‘Give a Heart to Africa’ is a Tanzanian project hoping to attract volunteer teachers to work in its school, offering English, Business basics or Computer basics. One to three months preferred. Cost: One month approximately £2300. Three months approximately £3700. These costs are approximate and include air fare, visa, insurance, administration, accommodation and transport to and from the airport. Please be aware that air fares vary according to season.

Situated in the district of Kilimanjaro, this school adjoins the Baptist Church in the town of Moshi. With a vision to give the students good work-related skills, teaching either English, Business basics or Computer basics, or any combination, is complemented by joining in home visits on Fridays and playing with the children in their after school program. A system of pre-developed lesson plans means that volunteers do not need previous teaching experience. Volunteers buy and prepare their own meals.

"Give a Heart To Africa is a non-profit organization registered with the Government of Canada and Tanzania, operating in Moshi, Tanzania. Our mission is to improve the lives of women and children of the Chagga tribe via education, cultural exchange, games and fun play. Give a Heart To Africa is managed by volunteers in order for all funds (donations and volunteer fees) to be distributed to GHTA’s programs and the local community.  Managing volunteers are located in Canada and the U.S. We are a small, multicultural, fun and friendly volunteer organization.  We truly care about the people of Africa and we want to see them some day enjoy all the luxuries of life that we do in our respective homes and countries.  We want your experience to be a very enjoyable one. We want you to be comfortable and safe, gain as much out of your volunteer experience as possible, as well as learn, make new friends, have fun……"

Programs: Our programs are available throughout the year and our volunteers can stay for any length of time.  Commonly, volunteers visit for 3 weeks, however, many stay for 3 months and some even longer.   As a volunteer, you will find that having at least 3 weeks to work with a group of women or children will be helpful in getting to know them, gain their trust, and to learn and appreciate their individual needs and strengths. Volunteers can participate in one of the following programs:

- Teach English as a Second Language to children and adults

- Teach Computer Skills to children and adults

- Teach Business Classes to adults, primarily women

- Teach Home Education workshops to women

- Teach vocational classes depending on your area of expertise and/or interest

- Play sports with children

- Work with children – play games, teach via fun activities

- Should you have an interest/experience in a different area, please let us know and we will try to accommodate your request.

Experience: Experience in the above subjects is not necessary because we have a curriculum that our volunteers can follow and use as a teaching guideline.  This ensures teaching consistency and continuity in the classroom and will enable you to be a prepared and confident teacher.  If you have a specific area of expertise or interest in addition to the aforementioned ones, please let us know in advance, so that we may be able to integrate your talent and/or interest in our program.

Criteria: Volunteers traveling on their own must be over the age of 18.  Families are of course welcome as well. However parents have to assume responsibility for their children.  Volunteering can be a wonderful and enriching experience for families, couples and individuals alike.

Accommodation: The home base is located in an area of Moshi called Shanty Town, which is a very safe and beautiful area.  The home has most features you may find in a western home – bedrooms, family room, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms… however, we are still in Africa so hot water and electricity may at times be sporadic.   Downtown Moshi is a 30 minute walk from our house or a 5 minute taxi ride.  A small supermarket and internet café are a 5 minute walk from our house.Typically there are 4 volunteers per room.  Families and couples will be accommodated to stay in the same room.  However, couples may still share a room with another couple or two volunteers, depending on availability.  Volunteers should bring their own sleeping bag but mosquito nets are provided.  The number of volunteers at any given time varies from 1 to 8.  We will be able to provide you with an accurate number of volunteers approximately 2 weeks prior to your arrival. Dinners will be provided for you at the home base.  We believe this is a wonderful time for all volunteers to sit down at the end of the day, spend time together as a team, talk about their day, their experiences and share ideas. There are a few markets in town where volunteers can buy grocery and hygiene products etc.   The kitchen is available for our volunteers in the morning and during the day to cook your breakfast and lunch.    It is not recommended to drink the tab water in Tanzania, therefore we recommend either buying bottled water in town, or using your personal purification system.  A steripen (www.steripen.com) or similar water-purifying system might prove to be a worthwhile investment for all your overseas travel.

Volunteer Project: We rent 3 classrooms located 5 minutes from our house.  For safety reasons, we do not leave our laptops in the classrooms over night so we carry them with us back and forth every day. Our semesters are 3 months in length and students receive a certificate upon graduation.  Currently we have 24 students and approximately 30 children enrolled in our after school program.  When the number of volunteers is lower, we split the children up into two groups, first group attends on Monday and Tuesday and the second group on Wednesday and Thursday. Adult students are split up into two groups, group 1 and group 2 and each group has 12 students.  All 12 students attend the English class at once, while the other group is split up in half between IT and Business.  Currently, we have 6 laptops which determined our maximum number of students and the split in groups.  We hope to increase this number in each semester.We have lesson plans developed for each class including Swahili translations.  However, each class has one student with good comprehension of English who acts as a ‘translator’ as well as we get help from local volunteers as required. The youngest child in our after school program is 3 years old and the oldest is 12.  Given the age diversity, the program ranges from colouring, playing and signing to reading, writing and teaching math.   We also have a movie afternoon once every two weeks when we bring milk for the children (most children here don’t get milk because their parents do not have refrigerators).

Visa: Most international visitors are required to have a tourist visa to enter Tanzania.  This can be purchased in your home country or at the airport in Kilimanjaro for US$50.  Volunteers also need to obtain a class C visa. We will assist you in obtaining this type of added visa while in Moshi.  A Class C visa costs US$100 plus a US$20 processing fee.  To apply for this visa, you will need :

· 6 passport photos,

· A copy of your passports main page

· A copy of your tourist visa (if you obtain one at the airport, you can scan it in a local internet café)

· CV (resume)

· Copy of your highest level of education

· Letter of support from our organization ( we will e-mail you this prior to your departure)

Please, make sure that your passport is valid for at least 6 months after your departure from Tanzania.We recommend that you print and scan your passport, visa and plane ticket and e-mail it to your e-mail account, this is for safety purposes only in case you lose one of your documents.

Moshi is located at the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world and the highest mountain in Africa.   Moshi is a home to the Chagga and Maasai tribes and comprises of approximately 150,000 citizens.  It is approximately a 30 minute walk from Shanty Town. The nearest airport is Kilimanjaro International Airport, located about 40 minutes from Moshi.The nearest city is Arusha, approximately 1 hour by bus.

 Christians Abroad has not yet recruited volunteers for this project but has received good references from local Christian sources and from other volunteers.

Country information: Tanzania. Visit news.bbc.co.uk for up-to-date information. Select world/Africa/Country profiles/Tanzania. Some more local information about food prices etc are available when volunteers are preparing for this placement.