Child Care
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Child Care
April 1, 2020 @ 8:00 am - December 31, 2023 @ 7:59 am at
Cheka used to be a school, but is now a newly established daycare system in Arusha for the low-income families. The daycare is a place, where parents can leave the kids for the day while they leave for work, and then pick them up again in the evening – just as any daycare system in Europe or America. However, this opportunity is rare in developing countries, which is why Fursa is more than thrilled to be supporting this sustainable solution as an alternative to the many orphanages in or around Arusha. This daycare is keeping the families together instead of splitting them of and where the kids will be under supervision by experienced teachers – and you, if this sounds like something you wish to be apart of!
Fursa is all about making sustainable solutions and making an beneficial impact on the local community, which is why we require our volunteers to be at the placement at least 4 weeks. The reason for this is, that we wish to create as much consistency for the children in the daycare as possible. Volunteers are more than welcome to work at Cheka even longer, as there is no maximum limit to this placement. Cheka means “laughter”, which is was we wish our volunteers to be spreading through the work with the permanent teachers and the love and energy, the volunteers will bring.
Anyone who has a heart, that cares for children can volunteer in this placement. As the daycare is run by 3 educated teachers, we don’t require the volunteers to have a certain degree of education to volunteer at this placement. You must however be minimum 18 years and provide a clean criminal record when applying for volunteering with us. If you do however have previous experience of working with children, this will only be an advantage.
Typical day
The daycare houses about 20 kids with ages varying from 1-5 on a daily basis. The parents will drop of the kids in the morning, where they will be provided with breakfast. Here after the day typically goes with different educational activities, both teaching and playful. The youngest children will be putted down for a nap before lunch and after all the children will be provided with a lunch meal. As a volunteer, your job is to show love and care for the children as well as helping out with the daily routine. Our volunteers are also more than welcome to help put with planning and organizing the daily activities. All in all, this work is about showing love and care for the children and to take good care of them, while their parents are unavailable.
As a volunteer, you day will typically begin at Cheka around 8:00 AM in the morning, which is this time most of the parents will be delivering the children to the day care. After the children have had a meal of breakfast, which you as a volunteer also is a part of helping organising, the mornings and mid-days consists of playing, learning activities and maybe small trips around the area. When we reach lunchtime, you will assist the children in eating. After lunch, the same activities as in the mornings fill the rest of the day until the parents return to pick up their children. Depending on your wish and individual agreement, you can either stay until 3-4 PM and eat your packed lunch-box from the hostel with the kids, or you can leave the daycare around 1:30-2 PM and return to the hostel for a late lunch. When you arrive and sign up with us, these details can be planned further.
Free-time activities
In Arusha, there are plenty of free time activities to do, both multiple-day trips, one-day trips and afternoon activities. As Tanzania are one of the best places in the world to go on safari, there is plenty opportunity to do so during your placement. At the White House, we can help you customize the safari of your dreams and to make it fit your timetable. Depending on how many days, which parks (Arusha National Park, Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro Crater), camping or lodging and whether you wish to be part of a group or travel on a private safari we can help you arrange it all.
As well as safaris there is also plenty of possibility to hike our beautiful mountains, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. Regarding both these mountain treks we can help you arrange everything and advise you about number of days, the different routes and so on.
If you are more in the mood for day-trips, there are tons to choose from. Hiking to Mt. Meru waterfall, visiting authentic Masai villages, swimming in natural hot springs, making coffee the hills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, visiting man-made underground caves and visiting banana plantations are just few of the suggestions, we can give you. All these can be arranged from the White House upon your arrival.
During the afternoons when you are off work, there’s also plenty of things to do and see. In the warm weather here in Tanzania, it can be well needed to cool down in a cold swimming pool. Most of the hotels in town offers guests from outside the hotel to use the pool for a small fee. This way you and your friends can get to relax after a day of work. If you are more adventurous and in the mood for an activity, we recommend you to go to Lake Duluti just outside of Arusha, rent a canoe and paddle around the lake for some hours while watching the birds and monkeys along the shore. This relaxing experience will help you gain energy for the rest of your work-week. In case if rainy weather, Arusha has one museum to offer – the Museum of Nature and Wildlife. It doesn’t take many hours to walk through, but it can be a fun and different activity. Or you can pay a visit to the Cultural Heritage Center, which is a gallery that has many small shops to visit too.