There are many "Volunteer Agencies" operating in Tanzania and around the world. I (there are 2 of us running this, myself, an Irish woman, and a local Tanzanian) came to Moshi, Tanzania with a well-known Irish/English based company, and I found it to be a great experience. I had no problems with that volunteer agency, and I was under no illusions that the company was a charity; it was a profit making organization. I paid approximately 1400 Euro (1650 USD) for seven weeks here.

I calculate that the expense of having me here could have been no more than 400 USD. I did not see one penny of my money given to my volunteer project, and any supplies I needed I purchased myself. My major problem with the agency was that, for all the money they received, which was substantial, they did not show any concern for the projects themselves or towards the sustainability of any individual project. The projects'existence were merely a means to get volunteers to book through their company. I would have preferred to have volunteered independently and given my money directly to the projects, but I did not how to organize volunteering in Africa when I had never been here before. I knew I was paying for the security and ease of being with a group.

With the experience I now have I can see how an individual can volunteer independently here without wasting thousands of euro paying a foreign company. I decided to stay in Moshi in order to give an opportunity to others like me who want to volunteer but want to side step the profit making organizations. So, together with a local partner, we opened a hostel, The Hostel Hoff, in honour of the legend himself!. The Hostel is located 5 minutes walk from the edge of Moshi town. We provide dorm room accommodations, breakfast and dinner, laundry and other amenities. The hostel is a comfortable place in which to stay and relax. This is what you pay for; volunteering is free, as it should be, saving volunteers more than 1000 euro per month as opposed to going through these larger organization that provide no extra service but charge 4+ times the price to volunteer.

Volunteering now

We place volunteers in a small number of projects we work with and, as we co-ordinate some or many aspects of these projects, we will be in contact with you before you come to discuss what is needed etc. You will be able to chat to past and current volunteers if you wish. For most of these projects we are working towards the long term development and sustainability of the project and so generally have a set number of placements to fill from one volunteer to the next, so when these are full, they are full! Read through the placements listed to get an idea of what we do, but for a more detailed description, or for information on current short term projects not listed, contact us directly

Our Projects

Teaching, Skills Training, Activities
Womens Projects and Community Work
Orphanages
Other Projects