Our volunteer Chiara reports

It's hard to believe how fast time flies – Chiara from Germany has been volunteering here since December, and soon it will be time to say goodbye again. Together with Til (also from Germany), who thankfully will be supporting us until the summer, and Mia (from Switzerland), who will be with us for three to six months, they form our first-ever volunteer team on site. A real highlight and a premiere for our Her Voice project!

The past few weeks have once again demonstrated how valuable volunteers are to our project: They enrich the lessons, bring fresh ideas, foster cultural exchange with the students, and strengthen our team in our daily work. In this blog post, Chiara shares her personal impressions and the special moments she experienced during this time:

„Hello everyone, I’m Chiara, 25 years old, and I’m studying for a Master’s degree in International Relations. As part of my studies, I’ve already taken several courses on NGO work and the African continent. However, I believe that theoretical knowledge is often insufficient to truly understand complex issues, so I decided to gain practical experience on the ground in Tanzania. Since the beginning of December 2025, I’ve been working on the “Her-Voice – ujuzi wangu” project run by VOYOTA and Direct Help 4 Tanzania, and I’m living with a local host family. I’ve definitely already achieved my goal: I’ve gathered an incredible number of new impressions, learned about cultural nuances, and discovered a great deal about the country, its governmental structures, and, of course, its people. I consider this stay to be incredibly enriching.”.

Of course, I had to get used to a few things at first. The "pole pole" attitude (everything in its own time) is sometimes quite challenging for me. Fixed appointments, times, or prices are often nonexistent here. Things like garbage disposal, water supply, or public transportation simply work differently. But now I feel like I've settled in. I finally understand all the greetings on the street, know how to respond, and no longer worry about running everyday errands on my own.

In my NGO work, I was able to draw on my previous experience as a student assistant in Germany. Due to the winter break in the Her-Voice project, I spent the first few weeks primarily handling administrative tasks on the computer. For example, I prepared the VOYOTA annual report, cataloged books, designed flyers, and edited the timetable for the project participants. I've noticed that the distribution of tasks is very well tailored to the individual skills of the volunteers. With the start of training for a new group of young women in January, I will also be teaching English, computer skills, and sexual and reproductive health, and I'm really looking forward to it.„

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