Rachel’s volunteer trip to Tanzania

Anyone who knows me knows about my love for kids, and I recently got connected with an amazing opportunity that gives me the opportunity to volunteer with kids who need it most. Four weeks of my summer will be spent in Arusha, Tanzania where I will be volunteering. While I’m there I will be volunteering in an orphanage, through a program called Plan My Gap Year, which helps students like me find ways to volunteer around the world.

Here is some more information about the program:

“The Orphanage Volunteers program in Tanzania brightens up the lives of young children making a vital and important contribution to their daily lives. It is estimated that around 1.4 million Tanzanians are infected with HIV. Furthermore, for every 1,000 births almost 6 women die in childbirth. These factors along with general widespread poverty and minimal state welfare have resulted in an alarmingly high level of orphans and street children in Tanzania. Plan My Gap Year works with a number of centers in Arusha that strive to address this issue.

There are different kinds of orphanages that they partner with; boarding and day orphanages. Children in boarding orphanages permanently reside at the center, while those who attend day-orphanages come from underprivileged families who cannot care for them in the daytime. These children attend the center during the day and then return to stay with family, friends or relatives in the afternoon. The center provides lessons and activities for children before school age.”

I’m super excited to be able to spend my time volunteering with these kids, however I need to raise full support to cover my expenses while I’m there. Going on this adventure, I need to raise $2,200 to cover a portion of my flight and my room and board while I am there.Please ask me any questions, I would be happy to share more about this adventure.