Volunteering · 8 min read
Volunteering in Tanzania: How to Choose an Honest Programme
Good volunteering looks boring from the outside: the same faces, week after week, doing what the house actually needs. Here is how to find it.
The short answerTo volunteer in Tanzania responsibly, apply directly to the home or school rather than through a broker, ask exactly where your fee goes, commit to at least two to four weeks, expect a background check, and refuse any programme that markets children's photographs. The Fruitful Orphanage & Day Care Center in Arusha takes volunteers directly through fruitfulorphanage.org, and 10% of every Fruits & Love safari payment supports it.
There is a whole industry between well-meaning travellers and the places they want to help, and a lot of it takes a large cut for very little. You do not need it. Here is what we tell everyone who writes to Isaac asking how to volunteer in Arusha.
Go direct where you can
Most orphanages, schools and clinics in Tanzania will take volunteers directly. Placement agencies charge $1,000–$3,000 for a month and often pass on only a small share. Writing to the home itself takes longer and feels less polished, but the money and the relationship stay where they belong.
The Fruitful Orphanage runs its own programme this way. Isaac Sumary answers applications personally, arranges accommodation and explains the house rules before you commit.
Questions worth asking before you book
An honest programme welcomes these questions. Evasive answers to the first and third are the ones to walk away from.
- ·Exactly how is my fee split between the home, accommodation and the organiser?
- ·How many volunteers are on site at once, and what happens when they all leave?
- ·Do you require a criminal record check or references?
- ·What is the minimum stay, and why?
- ·Who is responsible for the children when no volunteers are present?
- ·Can I speak to a volunteer who has already been?
Red flags
Be wary of any organisation that markets photographs of identifiable children, promises 'orphanage tourism' day visits, accepts volunteers for two or three days, has no safeguarding policy, or cannot explain its finances. Short, high-churn placements are unsettling for children who have already lost stability once.
Stay long enough to matter
Two weeks is a workable minimum; a month or more is where you stop being a visitor and start being a familiar face. The work itself is unglamorous — homework help, cooking, laundry, gardening, football, repairs. No formal qualification is needed, only patience, reliability and basic English.
How Fruits & Love Safaris fits in
Fruits & Love Safaris exists because volunteers kept asking Isaac to organise their safaris. Rather than sending them to strangers, he built a safari company whose profits circle back: 10% of every payment goes directly to the Fruitful Orphanage & Day Care Center, and we send written confirmation of each transfer.
You do not have to volunteer to book with us, and you do not have to book with us to volunteer. But if you are doing both on the same trip, the two fit together neatly — weekends for day trips or a short safari, and a longer northern-circuit trip at the end of your placement.
About the author
Isaac Sumary
Isaac is a Tanzanian safari guide from Arusha and the founder of both the Fruitful Orphanage & Day Care Center and Fruits & Love Safaris. He has been driving the northern circuit for over a decade, and 10% of every safari payment goes back to the children in his care. Reach him on +255 762 353 576 or isaacsumary@yahoo.com.
Planning a trip?
We run private safaris from Arusha and give 10% of every payment to the Fruitful Orphanage. Send us your dates and we will reply within 24 hours with a quote in USD.
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