TANZANIA 2012
California State University, Long Beach with Karimu International Help Foundation
TRIP SUMMARY
PROPOSED ITINERARY
July 29th / Depart California – evening flight to London.
1st August / Arrive London - airport transit. Depart for Tanzania in evening.
2nd August / Arrive early morning into Kilimanjaro International Airport to be met at the airport by Inspire Leaders. Transfer to hostel in Arusha where Inspire Leaders will run Orientation Session. Relax and stay one night.
3rd August / Depart early morning to Bacho village (5 hours on tar and dirt road). Once in Bacho there will be lunch and a welcome session from the local community.
4th August -12th August / Start building, classes and community-arts based education programme mixed with healthcare programme and additional cultural visits including local coffee plantations and farms. Full board and lodgings are provided at the Institute.
13th August / In the afternoon there will be a leaving ceremony at the school with dancing and speeches followed by a celebratory dinner.
14th August / Depart very early for Tarangire National Park and a day in the park with lunch boxes.
Dinner and overnight at Mto wa Mbu guesthouse and overnight at Guest House on the edge of the Parks.
15h August / Up early and drive to the world famous Ngorongoro Crater for a day of safari – spot lions, elephant, zebra and much more! Returning that evening to Mto wa Mbu and option to visit local bar/club for dancing.
17th August / Early breakfast and a morning safari to Lake Manyara National Park.
After lunch at a local restaurant and depart for Arusha and the airport.
FURTHER INFORMATION
COMMUNITY PROJECT INFORMATION
The story so far…
In Tanzania only just over 50% of the population enroll for primary school and even fewer manage to make the next step to Secondary School. Facilities are extremely limited and often pushed to the limit to cope with the number of children:teacher ratios. Classrooms have fallen into disrepair, have leaking roofs, termite infested walls, mud floors and often no windows, doors or even desks.
The Karimu Foundation was set-up by Marianne and Don Stoll after they were made aware of a dilapidated school in the village of Bacho, on the slopes of the Great Rift Valley.
When they visited the project during their time in Tanzania in 2007 they saw that the school was in a poor state of repair and was desperate need of repair and renovation. This gave them the idea of getting volunteers from the United States to help – both physically and financially.
On returning to the States Marianne and Don set up their own charity, the Karimu Foundation which aims to support the communities of Tanzania which they had visited and seen were desperately in need of help. In July 2008 their dream was realised, as after a lot of fantastic fundraising a team of twenty five travelled to Bacho to complete much of the school renovation work that was so desperately needed.
The cultural and work exchange was a learning experience for both communities and by the end of the trip four classrooms had been completed and along with some basic Swahili lessons there was even time for a quick safari trip to take in even more that Tanzania has to offer! The whole group worked extremely hard and more or less worked solid for nearly 2 weeks.
The journey has not stopped there though. 2009 saw the return of another team of volunteers, with the team growing in size to 31 across a complete mix of ages. Once again, the team worked exceptionally hard to complete more classrooms that the Ufani School so desperately needs.
In 2010 volunteers took part in building two more Ufani classrooms and also lent a hand at nearby Ayalagaya Secondary School, where Karimu is funding construction of living quarters for two teachers. Karimu had already done the same at Ufani because lack of decent housing drives many Tanzanian teachers out of remote villages toward the larger towns and cities. The team also helped arrange distribution of six hundred forty mosquito nets and delivery of ten thousand dollars’ worth of medicines to the local health clinic, as well as carrying out educational sessions in the community on malaria awareness.
In 2011 CSULB students joined Karimu in travelling to Tanzania. The students helped build teacher’s apartments at Ayalagaya and Ufani schools in addition to taking classes and running arts/ English based workshops with the children of both schools.
What will the team do in 2012?
The summer 2012 trip will expand on the work mentioned above – with mornings spent on building and renovation work both at Ufani and Ayalagaya Secondary School. The afternoons for the CSULB students will be focused on taking classes, working with the Tanzanian students on English and art skills and developing a collaborative community based arts project through a series of hands-on workshops.
When you are in Bacho you can also expect to cook, sing, eat and dance with the villagers. (Nervous that you would look foolish if you tried to dance? Even the clumsiest among us can perform the villagers’ simple celebratory dance, which consists of jumping up and down over and over again, with arms locked, and occasionally lunging forward exactly as people in rich countries do in gyms when they want to sculpt quads of steel.) Then, after leaving Bacho, you will enjoy three days of safari—although nobody can promise exactly who you will see, this past summer’s students were five feet from a sleeping lion who decided to crash out after feasting in the middle of the safari road in addition to seeing numerous other animals including elephants, baboons, zebras and many more!
Will I really make a difference?
Yes! The Karimu Foundation and CSULB work closely with their Tanzanian partners to ensure all project work is requested and needed by the local community. They listen to them, rather than telling them what they should do. As your trip providers, it is also Inspire’s priority to ensure all projects their team’s undertake are requested, necessary and will be maintained by the community. To ensure this happens, Inspire works in close partnership with the Karimu Foundation, CSULB and the local community to make sure students/volunteers are prepared, well guided and ready to take part in projects, which the community has requested.
Team members should be prepared for physical labour, which is very hands on. You will need to be relatively fit, but the most important thing to have is a great attitude and the willingness to get involved with all different aspects of work and life in rural Tanzania.
SAFARI
After the project team members will have the opportunity to explore the world famous Tarangire National Park, The Ngorogoro Crater and Lake Manyara. The team will travel up through Tarangire National Park before over-nighting in a local guest house. The following day is an early start to ensure we get the best game viewing possible Keep your eyes peeled for elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe, warthog, lion and maybe even leopard. The last day of the safari is just as spectacular as we drive along the shores of Lake Manyara – one of Tanzania’s most beautiful Lakes.
