Trip Highlights.

• Enjoy unforgettable medical volunteering experience coupled with unforgettable Tanzanian cultural experience.
• Come and experience the difference passionate volunteers can make to lives of people.
• See what the land of unforgettable experience and cultural diversity has to offer, while creating understanding and friendship with the local people.
• Come and volunteer with us not for us, we are far more interested with your skills and desire to help than anything.
• Experience unforgettable wilderness by visiting the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Kilimanjaro to name a few.
• Volunteer for a Medical & Healthcare Project in Tanzania – Zanzibar and get a glimpse of local healthcare systems
• Work alongside professional doctors/nurses in local hospitals/clinics
• Opportunity to work in Gynecology Department, Operation Theater for surgeries, General Medicine, Physiotherapy department, First Aid department, Laboratory and research, and X-ray facilities.
• Be actively involved in the daily procedures of the hospital, taking rounds of the wards, maintaining files, and doing routine patient checkups like measure Blood pressure, pulse, checking fever, suturing wounds, giving vaccinations etc.
• Weekends are free for traveling and exploring the city

Amani Hostel Medical Placement.

Amani Hostel is a volunteering organization based in Arusha, in northern Tanzania. We are a non-profit organization, aimed at improving the lives of all those in need in the local community. Specifically, we work with underprivileged groups such as women and children through providing the needed healthcare and services from our volunteers. Established to bring Western enthusiasm, expertise and passion to tackling some of the problems which affect the neediest in Tanzania. Our ethos is that you’ll be volunteering with us, not for us. We’re far more interested in your skills and desire to help than your money.

There lots of nursing volunteer opportunities abroad but these nursing assistant placements offered in Zanzibar Island of Tanzania are quite special and of its kind. Our research on several other nursing volunteer placements in Tanzania and even outside the country has shown that there is a lot of limitation on the duties and the level of involvement volunteer nurses get. However this program goes very far to offering nurses a wide range of activities and involvement however being closed supervised by a local experienced nurse.

About Zanzibar

Zanzibar part of the United Republic of Tanzania „ Comprises of 2 main Islands Unguja and Pemba which covers an area of 2328 sq.km. Zanzibar population is 1,300,000 (2012 census „ 50% below 50 years „ Annual growth rate of 3.1%) „Population density 400/sq.km.  Life expectancy 48 years, Infant mortality 83/1000, Under 5 mortality 166/1000, Maternal mortality 377/100000 live births, 33%live in urban areas, Malnutrition rate among children 30% by 2012 „ 70% of children between 12 to 23 month have received complete immunization before 1st birthday

Zanzibar Health Information

100% live within 10 km of Health care facilities and 95% within 5Km. There are 127 Primary Health Care Units, 4 Primary Health Care Centres; 3regional Hospitals in Pemba with capacity of 80 to 100 beds an 400 bed referral hospital in Zanzibar Town. There are 100 private clinics, 3 private hospitals, 66 pharmacies and 206 OTC shops. Population per physician ratio is estimated at about 11,000

Zanzibar Health Sector Challenges

• Downturn of the economy made it difficult for the state to adequately finance social service sector including health. „
• Increased population growth rates and resurgence of diseases like HIV/AIDS significantly increased the demand for services beyond what public health infrastructure can provide.
• Barrier to access to services are. Socioeconomic, gender and low health knowledge.
• Reduction in Direct Donor support.
• About 50% of the Population lives below poverty line.
• Per capita income is 250 USD with a lot of disparity and inequality between Unguja & Pemba and between rural and urban areas.
• Health expenditure per capita is 5.9 USD.

Volunteering overseas is an enormously rewarding activity, both for yourself and the community you work with. Don’t underestimate the skills you have that will make a difference: one of the most important is that you are a fluent speaker of English. With much of the higher curriculum in Tanzania being in English, just being exposed to fluent English is enormously beneficial for volunteering in Tanzania. You’ll make memories (and friends) that will last you a lifetime- knowing that you’ve made lasting positive change to the community you volunteered with, but also became more independent and rounded as a person. We will try and match you with the best possible medical department/field for you. If there’s something specific you want to do, then we will place you there, and if not we will work with you to find something that will benefit both you and the local community enormously.

