Taking on Tanzania

From Leongatha to Tanzania: Verity Warr said working as a volunteer with children in Arusha in Tanzania encouraged her to make a permanent move to east Africa.

EAST Africa is a world far away from the rolling green hills of South Gippsland, but that hasn’t deterred one Leongatha girl from making it her new home.

Wanting to travel before settling down to go to university in Melbourne, 21-year-old Verity Warr decided to work as a volunteer in an orphanage in Arusha in Tanzania for five months, beginning in January last year.

Inspired by the incredible children she met who, despite the hardships they faced, manage to smile and laugh every day, Verity made a life-changing decision.

“When I got there I absolutely loved it. I fell in love with the place and loved the work I was doing,” she said.

Unhappy with her original volunteer organisation, with high levels of corruption plaguing many, Verity said when a friend started up a new organisation, she immediately jumped on board.

With plans to still study international development by distance, it only made sense to Verity to cement a career in aid work when the opportunity presented itself.

“I started working for this new organisation about two months in, and it just went on from there. The organisation I’m working for I really love and I have a great support network there,” she said.

“I only planned to stay for five months and now I think I’m going to be there forever.”

The organisation is called Africa Volunteer Outreach (AVO), and Verity said it aims to be different to the other organisations in the country by being more community focused and keeping out corruption.

“With a lot of them you come in, do what you want with your skills and leave. We want to have a more lasting impact,” she said.

“We’re working with schools and orphanages at the moment; we have three schools we work with and we’re always adding on more and more. People come and stay with host families and come and go to their project every day, and their only requirement is that they speak English.”

Verity said volunteers can do a range of activities, from teaching lessons and assisting local teachers in schools, or taking care of orphaned babies and monitoring their development in a baby home the organisation also works with.

Moving from the role of volunteer to volunteer coordinator, Verity and another former volunteer are now in charge of overseeing the organisation, from handling administration work and advertising to showing volunteers around the city and making sure their experience runs smoothly.

Verity admits the change is “crazy” in such a short amount of time, but she has absolutely no regrets about her decision.

And her decision has been a big one at that, leaving the western comforts of Australia for a life in a third world country.

“It’s very different. It’s not developed at all,” she said.

“Buildings in the city are half finished, it’s always really crowded and there aren’t a lot of resources. I’ve been sick a lot and the hospitals are really bad.”

Although prepared for the lifestyle change, Verity said the lack of facilities in Tanzania is rather shocking.

When asked what luxuries she’s had to forego, she remarked “everything!”

“Little things like TV and reading the newspaper,” she said.

“I have to do everything online so I’m always in front of the computer. All I eat is rice, kidney beans and porridge, and that’s pretty much it!”

But Verity said overcoming these small changes is nothing compared to what Tanzanians struggle with their whole lives.

“The children are gorgeous. That’s probably the most amazing thing – these kids have nothing, but they’re so happy and they love volunteers,” she said.

“Everyday they’re running up to you and hugging you, trying to get your attention to show you little funny facial expressions.

“At the end of the day if I feel like the problem is too big and that I didn’t achieve anything, just to know one or two of the kids went home happy for the rest of the day, that you made them smile and laugh is worth it.”

Whilst visiting the parents or grandparents of children she’d met, Verity said giving families a small gift in the form of one kilogram of rice often led them to tears.

“It’s just little things like that, that cost barely anything but make such a huge difference to people,” she said.

There are big plans for AVO too, from working with the government to try and reduce the cost of volunteer visas, to a long-term goal of opening up their own children’s village and school.

Verity said when she first made the decision to stay in Tanzania she was too scared to tell her parents and avoided it for a whole month.

“They were a little shocked, but they were surprisingly really cool,” she said.

“They knew that’s what I wanted to study and what I wanted to get into anyway. They’d heard a lot about what I was doing and the people I was working with, so they told me to go for it while I was young.

“They’ve been really supportive, and now I’m just trying to pressure them into coming over and seeing what it’s all about!”

These days, she said she doesn’t get too homesick, with things like Facebook and Skype making contact with friends and family all too easy.

Verity said she would “absolutely” recommend volunteering to young people fresh out of high school.

“I think it’s a good way to travel and be in a safe environment around people the same age, and it’s a rewarding experience and you learnt a lot, even if you just go for two or three weeks,” she said.

“I definitely recommend it to everyone if you’re ready to be away from home, just to throw yourself into another culture.”

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Posted by Simone Short on Jan 30 2013. Filed under Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry