Remand Centre & Eureka Vocational Training Institute - Arusha

Evelyn Risner May 2009

I came upon MondoChallenge while trawling the internet – there seemed to be thousands of ‘Gap Year’ organisations catering for 18-20 year olds but very few who risked ‘taking on’ an older age group. Since then I have wondered why – where I work, for example, at least 5 people have said they’d like to volunteer abroad for a shorter period and they are all over 45.

MondoChallenge was clearly not an organisation only interested in profit as many of the others appeared to be. MondoChallenge seemed to be smaller and more ‘personal’ – I spoke to MondoChallenge workers many times on the phone and they had the time to answer questions and explain procedures etc.

I had no real expectations of Tanzania before I came – I wanted to visit Africa and I did not want to be a tourist – to combine this with trying to do something useful (voluntary work) and live in a family seemed ideal. I’m sure I wasn’t prepared for the poverty of Tanzania and at first it was all a shock and quite overwhelming.

I started teaching English at a Remand Centre in the morning and a Vocational College in the afternoon. Numbers at the Remand Centre varied between 2-6, they were all boys. One boy was blind and had been brought there by the police because his father (his mother was dead) had left him at Arusha bus station. I was struck by how keen they were to learn English – two of them in particular really seemed to improve during my month there. One of these had wanted to go to Secondary School but his grandparents (his parents were dead) couldn’t afford the £75 it cost per year. Impossible not to compare this with the situation in the UK where education up to 18 is free but not valued by that minority who drop out or mess around for years and leave with nothing – sometimes unable to read or write properly.

In the afternoon I taught English to a group of students who were studying ‘hotel management’ – numbers varied between 4-7. These students were older and obviously not disadvantaged like those in the Remand Centre. They were very keen to practice conversational English and we also covered employability skills e.g. writing a CV and a covering letter and doing mock interviews and role plays. They became more confident speakers of English during the 4 weeks which was very important because they were all looking for jobs in hotels – receptionist, or chef, or porter or cashier. I had not realised the extent to which Arusha’s economy depended on the safari business and how the world recession was affecting tourist numbers, which, in turn meant a lack of money going into hotels, safari companies, national parks etc.

I stayed with a local family in Kijenge Juu – they were very hospitable and would not allow me to do any washing, cooking, cleaning, tidying up – which was fantastic – going home and having to do all these mundane chores again will be a real shock.
I quickly realised that the poverty and lack of opportunity in Tanzania causes people to view the West as somewhere where the streets are ‘paved with gold’. There is the assumption understandably that because you are from Europe or the US you have piles of money to spare and you are able to arrange opportunities for those who want to leave Tanzania to study or work.

I must confess there were times when I felt somewhat under pressure to come up with money or send back certain items from the UK. Why wasn’t I agreeing to sort out a student visa or loan money so that a business could be started up? It was never as blatant as this but occasionally I felt a bit ‘used’. However the open friendliness of everyone and their gentle courtesy helped me to ‘rise above’ these bouts of cynicism.

During the month I have been in Tanzania I have visited Manyara, Ngorongoro and Tarangire National Parks – Ngorongoro Crater, I thought was amazing. I realised I was scared of elephants – especially if they were standing facing you and flapping their ears. I also went to Longido and visited a Masai Boma – saw the ‘toothbrush’ tree and the plants that the Masai use to cure pneumonia and stomach problems. The poverty of the Masai Boma shocked me, although it was very interesting to learn about how they survive in the bush – especially when their sources of water have dried up along with the grazing for their cattle.

By the time I leave I will have been in Tanzania just over 4 weeks – in many ways it seems longer. I hope I have gained some insight into Tanzanian culture. I have certainly been able to observe ‘life on the streets’ which is fascinating (a lot more interesting than UK streets if slightly intimidating for the lone “mzungu” wandering around). I feel positive about my teaching experiences and hope others can build on the progress students have made at both the Remand Centre and the Eureka Institute.

I can’t finish without mentioning the support I have received from the MondoChallenge team in Arusha – Kate and Leonard. They were always ‘on call’ to answer any queries and happy to accompany me on what must have seemed like pathetic “missions” – i.e. when I couldn’t find my way to places that were just round the corner. I think without their reassuring support and the support of my homestay family I would have found Tanzania even more of a ‘MondoChallenge’ than I did.

Tanzanians have many lessons they can teach the West – even though, sadly, they seem to be convinced that they and their country have little to offer.