ACCOMMODATION
It is important for that student team members live and work in the local community, to try and get an understanding of what life is like in rural Tanzania.
For your duration of the project you and your team will be living in basic accommodation, at the agricultural college, within walking distance to the schools. Each room has four bunk beds, shared bathroom facilities and every volunteer has an area to keep their clothes.
There are basic toilet facilities and showers – hot water is not always guaranteed! There is a running tap outside which is useful for washing clothes and collecting water for cooking. The college has a large dining room, where you will eat breakfast and dinner.
On safari you will stay in a simple hostel just outside of the National Parks, which has running water and electricity.
FOOD AND DRINK
Food is prepared by the local ladies and consists of locally bought food cooked in the traditional Tanzanian style. A typical day would be eggs and bread and jam for breakfast, Lunch of vegetable stew and rice, snack of chapattis with sugar and hot tea, and chicken, potatoes and lots of vegetables for dinner. Tea, coffee and squash are all provided and you can easily buy soft drinks from the village shop. You will be very well fed and looked after!
TANZANIA BACKGROUND
Tanzania is bordered to the north by Kenya, to the East by the Indian Ocean, to the west by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, and to the south by Malawi and Mozambique.
The climate varies from tropical along the coast to temperate in the highlands. Tanzania hosts the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro which stands at a height of 5,895m.
Tanzania has an exceptionally rich and varied ecosystem. The vast bush lands and savannah plains are home to some of the largest herds of wildlife on the continent.
One third of Tanzania is covered by miombo woodland and is host to over four million wild animals including the highly endangered black rhino and a variety of turtles. The coast and off-shore island coral reefs host a wealth of marine life that are being threatened by dynamite fishing and a lack of protection.
Tanzania’s population of approx 31 million is comprised of 120 tribal groups. Tanzania is one of the least urbanised countries in East Africa with only 11.5% of the population living in towns and cities. Most people are concentrated around the perimeters of the country – the coast, Lake Victoria and Kilimanjaro while settlement in the wild centre of the country is sparse.
Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania and has an estimated population of over 2 million. The education system is loosely modelled on Great Britain but there is only one state run university. Primary education is in Swahili and tuition is free but costs of uniforms and books is a real hardship for most rural families and only about 5% of all children go onto Secondary school.
The government set aside one fourth of Tanzania’s land to protected parks, game forests and reserves (a total of 12 National Parks and 14 Game Reserves) but severe environmental damage has already occurred in most areas due to deforestation, soil erosion and desertification. The country’s parks are generally undeveloped and remain as some of the most wild and pristine areas in East Africa.
Country Profile
· Population: 40.4 million (UN, 2007)
· Capital: Dodoma
· Area: 945,087 sq km (364,900 sq miles)
· Major languages: English, Swahili
· Major religions: Christianity, Islam
· Life expectancy: 51 yrs (men), 53 yrs (women)
· Monetary unit: Tanzanian shilling (£1:2,200TSH)
· Main exports: Sisal, cloves, coffee, cotton,
cashew nuts, minerals, tobacco
· GDP per capita: US $370 (UN, 2007)
TRIP MANAGEMENT FROM INSPIRE WORLDWIDE
Who are Inspire and why are they working with Karimu and CSULB?
Inspire (www.inspire-worldwide.com) are a UK-based professional expedition provider. They specialise in managing community service projects in Africa for volunteer teams. Karimu first started working with Inspire’s Director, Beth Chapman, in 2008 and they have continued that relationship to this day. Inspire first started working with CSULB in 2010.
Inspire ensure all the activities, transport and accommodation is of a good standard as well as providing Group Leaders to help manage the trip and ensure students/volunteers are well prepared and get the most out of their experience. Inspire is also there to assist if anything goes wrong or if there are any incidents whilst you are overseas.
Professionalism
Inspire Worldwide ensures that all their trips are run to the highest possible standard. Inspire holds professional tour operator liability insurance and provides financial insolvency protection insurance for each participant. They also have detailed operational procedures and conduct regular and comprehensive risk assessments for every activity and location visited. These are all freely available to any trip member by contacting .
Safety
One of Inspire’s main responsibilities as a Tour Operator is to ensure all the activities that the group take part in whilst they are overseas are safe, have been fully assessed and comply with health and safety policies and best practice guidelines. Theyhave a full crisis management plan and carry out detailed country and activity risk assessments, which are continually re-assessed and updated by staff in the field as well as Inspire UK staff. Their Standard and Emergency Operational Procedures are fully comprehensive and govern the way in which all trips are run. All third party providers are fully assessed and must meet Inspire’s high standards before they agree to work with them.
Leaders
Inspire employ professional Leaders to manage the trip on the ground. These Leaders work with the group to ensure they are fully prepared for what to expect. They also deal with any problems or issues that might arise whilst they are overseas. All Leaders hold Remote First Aid certificates and have been Enhanced CRB checked. They are also very experienced and have led volunteer teams of young people on project sites in rural communities.
Training
Inspire provide fully comprehensive trip information packs and an audio/webcam briefing for the team. This provides teams with a wealth of information about the country the group are travelling to, vaccinations, kit list, health issues, cultural awareness, a history of the project and much more.
Support
Inspire are on call 24 hours a day in the UK whilst teams are overseas and provide all volunteers and their families with a 24-hour phone number in case of any problems. They also have their own Medical Advisor, Dr Jon Dallimore,who is on call whilst teams are overseas. Inspire provide regular e-mail updates to all next of kin, whilst the team are overseas.