Construction and maintenance volunteers may be asked to help mix cement to produce bricks or to use as the foundation for floors. This type of work would be done under the guidance of local engineers.
Golgotha Orphanage Center is a non profit establishment created to provide support for vulnerable children in the Arusha communities. They have been facing numerous challenges and the main ones are lack of funds to operate the center and lack of supplies to keep on building the facilities for the center. . Golgotha is looking for construction and renovation volunteers to support them in many areas of maintenance and construction at the center; since they have many unfinished building projects that are left hanging as the result of lack of funding.
They are open and would appreciate any kind of support that volunteers could contribute to their center. Be it a complete project from beginning to end or continuation of some project that is ongoing or left at a certain stage of completion due to lack of funds.
One such project is the completion of their classrooms which has been at a stand still due to lack of funds. There is a great need to increase the number of classrooms in order to accommodate the children they support, as the number keeps increasing from day by day. The project has been stopped for quite some time and they would like to prioritize this project as their number one priority at the moment. However, there is flexibility in choosing any type of renovation projects at the center e.g painting and/or repairs to the classrooms floors and walls.
Construction and maintenance volunteers could be independent volunteers, as well as school group or family group volunteers. The volunteers would be working with a local construction engineer to give them instructions so they wouldn't require construction qualifications; just good work habits and a sincere desire to help. However, it should be noted that any volunteer projects would require the necessary funds to be obtained by the volunteers prior to said projects.
Construction and maintenance volunteers may be asked to help mix cement to produce bricks or to use as the foundation for floors. This type of work would be done under the guidance of local engineers.
Construction and maintenance volunteers might be required to work on a painting project either in newly built buildings or renovation projects, at the center. It all would depend on what type of arrangements had been made prior to arriving at the placement.
By the time a construction and maintenance volunteer arrived at this placement, small projects may have been created in order to provide better facilities for the students; or current volunteers may have come to this placement with supplies to construct and/or repair desks, chairs, tables, benches or other construction endeavours.
The organization doesn't have funds for construction projects needing to be done. Therefore, any construction and maintenance volunteer would have to obtain the funds prior to arriving in the country or conduct a fundraising campaign once in country.
Golgota Orphans Center and Primary School/Nursery, is dedicated to providing education and support to the orphans and poverty stricken families in the Uswahilini area. They are committed to not only helping orphan children but also children that are from vulnerable families who can not afford to send their children to an expensive school. Most of the families in this area earn only a very low income which is barely enough to sustain their life. Because of the areas demographic, Golgotha asks students to pay only a small amount of the school fees; enough to sustain the current operation of the school.
Golgota currently has 226 students aged 4-10 and offers classes from a Pre-Unit or Kindergarten class to a Class 1 through to a Class 4. To help sustain the school and ensure the children are well fed, they have their own vegetable garden and raise chickens on the school property.
Golgota is always expanding, as is seen from the picture of their first classroom made of mud and sticks (which hangs in the main office building) located 4 kilometers away from the current buildings. Their current projects included finishing their library and stocking it with books for the children.
Golgata Orphans Center and School started in 2007 by Mr Kuga and his wife. They started with 7 children who did not pay any school fees and they rented a very small classroom to accommodate the kids. After one year they had a total number of 38 kids. In 2010, sisters Sandra and Karen from the United States donated money to buy some land and to build a school on the property.
Golgota Orphans centers and school they are focused mainly on helping to provide education and supporting the orphans who are from the Uswahili community area and also helping the children that are from vulnerable families.
In Uswahilini area there are a lot of families that live in the very low income that they could barely sustain their daily life so the little contribution they pay to send the children to Golgota helps them to keep the school running to be able to support the orphans who aren't paying anything.
Golgota Orphans Center and School has 178 children which 120 of them are orphans some of them have single parents or have no both parents and the rest are from the vulnerable families.
Golgota Orphans Center and School gets the majority of their funding from different donors, private companies, non government organizations and from individual donors. Some of their income comes from a minimal school fee that some of the families pay.
This organization would greatly appreciate any of the following donations:
Uswahilini area is where Golgotha is located. This is in the southern part of Arusha, just 20 minutes by public transport from the city. The center itself is in a very open area which overlooks the spectacular views of Arusha landscape, including one of the best views of Mount Meru. The area is surrounded with a lot of small local shops and fruit stands. Uswahilini is considered to be in the slums of Arusha; the area has no paved roads and many of the houses in the area are made of mud and wood.