Thousands of Tanzanian dies every year because of lack of proper medical care and equipment. We place our volunteers in a number of medical clinics and hospitals in suburban Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar and Arusha. Most of these health centers and hospitals have primitive equipment and facilities that in most cases limit the practitioner’s ability to perform well. Volunteers are placed into hospitals and health centers according to their qualifications and experience.

The departments include the maternity ward, eye clinic, dental department, Women, children and men wards for general health issues, Gynecology Department, Operation Theater for surgeries, Physiotherapy department, First Aid department, Laboratory and research and X-ray facilities.

It will be a challenging experience to assist and work in a hospital that doesn’t have adequate staff, has limited resources and long queues of patients waiting to be treated. One of the challenges is that the wards do not have its own sterilization facilities and everything needs to be sent to the main hospital to be sterilized.

Your role as a volunteer in the medical program will be primarily to assist the local staff on duty. This can differ depending on what level of expertise you have, and for students, it will be more about shadowing the professionals. The challenging circumstances will help you to learn from practical experiences. Volunteers in the past have delivered babies, taken blood, changed dressings, assisted with minor surgery and other activities.

Medical volunteers need to show initiative and have a readiness to work in a new environment.  Because of the utmost importance of proper healthcare coupled with the fact that most volunteers cannot communicate directly with patients due to language barriers, volunteers need to understand that they may not be allowed to take part in some serious medical cases. The doctors are understandably hesitant to allow volunteers to operate on patients. While a medical volunteer may be appropriately qualified to do so, the instruments available in Tanzania will probably not be familiar to volunteers. So, if working on the medical placement volunteers should not become frustrated if they are not actually conducting surgeries.

Volunteers will be observing surgeries, taking blood pressure, administering vaccines, along with a wide range of other medical tasks. Physician assistant programs are designed specifically for international medical physicians with the desire to help and make a difference in a developing country like Tanzania.

Physician Assistant volunteer work takes you as a volunteer to the heart of Tanzania medical problem and gives an opportunity to experience challenges local healthcare practitioners face. Physicians are here given the opportunity o learning from the physicians but at the same time share their skills to local staff like helping treating the local patients. Physician assistant program is for all type of physician whether you an experienced physician volunteer or a physician volunteer with little or no experience, this program cut across all categories.

Volunteer Roles & Responsibilities

Medical students are able to shadow the professionals, learn from them and assist whenever needed.Qualified medical professionals are able to practice medicine if they are certified by the Zanzibar Medical Council.  Once the necessary forms, documents and payment is submitted it takes a few weeks to process. This certification is valid for up to one year and costs a once off fee of 250 USD.

• Depending on your skills, you’ll be assigned work like suturing wounds, giving vaccinations, etc.
• Assist patients with activities such as getting them from one service point to another.
• You need to be actively involved in the daily procedures of the hospital, taking rounds of the wards, maintaining files, and doing routine patient checkups like measure Blood pressure, pulse, check fever etc.

Volunteers, depending on their background and field of expertise, can assist in:

• The maternity ward
• The eye clinic
• Dental department
• Women, children and men wards for general health issues
• Gynecology Department
• Theatre for surgeries
• Physiotherapy (3 physiotherapists work here)
• First Aid department
• Laboratory and research
• X-ray facilities

Volunteer Work Schedule.

As a volunteer for the Medical Volunteering Program in Zanzibar, Tanzania, your general schedule would be:

• Sunday – Arrival at the destination (Zanzibar)
• Monday – An orientation session will be conducted by the local coordinator, covering the major topics such as safety, culture, language, places to visit, behavior, food, and other suggestions for things to do in Zanzibar.
• Tuesday to Friday – Volunteer work at the placement.
• Weekends – Free to explore the city.
• Breakfast – 07:00 am onwards.
• Working hours at the placement – 08:30 am to 01:00 pm.
• Lunch – 01:00 pm to 02:45 pm (volunteer work post lunch depends on the requirement)
• Dinner – 07:00 pm onwards.

