Since I don't have anything too exciting going on now that I'm back in the U.S., I've decided to write about people I met while in Africa who I found particularly interesting and inspiring. So I'll start with a couple who played a pretty big role in my life in Tanzania, the owners of the hostel where I lived for six months!
When traveling to Tanzania, there are SO many different organizations to volunteer with. And especially when making a donation, it can be really difficult to make sure you are donating to a worthy cause that will use your money in the best way possible. One important question I asked Amanda was how she chose these specific projects:
Amanda is from Australia, she first came to Tanzania in 2007 volunteering through a large international volunteer agency, which cost her around $2000 USD, for just three weeks! While in TZ she met Sarah, another volunteer who was just starting to set up Hostel Hoff. The goal was to provide volunteers with a cheaper alternative and enable volunteers to put money directly into projects rather than a large profit making agency. Amanda did go back to Australia, but she returned to TZ one year later to act as manager for Hostel Hoff, which was a live-in position where she helped all of the new volunteers.
While managing and living at Hostel Hoff, Amanda met Simbo. Through a recommendation from a friend Hostel Hoff had hired Simbo as a guide to take volunteers on safari. Over the next year their close friendship blossomed, they married in 2009 and have two absolutely gorgeous little boys!
They started with one safari vehicle, and now they are a registered safari company. They work mostly on referrals and recommendations (I went on safari with them, even if you're not staying at the hostel I HIGHLY recommend it!) and do a range of safaris from budget camping to upmarket lodge safaris.
It was always the plan that when Sarah was ready to leave Tanzania, Simbo and Amanda would take over Hostel Hoff, which they did at the end of 2010. So let me explain a bit more about the Hostel. Like I said earlier, the whole point is to make volunteering affordable. Many organizations make you pay in order to volunteer, at the Hoff all you have to pay for is your accommodation. And you also get breakfast, dinner, and laundry! Hostel Hoff has a working relationship with trustworthy non-profit organizations in Moshi. Upon arrival, all hoffers are given a great (and lengthy) tour of Moshi Town with the wonderful Mary, who is Tanzanian and inevitably becomes the best friend of everyone she meets. Then the volunteer can discuss the different volunteer projects with Amanda and/or the current manager. Usually they try to spread the volunteers evenly around the different projects, and new hoffers can accompany the older ones to get an idea of the project before they commit to a choice. Not everyone at the Hoff has to do these projects, people volunteering and staying for long periods of time of course get preference, but if there are a couple of beds open there's always space for people who are just on vacation. Or for people like myself who are at volunteer projects like Amani that aren't affiliated with Hostel Hoff. For me, the hoff was truly home. After being in a world of Swahili all day, and bonding with children and learning what shocking and disturbing experiences they'd been through, the hoff was a place to vent and to talk to people who were going through the exact same hardships. In that situation, people become family very quickly. The hoffers take many day and weekend trips together, go on safari or other extended trips, and hit the town together every weekend. And any time you need advice about teaching or working with the kids, there is always someone who can advise you. I personally met many unbelievably intelligent people during my time there. We would all eat dinner together outside every single night (sometimes by candlelight due to power cuts) and talk about our day. Sharing our challenges, the adorable things the kids had done, and often the wacky and ridiculous things we saw throughout the day (cow in a pick-up truck, pig on a motorcycle, wheel barrow full of half dead chickens etc.) Amanda's favorite part about the hostel is watching the real impact that the volunteers have and the difference that they can make.
"Many people go home with a very strong connection to Tanzania and we see many of our past volunteers return for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time."
(I agree with her there, I will be back!)
When Amanda & Simbo took ownership of Hostel Hoff in late 2010, they also took over the charity Path to Africa (which Sarah had started in 2008). Many hoffers would bring fundraised money and were looking for good projects to donate to. Originally PtA supported an orphanage in a village near Moshi. Now they are constructing their own children's center (which is still under construction), and supporting Hope Orphanage, another small orphanage in Moshi.
"Through the experience of living in Tanzania, we choose projects to support that we believe are really doing the right thing and providing as much assistance to the local community as possible. Although some of these projects are small (Hope Orphanage only has 5 children) the support we are giving them will change the lives of these children. They will attend English medium primary schools next year which is a high level school and this never would have been possible without the support from Path To Africa donors."
For more information on Path To Africa or to make a donation, visit www.pathtoafrica.org
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