Volunteer
Make a Difference
Volunteer at our children's home in Buswelu, Mwanza — northern Tanzania, on the shore of Lake Victoria. Whether you stay for one week or several months, your knowledge, compassion, and experience will have a lasting impact on the lives of our children. We welcome individuals, families, university groups, and professionals from around the world.
We do not charge a program fee. Your room and three meals a day are provided at no cost — you cover only your flights, visa, insurance, and local transport. Most volunteer placements in Tanzania are sold through agencies that charge hundreds of dollars a week; you come to us directly, and nothing you spend is lost to a middleman.
Volunteers Can Help With
- —Teaching English & Math
- —Sports and recreational activities
- —Music, singing, arts and crafts
- —Computer training
- —Childcare
- —Farming and poultry keeping
- —Construction and repairs
- —Photography
- —Fundraising
- —Website maintenance, SEO
Costs & Practical Details
- Program fee
- None — we charge nothing to volunteer.
- Minimum stay
- One week. Longer stays are far more valuable to the children — see our note on short visits below.
- Requirements
- 18+ years old, with intermediate English or Swahili.
- We provide, free
- Individual room or team dorm, and three home-cooked meals a day.
- You arrange yourself
- Flights, travel insurance, local transport, and your visa. Most volunteers enter Tanzania on a visitor/tourist visa — check the current requirements with your nearest Tanzanian embassy before you book, as rules vary by nationality and change from time to time.
Volunteer housing & meals
Housing — including the bathroom, so you know exactly what to expect:
Meals are simple, home-cooked Tanzanian food, served three times a day.
Child Protection
Is volunteering at an orphanage ethical?
It's a fair question, and if you've been researching volunteering in Africa you have probably read that orphanage volunteering can do harm. That criticism is real and it is largely deserved — but it describes a specific model, and it is worth understanding what that model actually is before you decide.
The documented abuses involve institutions that recruit children who still have living families, keep them visibly poor to attract paying visitors, and sell a rotating stream of short stays through agencies. That is a business model, and it is not ours. We are a permanent home, not a destination. Our children arrive through the authorities — most were brought to us by police after being found abandoned, orphaned, or living on the street, and their individual stories are published on our Sponsor a Child page in their own words. No child is here to be visited. They are here because this is where they live.
We also charge nothing, which removes the financial incentive that drives the worst of what you have read about. Nobody here profits from your visit.
Our honest position on short visits
We accept stays from one week, and we will tell you plainly: a week is not long enough to form the kind of bond a child benefits from, and children who repeatedly say goodbye to adults they have started to trust pay a real cost for it. If you can stay a month or more, stay a month or more. If you only have a week, the most useful thing you can do is work on something that outlasts you — a repair, a skill taught to staff, a season of planting, photography we can actually use — rather than becoming a temporary parent.
What we ask of you
- —Every application is read and answered personally — we speak with you before you travel, not after you arrive.
- —Photographs of the children are never to be published in a way that identifies them or their circumstances without our agreement.
- —You are a guest in the children's home, working alongside our staff — never alone in charge of a child.
- —Respect that these children have already lost the adults in their lives. Do not promise anything you cannot keep, including staying in touch.
Want to see what an ordinary day here actually looks like before you apply? Spend one with us.
Our Volunteers
You'd be joining a real community here
Questions
Practical questions, answered
How much does it cost to volunteer at Watoto Wa Africa?
Nothing. We do not charge a program fee, and your room and three meals a day are provided free of charge. You pay only for your own flights, travel insurance, visa and local transport. This is unusual — most volunteer placements in Tanzania are sold through agencies charging in the region of $175 to $205 per week.
What is the minimum stay?
One week. We will be honest with you though: a week is not long enough to build the kind of relationship a child benefits from, and if you can stay a month or longer, that is far more valuable to the children than a short visit.
Do I need a visa to volunteer in Tanzania?
Yes. Most volunteers enter Tanzania on a visitor or tourist visa. Requirements and costs vary by nationality and change from time to time, so check with your nearest Tanzanian embassy or high commission before booking flights. The visa is your responsibility and is not included.
Where will I stay and what will I eat?
You get an individual room or a place in a team dorm at the home, and three home-cooked Tanzanian meals a day, at no cost. Photographs of the actual rooms and bathroom are on our volunteer page — we show them deliberately so there are no surprises when you arrive.
Is volunteering at an orphanage ethical?
It is a fair question. The documented harms of orphanage volunteering come from institutions that recruit children who still have families, keep them visibly poor to attract paying visitors, and sell short stays through agencies. We are a permanent home, our children arrive through the authorities after being orphaned, abandoned or found living on the street, and we charge nothing — so nobody profits from your visit.
What skills do you need from volunteers?
Teaching English and maths, sports and recreation, music and arts, computer training, childcare, farming and poultry keeping, construction and repairs, photography, fundraising, and website work. You need to be 18 or over and speak intermediate English or Swahili.
Apply