Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[wjenkins]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has got any advice about Moshi. I am going there in Sept for 6 months on my own, to do some voluntary work, and stay at the Hotel Hoff. Which project is yet undecided, but looking forward to the experience and break from the daily grind in the UK! Any tips would be great!

Wendy

[kili-kelly]

I am a long term volunteer in Moshi (going on my 3rd year here) running an NGO. Moshi is a big center for volunteering due to it's great location. It is one of the cleanest cities in Africa, is known for its friendliness and very easy to get around. Hostel Hoff s a well known, established volunteer housing company run by an Irish woman. If you have 6 months for your travel, you can make a real difference and have many more project options. What type of volunteer work are you interested in? Hostel Hoff I am sure can help you find the right project of I can put you in contact with some good projects if you wish. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Safari njema.

[wjenkins]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has got any advice about Moshi. I am going there in Sept for 6 months on my own, to do some voluntary work, and stay at the Hotel Hoff. Which project is yet undecided, but looking forward to the experience and break from the daily grind in the UK! Any tips would be great!

Wendy

[wjenkins]

I am a long term volunteer in Moshi (going on my 3rd year here) running an NGO. Moshi is a big center for volunteering due to it's great location. It is one of the cleanest cities in Africa, is known for its friendliness and very easy to get around. Hostel Hoff s a well known, established volunteer housing company run by an Irish woman. If you have 6 months for your travel, you can make a real difference and have many more project options. What type of volunteer work are you interested in? Hostel Hoff I am sure can help you find the right project of I can put you in contact with some good projects if you wish. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Safari njema.

Hi kili-kelly,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I am a qualified social worker (12 years) and doing management too. Ie supervising social workers, family support workers, budgeting, implementing the local authority strategies. My background is in child protection, adoption, supporting foster carers, and children in the care system to find permanent placements or return them home wherever possible. I am particularly interested in projects where there may be an opportunity to do some developmental work in child protection matters, settling children permanently, building links with organisations to take these matters seriously, but would also enjoy working somewhere that is a worthwhile project and that in the short time I am there I can make a slight difference. I know I am not going to move mountains! It's hard enough in the UK with all of the politics! Hostel Hoff have mentioned Minjeni. I don't know if you know of them, or any others, but it would be great if you could put me in touch with them!

By the way, do I need to learn a lot of swahili, as I am about to start learning, and just wondered how fluent I needed to be?

Many thanks for your help.

Wendy

[kili-kelly]

Yes, I know Minjeni, they are a good NGO that deals with just the things that you mention. The more Swahili that you know, the easier it will be for your type of project. Getting by around town, you don't need much, but with they people you would be helping, they will not know English. You can have an interpreter but I advise to learn as much as you can before coming. If you wish, you can send me a personal message for any more details that you need to know. Karibu Moshi!

[corinneconley]

Sounds like a really interesting opportunity and place to service travel to!

[mitraleb]

Wendy,
I have been volunteering in Moshi on and off for the past three years between graduate work in the States. The first time I stayed at Hostel Hoff and had a really great experience. Now I can't seem to stay away from the place! I have worked with Minjeni and it is a great organization. The founder and director Romana is a social worker and a nurse. She is a wonderful and loving woman. I will be back there again this summer although I might be leaving before you get there. I haven't finalized my travel plans yet. You can contact Romana at romanaolomi@hotmail.com. Just to let you know sometimes she can be a bit slow on getting back to people because she is usually swamped with work. Feel free to email me with any questions mitraleb@hotmail.com and I will try to be as helpful as I can. I know it is hard advice to take but don't worry too much about it before you get there. Sometimes it is most helpful to check out a few projects once you are there and see which one suits you the best. Good luck with your Swahili!

Mitra Lebastchi