Leadership and Community Engagement: Tanzania

Camps International staff will be at Kilimanjaro Airport to greet us and assist with our transfer to Camp Mbokomu. Kilimanjaro Airport is located less than an hour's drive from the town of Moshi and Camp Mbokomu.

Accommodation is in a simple tented camp, either in safari-style large tents with beds or tents with mattresses. The comfortable and rustic setup enables you to relax, enjoy and at the same time, appreciate camp life. Flushing toilets and a shower block (warm water). All around camp it is beautiful and green and the unforgettable red soil.

Upon arrival at Camp Mbokomu, the team will be settled into their tented camp and provided with a safety brief, an orientation of the area, and a brief introduction to the community and project sites. The rest of the day is left for students to settle in and enjoy the view of spectacular Kilimanjaro.

Following breakfast, students walk a short distance to Mbokomu School where the team is given a briefing on daily school life and an overview of the ongoing projects. This is an opportunity to play some games with the local children and make friends. The school constantly struggles with a lack of adequate funding, which puts children's lives at unnecessary risk from dilapidated classrooms that are close to collapse, as well as poor or non-existent sanitary conditions. You'll help by building or renovating school buildings to create inspirational and stimulating learning resources for the students.

On every evening of the program, we will set time aside to update our Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come to the fore in the course of the day.

The team should be prepared to get dirty as you are divided into small groups to undertake important projects around the school. Project work includes desk making, painting, tree planting at our indigenous nursery, and improving the school infrastructure with classroom construction. These are very rewarding days spent working alongside Tanzanians, whilst also picking up some useful phrases in Swahili.

A student-focused discussion of Leadership, its challenges, models, and aims. The students will be asked to think about these issues particularly in the context of their current environment and activities. What has worked, what hasn't? Are we on schedule for our own aims? How could we do things differently?

The team should be prepared to get dirty as you are divided into small groups to undertake important projects around the school. Project work includes desk making, painting, tree planting at our indigenous nursery, and improving the school infrastructure with classroom construction. These are very rewarding days spent working alongside Tanzanians, whilst also picking up some useful phrases in Swahili.

Your evenings are usually spent relaxing in camp and the local kitchen crew will rustle up a delicious dinner for you and your team. After dinner there are plenty of opportunities for group discussion, reflections on project work, keeping travel diaries up to date, as well as various team-led games and activities. Local staff are always in camp and are on hand to chat to and help you with anything else that you need.

We continue our service project at Mbokomu school and while working together with the locals, students will be shown traditional building methods and have an opportunity to learn and practice Swahili. In addition to our school improvement work, we will work together with local pupils planting indigenous trees within the school grounds. This project focuses on the effects of climate change and soil erosion within the immediate area.

Your evenings are usually spent relaxing in camp and the local kitchen crew will rustle up a delicious dinner for you and your team. After dinner there are plenty of opportunities for group discussion, reflections on project work, keeping travel diaries up to date, as well as various team led games and activities. Local staff are always in camp and are on hand to chat to and help you with anything else that you need.

We continue our service project at Mbokomu school and while working together with the locals, students will be shown traditional building methods and have an opportunity to learn and practice Swahili. In addition to our school improvement work, we will work together with local pupils planting indigenous trees within the school grounds. This project focuses on the effects of climate change and soil erosion within the immediate area.

Your evenings are usually spent relaxing in camp and the local kitchen crew will rustle up a delicious dinner for you and your team. After dinner there are plenty of opportunities for group discussion, reflections on project work, keeping travel diaries up to date, as well as various team led games and activities. Local staff are always in camp and are on hand to chat to and help you with anything else that you need.

We continue our service project at Mbokomu school and while working together with the locals, students will be shown traditional building methods and have an opportunity to learn and practice Swahili. In addition to our school improvement work, we will work together with local pupils planting indigenous trees within the school grounds. This project focuses on the effects of climate change and soil erosion within the immediate area.

Your evenings are usually spent relaxing in camp and the local kitchen crew will rustle up a delicious dinner for you and your team. After dinner there are plenty of opportunities for group discussion, reflections on project work, keeping travel diaries up to date, as well as various team led games and activities. Local staff are always in camp and are on hand to chat to and help you with anything else that you need.

We continue our service project at Mbokomu school and while working together with the locals, students will be shown traditional building methods and have an opportunity to learn and practice Swahili. In addition to our school improvement work, we will work together with local pupils planting indigenous trees within the school grounds. This project focuses on the effects of climate change and soil erosion within the immediate area.

Your evenings are usually spent relaxing in camp and the local kitchen crew will rustle up a delicious dinner for you and your team. After dinner there are plenty of opportunities for group discussion, reflections on project work, keeping travel diaries up to date, as well as various team led games and activities. Local staff are always in camp and are on hand to chat to and help you with anything else that you need.

On your final day, there will be a gathering whereby your group can hand over the work you have done to students and teachers. There will be a proud moment of reflection as you look at what you have achieved and the positive impact you have made.

Visit the town of Moshi. It's known as a gateway to Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Africa's highest mountain. Moshi is a laid-back, colorful, and vibrant town and a great place to immerse yourself in the local culture. You can learn about how Tanzanians set up small businesses to generate income and, if you wish, you have the opportunity to buy souvenirs and support some of the local initiatives.

Today, you'll be driven to the Kwamambori Waterfalls for a morning walk through the valley and to the falls, which are rooted in local mythology.

Visit Kidia village, where we learn to cook traditional foods with a local women's group before enjoying a BBQ "al fresco" in the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro.

Tarangire National Park is one of the most beautiful reserves in Africa and is home to an abundance of wildlife including leopard and hyena. It is a must-visit!

A student-led session, following on from the previous reflection sessions, in which the group identifies goals achieved, both group and individual, both internal to the group and externally in the service work achievements, to bring context and resolution to the week's experience before heading home. This evening we make the final entries in our Reflection Journal and individuals can, if they want to, share significant individual observations with the group.

As a result of participating on this program, all high school students are eligible to take an online Global Perspectives course through a learning management system, where all the grading and assessment will be undertaken by the WorldStrides Curriculum and Academics team. Our partnership with George Mason University provides students in grades 9-12 at the time of travel an opportunity to enroll in courses to earn college credit. Students must meet George Mason University’s admissions requirements to receive the credit, including reporting a 2.8 GPA or above. Upon successful completion and the processing of credits, a transcript may be ordered directly from WorldStrides or George Mason University.