A Day in the Life of a Volunteer

29.10.2012

My name is Signe, I’m 19 years old and finished my three years in upper secondary school in Sweden this spring where I studied art and social science. I have been in Dar es Salaam with help2kids for 5 weeks now, and will leave for Malawi in 2 weeks, which I am really excited about. I am here with my sister, Evelina, who is 5 years older than me. We visited Tanzania two years ago with our family and wanted to return, to give something back and also for our own personal development.

In the mornings we go by dala dala, the local bus, to Kunduchi, a small village ten minutes from Africana where we live. Kunduchi is a fishing village next to the beach, its smells a lot and we are always really dirty when we leave after a day of building. The classroom construction in Kunduchi is moving along, even if not so fast. The cement floor will soon be finished, we have made some benches and tables, and I think we will continue with the walls this week and hopefully start same painting. Dar gets warmer and warmer for each day and we are sweating a lot.

The work in Kunduchi differs a lot from the work at the children’s home where we spent our afternoons. The afternoons are my favorite. Most kids are back from school and there is lots of playing on the playground. We teach English in small groups, play games and read highly enjoyed books. Occasionally we go on field trips to the beach.

Then we go back to the Friendly Gecko by bicycle as the sun goes down after one of these days and eat Juliet’s wonderful dinners. That’s life at help2kids!