In 2015, a company came into my sixth form and advertised an opportunity to volunteer abroad in Tanzania. Me being me; someone who is pretty happy in their comfort zone and hadn’t considered anything like this before, was straight up to have the ‘I don’t care’ attitude.

Time went on and to cut a long story short, the expedition opportunity kept appearing in my mind. This was very odd to me because weeks before I had not cared. I remember it clearly; the day came to had the deposits in to confirm a place.

Something changed, I couldn’t tell you what. Maybe it was my dad encouraging me or the sense of adventure but I gave in my deposit with minutes to spare.

And that readers, is the best decision I would come to make.

In the year and a half of preparation, the doubts kept in. Day by day I started to doubt my decision more and more. When it came to the week before, I was in bits pulling my hair out through stress and anxiety. After all, I had never done anything like this before.

Time to go

The group of 23 of us met up at 2am sharp at my secondary school. I actually said to my dad ‘they can keep the money.’ I was that positive that I was not going on this expedition.

As we set off and the coach pulled away driving to Heathrow, my heart felt like it was beating out of my heart, all I could do is sit
back and go with the flow. I had to trust myself that it was going to the right
choice.

Within the first week of being in Moshi, Tanzania, everything could not have
been worse. The first night I had no belongings, my bag had never arrived on
the airport luggage belt. Believe me being in another continent, being the only
person with no belongings whilst everyone else is cheering with happiness is
the worse feeling in the world. All I could do is hope my luck would change…

Over the next few days, I found I was allergic to the insect repellent,
experienced an ant invasion in my tent and found out the doctors in the UK had
prescribed me with the wrong malaria tablets. The joy.

Luckily, my luck changed and so did my outlook. Throughout the next 2 weeks,
we travelled throughout Tanzania; safari to market exploring, becoming a
qualified PADI scuba diver to de-worming goats. By the 3rd week, I realising
how much I was enjoying myself. It was strange how within 2 weeks my outlook
completely changed for the better. I didn’t want to go home and the realisation
of the expedition ending in a few weeks pulled on my heart strings.

Within that month, we had built the foundations of a primary school, laid
down a new wall for another school and plastered a house in the community. Its
a wonderful feeling that in those places, the support we gave has improved
someone’s lives, however big or small. Between projects, we spend time with the
children, playing, educating and supporting them. Their faces when they used
our phones for photos is something I will never forgot. They had never been
able to see themselves before and the fact we provided this opportunity is such
a warm feeling.

If volunteering abroad is something that you are considering, whether you
are like me and are feeling unsure or whether you are 100% sure, I would
definitely recommend the opportunity. Whenever, you go to have that opportunity
to contribute a change to someone else’s life is such a wonderful feeling that
to this day is still there with passion.

I cannot wait to do this again. This trip has given me the ‘travel bug’, the
sense of adventure and boost of confidence I needed. It has taught me that life
is short and that opportunities are always worth taking.

This expedition is where it all began.

Still next time,

Jen