Name: Marie Waller
Age: 42
Nationality: British

At the end of March 2009, I went to a suburb of Arusha, in Tanzania, East Africa on a voluntary teaching placement. I wanted to experience a different culture and to try and make a difference, but within a limited time of 3 weeks of annual leave!

I could tell you loads about my trip, however, this is just a brief overview of my fantastic, life-changing experience.

I went independently through International Volunteer H.Q. and was assigned to an Orphanage Day Centre in Usa River, as part of a TAMIHA Organisation project. I wanted a teaching placement, as something completely different to nursing and to be involved with children.  I stayed in the ‘homestay’ of the Oganisation’s CEO and walked daily to the Day Centre, where I spent from 8.30am until 4pm (with lunch at ‘home’) with the children, being involved in the classes, the giving out of porridge mid-morning and rice/beans at lunch. During this time I also spent time playing with the children at break-times and fitted in a fair bit of building work and painting as well, including at the weekends!

The Day Centre caters for 41 children who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, where they are given some food, healthcare access, and most importantly education including learning English, which is essential to be able to progress to secondary school. The youngest child was two and a half and the eldest children were five. Sponsorship is required for a child to progress onto a half-decent primary school.

The building work was for a new classroom, dining room and kitchen that myself and three other volunteers funded and assisted with. We did some labouring and painted inside the rooms, as well as cleaning and painting the existing classroom/dining/sleeping room. The ‘grand opening’ was on Easter Monday, where we held a tea party for the children, with dancers, music, food, drink and balloons and the local community watching on! These buildings meant that an extra nine children could be placed at the Day Centre.

The children were all gorgeous, very bright and keen to learn and craved affection and attention – which I and the other volunteers were more than happy to provide whilst there! I thought I would be constantly in tears at their plight, but all the adults and children were so positive and keen to take any opportunity to improve their lives and their community, that I came away with an overwhelming sense of humility and hope.

All in all, I feel that I well and truly achieved my objectives, even in such a short space of time and I will definitely return to the project – roll on 2011!

Teacher and some children at break-time in the (barbed-wire) play area.

Crispin, TAMIHAs CEO, directing the children at the Grand Opening tea Party

A bedraggled Marie, with a few of the beautiful children

The children showing everyone how they can count to 100 in English

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