📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
This project is involving various groups in the community working toward conservation of environment through sustainable means. This includes local environmental committee, Faith-based organizations, Youth and Women groups. It is a project focusing on complex question; whether we can conserve the environment hence designs sustainable communities for our future.); volunteers will have an opportunity to explore the social, economic, spiritual and ecological issues and skills needed for developing sustainable life practices.
Most communities around this area are sharing boarder with Kilimanjaro National Park with very high dependency to the conserved forest. Most families still maintain traditional style of cooking their meals on the ground in the house over an open flame. As a traditional house usually has only one room, the whole house is filled with the smoke before and after meals. The smoke is thick and stays in the house as only a little hole in the roof allows for ventilation. As a result, acute respiratory and eye diseases are a significant problem for women and children. Additionally, this form of cooking requires large amount of firewood, which puts pressure on the Mount Kilimanjaro forest and thus a major contributor of forest destruction leading to climate change.
💼 What the programme involves
Volunteers will participate in a number of activities in the community including;
Establishment and management of community tree nursery (herbs and indigenous trees)
Tree planting and environmental education awareness
Renewable energy (construction and installation of demonstration energy saver stoves- the stoves are designed in a very simple technology and will be installed in few homes as a demonstration for the community to adapt)
Variety of activities aiming to promote healthy life styles (producing eating organic, sports etc.) will be organized.
The study part will be divided in three folds:-
The big picture: to understand why do we need to be developing sustainable communities, listening to nature and celebrating life
Ecological:- bioregionalism, local food and organic farming; Social:-community living, diversity and building communication skills
Economic:-understanding the global versus local argument, analysing ecological footprint. This will be in a form of workshops, debate and educational tours.
🏠 Accommodation on site
Volunteers will share simple rooms at the communal house in the community. Running water and electricity will be available. The accommodation facility is located in a very strategic point where you can view the highest Mountain in Africa; Mt.Kilimanjaro. AI kitchen volunteer will be available throughout the project to provide support needed and manage the kitchen. Meals are mostly organic both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
📍 About the location
Marera is one of the 21 Villages which boarding Mount Kilimanjaro National Park in Northern Tanzania. This location makes the area to be evergreen and cool throughout the year. With its mountainous landscape the village host a good number of coffee, banana and vegetable plantations. The community is located about 45km from Moshi city which makes it very accessible.
Northern Tanzania is considered to be the capital of natural and all tourist attraction in East Africa. Marangu itself offers variety of eco and cultural tourism attractions including Hiking/Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Other options are Wildlife safari to a good number of famous National Parks in the regions that includes Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, and Tarangire among many others.
ℹ️ Additional information
We are non-profit organization with no funding from either International voluntary Projects, The State or from the local authorities. In this regard volunteers are requested to contribute a participation fee of 250 to be paid in Cash on arrival. This fee does cover the cost of airport pickups and orientation on arrival, food and accommodation during the project, project materials, other resources when needed and general running cost of the program. Participation fee does not cover the cost of medical services; all types of insurances, Business visa, and airport drop off on departure date, pocket money, free/leisure activities and other personal expenses.