First of all I want to say that this trip was one of my best life experiences so far! Of course Tanzania is very different to Germany but now I know that Tanzania isn’t unconditional worse. Especially the citizens are very, VERY friendly. You are often more than welcome and sometimes a good friendship occurs. You unfortunately also have to watch out because lots of people call you because you are white. They think being white means you are rich and that you can help them in a financial way. That make me sad when I’m walking in the neighbourhood because being white doesn’t always mean I have a lot of money, so I can’t help them.

When you are in the project you dive directly in the culture. You are not a tourist anymore. Now you are a part of the community. And that made my time fly and valuable. I could interact with the people; it doesn’t matter if they are old or young. I could show them how to figure out new things for them. It also gave me a lot of things in return. A little success makes the children and yourself so happy. When they smile to you than you forget everything around you. Besides this is the most important I have learned: friendships are more important than things or money.

Nevertheless it is hard to see in which poverty some man, woman, and especially their children are living. I feel bad when I’m thinking about their future. Therefore I wanted to help but it is impossible for me to change their conditions. Of course you can be a part of improvement but I don’t think you can change it in one day. I tought in the school and helped to improve their infrastructure but that is only one step in the right direction. I hope that I made a bigger step with the people.

Besides working in the school I made some amazing trips.

My first trip was to Zanzibar. Breath taking beaches and also friendly people are waiting for you. The second trip was climbing Mount Meru (4566 mtr) with one of my new Tanzanian friends. It was amazing. The third trip was a safari to Serengeti & the Ngorongoro crater. Even this trip was great. It is so fantastic to see all those wild animals like lions & elephants in freedom. We also had a very funny guide who made this trip unforgettable.
All in all it was a good decision to work as a volunteer in Tanzania. I never want to miss this experience out and  I recommend this trip to everybody who is thinking about it.

Tanzania I’ll be back!!

Marius.