Featured Volunteers: Jennifer, Natasha, Nikita & Andrew

Tanzania Quest, May 20 - June 19, 2007

This group of friends (shown left: Nikita, Andrew, Jennifer and Natasha from left to right) participated in three HIV/AIDS volunteer projects in Tanzania. They spent four weeks educating local youths, working in a clinic and traveling to the homes of people afflicted with HIV/AIDS to give them food and care. They were also able to go on a safari, take a tour in the jungle, go snorkeling, watch local dances, and go to the Mwenge market and the historical site of Bagamoyo (Andrew and Nikita shown right).

Jennifer recaps the Quest:

"The first two weeks we worked in a hospital shadowing medical students and going to class. For a week we did homebased care visits out of Ezra Ministries for HIV patients. We brought them food, listened to their stories, and gave them hope and encouragement. We heard 15 stories. The head of Ezra said that it is important to bring food on these visits so he was glad that we helped out in that way. Toward the end of our Quest we gave a presentation on HIV/AIDS to a secondary high school, ages 14-22.

We went to Zanzibar for the weekend, met someone there, and stayed in a hotel for the night. We saw dolphins, did a tour in the rain forest with monkeys, went snorkeling at Prison Island, went on a safari, saw local dances, and went to the Mwenge market and the historical site of Bagamoyo."

Natasha describes her cultural experience:

"My most meaningful cultural experience was meeting the women suffering from HIV/AIDS during our home-based care visits. I realized that there is so much to the world I don't know about, and women still have a long way to go. However, since then, I have really been motivated to work towards empowering women in poor countries. Only then will things actually change.

Not only did I accomplish my initial goal of seeing how health care is conducted in a third-world country, but I also was able to immerse myself in a completely different culture and form life-long relationships. I am now a much more open-minded and patient person. I...would definitely do it again in a flash."

Nikita reflects on his most important experiences:

"In the neonatal ward, there were many orphans. Most children were directly or indirectly affected by AIDS, leading to their orphanhood. HIV/AIDS was transmitted to the children through breastfeeding because that is the only way for the mothers to support them. [On our home based care visits] we covered about five houses a day and brought them flour, sugar, or anything else that they might need. That was probably the best part of the trip because I learned about how people are living with the disease.

The best cultural experiences I had were spending time with the neighbors and their families and talking with them about their experiences. We saw some native dances that only locals go to."