The same work schedule continues from the second week onwards (Monday – Friday).

Note: Please note, the schedule may vary depending on the particular project the volunteer is participating on. Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim and can have a significant impact on any participant who happens to volunteer during the time of Ramadan. The participant schedule shall vary during this time of the year.

You’re Stay

This could very much be your first time in Tanzania; hence we will send you Swahili learning information prior arrival to help you with basic Swahili. Once in country, you are picked up at the airport and taken to your accommodation. You receive two meals a day whilst on the project, and your accommodation is included too- either in group lodgings or you can choose to home stay with a Tanzanian family, which is a great way to really immerse yourself in the culture. The local Amani Hostel team, including graduates with degrees in social work, medical  and project management, are on hand 24/7 to help you get the most out of your project. From tours of the city, to being constantly on call to answer your questions, to helping you book onward travel, we will look after you in country, because you will be a valued part of our team whilst working with us

About Tanzania

With such a perfect location, perched on the edge of the African continent, and facing the Tanzanian Ocean, Tanzania’s weather and climate leaves nothing to be desired. Warm and sunny days are followed by cool and balmy nights, and whether you’re on safari on the Serengeti plains or enjoying the tropical beaches of Zanzibar, the temperatures are always welcoming and gentle. Location: Situated in East Africa just south of the equator, mainland Tanzania lies between the area of the great lakes—Victoria, Tanganyika, and Malawi (Niassa)—and the Tanzanian Ocean. It contains a total area of 945,087 sq km (364,900 sq mi), including 59,050 sq km (22,799 sq mi) of inland water.

Comparatively, the area occupied by Tanzania is slightly larger than twice the size of the state of California. It is bounded on the North by Uganda and Kenya, on the East by the Tanzanian Ocean, on the South by Mozambique and Malawi, on the South West by Zambia, and on the West by Zaire, Burundi, and Rwanda, with a total boundary length of 4,826 km (2,999 mi), of which 1,424 km (885 mi) is coastline. Tanzania claims part of Lake Malawi, although its internationally recognized boundary is the eastern shore. Population: 50,483,923 inhabitants Capital city: Located in the heartland of Tanzania, Dodoma is the nation’s new official political capital and the seat of government in the country. Today Dar es Salaam remains the principal commercial city of Tanzania and the de-facto seat of most government institutions.

It is the major seaport for the country and its landlocked neighbors. Ethnic Groups: Mainland-native Africans constitute 99% of the total population. About 120 peoples have been categorized into 5 ethnic groups distinguishable by their physical characteristics and languages.

Approximately 95% of Tanzanians may be roughly classified as Bantu, a comparatively recent blend mainly of Hamitic and Negroid stocks. Tribes range in membership from only a few thousand to the Sukuma tribe, which numbers more than 2 million. Other major tribes include the Nyamwezi, Makonde, Haya, and Chagga. The Luo, east of Lake Victoria, are the only people of Nilotic origin; the Masai of the northern highlands are Nilo-Hamites. A very small number of Bushmen-like people are scattered throughout northern Tanzania, where small tribes of Cushitic origin also live.

The inhabitants of Zanzibar and Pemba are chiefly descendants of mainland Africans or are of mixed African and Arab extraction. The remaining 1% of the populace is made up of non-Africans, including Arabs, Asians, and Europeans. Languages: The official languages of Tanzania are English and Kiswahili. However, some 120 languages are spoken within the borders of Tanzania. The large majority of these (ca. 100) are Bantu languages. The others belong to the language families Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan and (controversially) also Khoesan.

