I worked for the Happy Africa Foundation and its partner African Impact in Moshi, Tanzania, and it was the best summer I’ve ever had. It was not only such fun and enjoyable experience, but also a great opportunity to learn about development and NGO management.
During my placement I lived in the volunteer house with others. Because we lived and spent so much time together, we got very close and became like a big family. Unlike government funded programmes like ICS, volunteers come from all over the world, which makes it so interesting to get to know other volunteers as they all have different cultures and stories. This is one of many things I miss about my time in Moshi. I had such a great time in just talking to other volunteers, sometimes sitting around a bonfire, watching the sky full of stars!
The weekend trips are also one of my highlights. They had a variety of trips and tours with reasonable price you can do over the weekends. I’ve done most of the tours, and they were all incredible. Watching a family of lions, crossing the border betweenTanzania and Kenya with a kayak, snorkelling in the turquoise blue ocean of Zanzibar, climbing Kilimanjaro, swimming in a hidden hotspring… and the list goes on.
The internship also offered me a great opportunity to deepen the understanding of development and NGO management. Working on the grass route level allowed me to observe how the community is changing, and how NGOs have been contributing towards its development. It was very interesting to learn how the team manages the projects, and being able to see how the projects are making impacts on the community even in a short term was amazing.
Being a part of the Happy Africa Foundation team was probably one of the most fruitful experiences I’ve had during the internship. With them, I was able to learn fundraising strategies. As fundraising is perhaps the most important element in the development and charity sector, having an opportunity to learn about it was incredible.
None of these experiences would have been great if it weren’t for the staff members of African Impact and the Happy Africa Foundation. They were always very friendly and supportive, which made it so much easier for me to adapt to the new environment and to understand my tasks. I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with.
Written by Shu, our Moshi intern for 3 months