Golgotha has five classrooms, which accommodate all the children from baby class, grade one and two, up to grade four. There is an office as well as a separate kitchen. They also have a small play ground in-front of the building, and are working towards building a store room as well as a library. The place is fenced with wire-mesh and is surrounded with a lot trees. On the other side, they are bordered by a river. They are also working towards building dorms to accommodate more children.
From the BaseCamp house take a walk down the road and catch a daladala (mini bus) that goes to town (can be identified with a red stripe). Ask to get off at Friends Corner, it will take approximately 20 minutes to get there, depending on traffic. From there take another daladala to Uswahilini area and get off at the last stop. Walk down the road, the opposite direction from which you came, and you will see the sign for Golgotha. From there turn right and walk down for 5 minutes and you will see the center on your left hand side, just beyond the church.
Distance from BaseCamp: 8km
Travel Time from BaseCamp: 0:40
Despite its closeness to the equator, Arusha's elevation of 1400 mm on the southern slopes of Mount Meru keeps temperatures down and alleviates humidity. Cool dry air is prevalent for the majority of the year. The temperature ranges between 13 and 30 degrees Celsius with an average of around 25 degrees.
Arusha has distinct wet and dry seasons and experiences an eastern prevailing wind from the Indian Ocean, a couple of hundred miles east. Highest average rainfall occurs in March, April and May.
The city of Arusha has an estimated population of around one million people and sits at the foot of Mount Meru. Mount Meru is the fifth highest peak in Africa; it is a few hundred meters shorter than Kilimanjaro which is the highest mountain in Africa and encompasses three volcanic cones; Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira (don't worry, they're not active!)
Arusha is surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscape on the planet. With easy access to the Arusha National Park, Serengeti, Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park there is never a shortage of things to do!
Arusha is considered to be one of the best African cities when it comes to great weather and tourism combined.
Arusha is a busy industrial and administrative centre. Some of the main manufacture products include textiles, beverages, processed foods, plastics and electronic equipment. It is well known for the African Congress Centre and the International Tribunal for the Rwandan Genocide.
Ithna Asheri Hospital
Sokoine Road
Arusha
TEL 1: +255 784 459 600
TEL 2: +255 754 822 188
Golgotha Orphanage & Primary School/Nursery
Uswahilini
Arusha
Tanzania
All of our volunteers begin their stay in Tanzania at our BaseCamp Center in Ngaramtoni - Arusha. Given that this placement is less than a 1 hour and 15 minute commute from BaseCamp, volunteers working here will have the option of living with us at BaseCamp or living with a host family.
The following information outlines a brief description of life at BaseCamp and also what someone can expect living with a host family in Tanzania. Once you have completed our application, you can let our staff know if you would prefer to live with a host family. Otherwise, your application will default to having you live with us at BaseCamp.
If you have any questions about the difference between life at BaseCamp or life with a host family in Tanzania you can always give us a call or send us an email. Our contact details are listed in the footer of every page of the site.
Nelson Mandela Road
Kijenge Ya Chini Mt. Meru Gas Station
Ngaramtoni - Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: 255 719 177 084
Mobile: 255 754 683 347
BaseCamp Tanzania is located in the Kijenge area of Arusha. The centre is located just a few minutes from the famous Clock-Tower and many amenities such as banks, internet cafes and international calling centres. You can also find some great local markets selling everything from fresh fruit and fish, to beautiful wooden carvings and amazing East African paintings! Arusha is a comfortable place to live with many of the conveniences of home, while still allowing travellers to experience the African way of life.
BaseCamp Tanzania is set up with a number of dormitory style rooms. Pillows, sheets and blankets are provided. The house has a large covered balcony on the main floor with a spectacular view! There is also a large common room on the lower level with a small resource centre containing books, magazines, movies, games and other African publications. Outside is a beautiful lawn and garden that overlooks the city and is an ideal setting to catch up on email, review some Swahili or just enjoy a quiet afternoon. Wireless internet access is available throughout the house, making it easy to stay in touch with friends and family back home.
The meal plan at BaseCamp is a 14 day rotating schedule of a variety of traditional dishes from around the country. This allows volunteers to try a wide range of Tanzanian dishes and to gain some knowledge of the food served and meal etiquette before living with a host family. For those who stay on in BaseCamp, the 14 day schedule allows for lots of variety.
BaseCamp Tanzania is also the training and orientation centre. Each day volunteers will spend part of the day in lectures or workshops at BaseCamp and part of the day exploring the city and learning how to get around comfortably on their own.