A small number are unclassified. Immigrant languages from Europe and Asia can also be found.  Religion: Christianity and Islam are the predominant religions of Tanzania. About 40-45% of the population practice Christianity, about 35-40% practice Islam. The rest of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, most of which centre around ancestor worship and nature-based animism. Most Christians live on the mainland, where missionary stations and schools reach deep into the continent. Islam is the major religion of the coastal areas but is also practiced further inland along the old caravan routes.

Where will you stay?

Accommodations; There are two types of accommodation available in Zanzibar, Home Stay Accommodation and Volunteer House.  Volunteer House the Volunteer House is a western-style house with 6 bedrooms (all shared accommodations with bunk beds). It has 2 bathrooms with western-style toilets and occasional hot water for showers. The house also includes one double bedroom, and this room is generally reserved for married couples. The house is safe and secure, with a security guard and a large gate.

In the volunteer house, there is a cook who cooks the meals for the volunteers.  (Please note that spaces in the volunteer house are very limited and can only accommodate 18 to 24 people). Home Stay Accommodation Living is basic but all the Home Stays have electricity and running water and accommodate volunteers in safe and secure homes (some rural home stays may not have electricity or running water during times of drought). All home stays have been inspected thoroughly by local staff and chosen because of their safety and security. Most volunteers love their home stays and feel that they get a more authentic Tanzanian experience by staying there.

Transportation within

We will provide you with reliable Taxi driver’s phone number, which you could use in case you want to move around. However you could also use Daladala these are buses, public transport that most people use to travel locally on daily basis.  There is also an option of using bodaboda these are motorcycles that are used as taxis. Other volunteers choose to walk whoever if you also choose to do so like any other new environment we encourage you to be very careful with thieves and pick pocketing.

Visa and Permit

A volunteer is required by the government to pay for a Visa and a permit to be allowed to volunteer in Tanzania. Kindly contact us for more information regarding this.

Hospital contribution

The ministry of health in Tanzania requires all medical volunteers to make a contribution of US $ 100 towards the hospital they will be volunteering. However we as Amani Hostel also make charitable contribution to these hospitals a way of supporting them for their role of looking after our volunteers.

Typical day

In general, expect to work 4-6 hours per day. Volunteers usually wake up early, around 7 or 8 and have breakfast. After breakfast, their workday begins, usually somewhere between 8 and 10 AM.  Your workday will usually end around 2 or 3 PM. Although you will be expected to be at your work placement every weekday, the rest of your time in Tanzania is essentially left up to you to decide how to use it. Your daily schedule may change, as well, so you’ll need to be flexible and ready to adjust.

Amani Hostel anticipates and encourages your desire for travel and adventure. Your time away from volunteering is open for you to decide your activities. You may decide to take advantage of the local culture and spend time within the community over the weekend. Otherwise, there is ample opportunity to explore Tanzania and all it has to offer. Long weekends can be taken to go on safari or to travel further afield to places such as Zanzibar, Dar-es-salaam, Kenya or Uganda. If volunteers wish to volunteer over the weekends they can join local teams and visit other children organizations to spend time simply playing with and entertaining the children. Tanzania is a big country full of exciting adventure.

If you want to stay on in country after volunteering, we’ll help you arrange any number of trips and activities. You can go on safari through the Serengeti or Ngorogoro- which has the highest density of safari animals anywhere on earth. You can relax on the spice island of Zanzibar, taking in nonstop sun, white beaches and clear blue seas. Swimming with dolphins, PADI dive courses, spear gun fishing, sleeping in hammocks strung between palm trees on the beach. We like Zanzibar! If physical adventure is more your thing, Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world is right on your doorstep. A five day climb, and nearly 4 miles high, with temperatures down to minus 25 at the summit, it’s not for the faint of heart, but it can be done, and the sense of achievement will stay with you for a lifetime.

Free-time activities

DAY TRIPS FROM DAR ES SALAAM & ZANZIBAR

Dar es salaam City Tour Spend a day getting to know one of the greatest cities in East Africa. Dar Es Salaam Zoo Want to see all of the animals of Africa, but don’t have time to leave the city? No problem! Take our Dar es Salaam Zoo tour.

