A day in Tanzania

There are many different types of volunteering in Tanzania. Some people chose to do one on one work with children and this my include tending to orphans every morning. There are other people who conduct research, for example, studying the impact impact of HIV/AIDS on pregnant women in a local town.

My volunteer experience doesn't include research but it does entail some one on one care everyday. Most of the time I am coordinating the nursery school and clinic projects.

This morning, I walked with some other students who live in the same hostel as me to an organization that work at called Kiwakkuki. The goal of Kiwakkuki is to eradicate HIV/AIDS in the Kilimanjaro area while also mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS of those who already have it. I wanted to meet with them because they have many different community outreach programs which includes free informational sessions about HIV/AIDS and free HIV/AIDS testing and counseling. Working with this organization will be very important for the future of the clinic I am helping to open. the clinic and nursery school I volunteer at everyday is run by the Uwawayaki women's group. Next week I plan on bringing the Uwawayaki leaders to meet with Kiwakkuki so that these two organizations may work together in combating HIV/AIDS and other public health issues.

Now after I met with Kiwakkuki I went and had a little Tanzanian snack at a local coffee shop. From there I walked to a food market in central moshi to buy thirty oranges for the children at the nursery school. I then walked 45 minutes to the school and delivered the oranges. Then children left to go home soon after and I then sat with some locals at the school and clinic trying to converse in Swahili. I'm trying to learn as much as I can before I head home. After that I walked 45 min. back into to town to write this blog post and email other people about my volunteer projects. After this I will grab another snack and head on back to the hostel. I will then do a little more volunteer work and planning, study Swahili, SHOWER, read, eat, and then fall asleep.

Now my time is running out and so I must log off.

Thank you!