Living with a host family in Tanzania is a fantastic way to gain a deep understanding of and appreciation for the people and customs of the country. Each home-stay will provide a bed and three meals per day for our volunteers. The majority of host families offer private rooms with only one or two volunteers living with the family.
Living with a host family can greatly enhance your performance at your placement. For one, it will have a huge influence on the speed with which you gain familiarity with the local language. This, along with your deeper understanding of cultural practices and beliefs that you are likely to gain in this environment, can go a long way to improving or strengthening your relationships with your team mates at work. Furthermore, a significant percentage of our host families are closely affiliated with the organizations with which our volunteers work. As such, even the evening meal or hanging out around the house can become valuable time during which volunteers can share their ideas and continue their support of their host organization.
All of this being said, living with a host family is not for everyone. It is very important for volunteers to honor the house rules in their host family and to be punctual. Also, depending on how remote your placement location, host families can be very rustic. Our staff in country can give you a better idea of what exactly you can expect from a host family in any particular community. However, in general, if these things sound like they might pose a challenge for you, we strongly suggest that you look at a placement within commuting distance from BaseCamp Tanzania.
Our program structure and costing is completely flexible which lets our volunteers ensure that they only pay for exactly the degree of support that they want.
Some volunteers prefer to coordinate their own accommodation, meals and other support while overseas.
Anyone is welcome to use our volunteer placement search tool to help in finding a placement that is well suited to their interests. Once someone finds a placement that they wish to work with, they are welcome to make all the rest of their arrangmeents on their own.
As well, our team of staff overseas are often able to offer a few helpful pointers for volunteers 'doing it on their own'. Just send us an email with your questions and we will put you in touch with our team abroad. We only ask that you keep your requests fairly general, as this type of advice is exactly how our team earn their living. :)
Other volunteers would like assistance in selecting and confirming their placement, but they plan to manage their own accommodation and other expenses on their own.
These volunteers have the option of choosing to only have our assistance with selecting and confirming their placement. This option also includes ongoing placement support while abroad, so a volunteer would be able to ask our team for help if things at their placement were not working out.
In providing Placement Support, our team works with each volunteer through email, telephone and either Skype or Google Hangouts, to ensure that each volunteer has a clear understanding of their placement options. Our in-country staff will put together a custom list of placement options for each volunteer that they believe are the most appropriate matches with the volunteer's background, skills and interests. Then each volunteer can work with our team both in Canada and abroad to go through each of the options and narrow-down their selection.
For most volunteers who are volunteering for less than a year, they are looking for an option that includes their accommodation, meals, airport reception, country and program orientation and placement support. This is what our Program Fees are designed for.
We are proud of how over the years we have ensured that our program fees are amoungst the most reasonable of any program in the world while we continue to provide exceptional volunteer support both at home and abroad.
Our Program Fees and listings of what these do and do not include are listed below:
Registration Fee | 250 |
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1 Week | 395 |
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2 Weeks | 505 |
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3 Weeks | 615 |
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4 Weeks | 725 |
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5 Weeks | 830 |
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6 Weeks | 935 |
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7 Weeks | 1,040 |
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8 Weeks | 1,145 |
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Additional Weeks | 100 |
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All program fees are listed in US Dollars. |
Our regularly scheduled program start dates are the first Friday of each month, every month of the year. We strongly recommend beginning your program on one of these dates as this will allow you to go through our orientation alongside other international volunteers.
If you would prefer, our application will also allow you to select a custom start date for your program. Keep in mind that there is an additional fee for a custom start date which ranges from 50 to 75 USD.
Feb 05, 2021 | Mar 05, 2021 | Apr 02, 2021 |
May 07, 2021 | Jun 04, 2021 | Jul 02, 2021 |
Aug 06, 2021 | Sep 03, 2021 | Oct 01, 2021 |
Nov 05, 2021 | Dec 03, 2021 | Jan 07, 2022 |
Feb 04, 2022 | Mar 04, 2022 | Apr 01, 2022 |
May 06, 2022 | Jun 03, 2022 | Jul 01, 2022 |
Aug 05, 2022 | Sep 02, 2022 | Oct 07, 2022 |
Nov 04, 2022 | Dec 02, 2022 | Jan 06, 2023 |
These dates are the day that volunteers should plan to arrive on the ground in country. We can accommodate arrivals in-country at any time day or night on these dates.