Mikumi National Park Want to venture out of town and see some wildlife in its natural habitat?  Then come with us to Mikumi National Park which is alive with wild animals and birds.

Saadani National Park Sadaani National Park is the only wildlife sanctuary in East Africa right on the Tanzanian Ocean, and is the closest safari from Dar es Salaam. The bush meets the beach in Saadani and the wildlife is abundant making it an amazing day trip.

Requirements

In order to join the program you need to be at least 18 years old on the program start date. There might be exemptions if you can provide the permission of your legal guardian(s) or if your are accompanied by your parents.

Language Skills you need to speak English (basic level)

Education Requirements Health or social care related disciplines at High school/University level

Required Documents CV, copies of certificates and related documents

Nationality Restrictions No restrictions. Helping hands from all over the world are welcome.

Time Commitment Your helping hand will be required on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 08:00 – 15:00.

Airport Pickup at Julius Nyerere International Airport

We do pickup of volunteers from Amani Amri Abeid Karume Airport Zanzibar or anywhere else within Dar Es Salaam.

Accommodation; HOME STAY ACCOMMODATION

Living is basic but all the Home Stays have electricity and running water and accommodate volunteers in safe and secure homes (some rural home stays may not have electricity or running water during times of drought). All home stays have been inspected thoroughly by local staff and chosen because of their safety and security. Most volunteers love their home stays and feel that they get a more authentic Tanzanian experience by staying there.

VOLUNTEER HOUSE

The Volunteer House is a western-style house with 6 bedrooms (all shared accommodations with bunk beds). It has 2 bathrooms with western-style toilets and occasional hot water for showers. The house also includes one double bedroom, and this room is generally reserved for married couples. The house is safe and secure, with a security guard and a large gate. In the volunteer house, there is a cook who cooks the meals for the volunteers.

(Please note that spaces in the volunteer house are very limited and can only accommodate 18 to 24 people).

Food & Beverages Meals: You will be provided with 2 meals daily. Breakfasts generally consist of Chai (tea), toast, cereal, fruit and mandazzi (deep fried dough). Dinner usually sees traditional food such as ugali, chapatti, boga and irio accompany the meat and vegetables.

Internet Access; you will have to pay for Internet Access.

What’s NOT included?

Visa, flights, travel insurance or vaccinations are NOT included in the program fees.

Flight Tickets; The nearest airport is Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) in Dar Es Salaam. We assist you to find cheap flights to Tanzania.

Travel Insurance; Going abroad is an adventure and it is always best to be prepared. Sudden illness or injury, cancellation or theft – travel insurance for Tanzania provides security and is a plus to have.

Vaccines; If you are intending to volunteer in Tanzania you should seek medical advice before starting your social journey. Check your required vaccinations for Tanzania.

Dates & Fees Details on arrival; our program run throughout the year but Volunteer arrival is usually Friday of every week and the program start day is Monday of every week. Unless there is a special arrangement. The arriving airport is Amani Abeid Karume International Airport Zanzibar. Availability; Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Duration2 – 50 weeks

Volunteer Program fee covers the following

Costs: Prices in USD

What’s included?

• Accommodation (volunteer house)
• Free Airport pick up and drop off (24hrs )
• Food (Breakfast and Dinner in a day)
• 1-2days of In country program Orientation and
• Induction session to know the culture, people and city places.
• In-country support
• Free T-shirt and a cap
• Free bottled water 1.5ltrs per day provided in your room.
• Free WiFe use in the house.
• Free day trip to Tarangire National park/ Lake Manyara for a volunteer stay longer than 9-weeks and this also includes Free visit to Maasai Village and Waterfalls)
• Pre-departure support from your Program Manager
• Personalized project and Pre-departure information
• Certificate of completion

What’s not included?

• The Visa
• Airfare
• Personal expenses on soft drinks and foods
• Daily transportation