and also visited a Masai village. We enjoyed the trips and working in Tanzania.

I am Leo Puyol, and I am 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. Regarding gender equality, the focus was on women's rights to education, which may be hindered 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. Working with the Art in Tanzania Human Rights team, including the team leaders and other interns, on 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 because the children did not speak English at some schools, but the Art in Tanzania team leaders joined these sessions and translated between English and Swahili. Also, the African way of life was much different from that of France and Europe, so it was essential to accept it. I am proposing that Art in Tanzania arrange for a practising lawyer to visit the human rights intern team on and off to discuss ways 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 the UNICEF Children's Agenda program. I focused on children's rights issues. We advocated for children's participation in societal decision-making and highlighted gender equality issues for 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 working 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 organisations working for the children's agenda program poor. The Art in Tanzania Youth Reporters program results hopefully inspire other organisations 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 the stay. I taught kindergarten. I painted the school walls for the kids and used plastic bottles as recycled construction material. 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 socialising with the local community. It is a lot easier to socialise in Tanzania than in my home country, 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 views on 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 performing 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 in Dar es Salaam and overall in Tanzania.  What ART is missing is strong partnerships to make a crucial impact on 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 existing projects rather than adding more projects, as that would easily make a stronger impact.

Art in Tanzania is a superb NGO that facilitates people's performance of 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 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 travel problems caused by COVID-19. Also, there is a need for more intensive cooperation between the Tanzanian medical clinics and health sector personnel. Art in Tanzania was one family where everyone supported each other to perform.

I performed in a Children's under-school-age program with Art in Tanzania. I worked with nursery schools and two orphanages. I enjoyed my stay and my work very much! It's lovely to meet the kids who are so welcoming and eager to learn. 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, meaning that daily life moves slowly. To join the programs in Tanzania, please have some patience and open-mindedness.