Zanzibar Budget Volunteering

Sports and Community Development Project

Project Costs:

  • 2 weeks € 860
  • 4 weeks € 1295
  • 6 weeks € 1685
  • 8 weeks € 2075

In the magnificent and Historical city of Zanzibar, Zanziplanet Tours invites you to join the Team on our rewarding Sports Coaching Assistance and Community Outreach Projects, in the small rural village of Nungwi, Zanzibar.

Zanziplanet Tours is now offering this Community Upliftment Program as a Budget Volunteering experience, to make it as affordable as possible for travelers looking to make a difference in underprivileged communities. Together with our passionate volunteers, Zanziplanet Tours is making a huge outcome in the community on this well deserving project, and volunteers can expect the same level of experience as our regular volunteer programs. We invite you to join us, and make your mark on this spirited community.

Nungwi Fishing Village… Where travelers enjoy the dhow -building

 Nungwi is traditionally the centre of Zanzibar’s dhow-building industry, and, over the last decade, the coastline here has rocketed in popularity to become one of the island’s busiest beach destinations. The ramshackle fishing village has been sidelined by an ever-increasing number of guesthouses, bars, shops, restaurants and bikini-clad backpackers. Ageing hippies, cool dudes, gap-year students and bright young things escaping European city jobs are all drawn to its white sand, stage-set palm trees, turquoise sea and sparkling sunshine. The setting is beautiful, the number of people is huge for those party’s lovers, constant Nightlife Events and seemingly mutual development.

More info about the Sports and Community Development Program:

Sports volunteers spend their time training, guiding and working with physical education in schools which is sorely neglected due to lack of trained teachers. We believe sport is an essential and effective tool to teach about various subjects such as HIV, Nutrition and a Healthy Lifestyle. Sport helps to promote greater communication, positive self esteem and team work plus including learning different sporting activities that volunteers can bring .You do not need to be qualified for our sports project; you just need the desire to bring the outcome!

The Sports Project consists of 3 main areas of work.

Physical Education (PE) within schools:

As Zanziplanet Tour’s volunteer, you will spend some of your mornings based in various community schools offering P.E lessons, not only to the students, but also to their teachers! P.E. is featured in the national curriculum and volunteers will prepare lessons using text books supplied by Zanziplanet Tours, educating kids both in a theoretical and practical sense on topics which will appear in their examinations. In order to make this sustainable and continue without the ongoing assistance of volunteers, we want to “teach the teachers” the necessity of P.E. and a healthy life style as a result of it. P.E. is unfamiliar to community schools and attitudes still need changing towards its importance; however the children absolutely love it and thoroughly enjoy their time with the volunteers. As class time is very limited, not much attention is focused towards the P.E. syllabus (teachers are trying to ensure they get through the material for core subjects such as English, Maths and Science), however, P.E. and sports is important to the holistic well-being of the kids, thus, we certainly believe in the importance and benefit of these sessions.

Training Teams:

Zanziplanet Tours works alongside various community partners in Zanzibar, co-operating with their coaches. These teams have been established for a long time and continue to make solid progress often in youth leagues in Zanzibar. The members can vary in age and ability enormously. We believe sport and soccer should be accessible to all individuals, even those who do not attend school or will never play on a team. Volunteer’s regular help and commitment ensures consistent training is provided, with their international backgrounds providing a wealth of skills. Volunteers are providing an opportunity for escape and give direction in a structured manner while providing friendship and sense of teamwork.

Physiotherapy (Basic Exercises) at the Old People’s Home:

Zanziplanet Tour volunteers have for a number of years been very involved at Sebleni Old People’s Home, visiting and interacting with the residents, playing games and providing some entertainment to their week, as well as conducting regular medical check-ups and health talks on a variety of topics to the elderly residents. Volunteers are now also able to assist by holding basic physiotherapy exercise sessions with them. This provides them with some exercise and activity, helping to keep them healthy and mobile and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Zanziplanet Tours partnered with a trained physiotherapist to develop the routine and the golden oldies have come to thoroughly enjoy their short exercise session.

Selective Project – HIV Education in sport

As a volunteer you will work with different community teams to hold an HIV in sport workshop. This will involve HIV relay games, team building games, question time and football matches. By using your skills as a sports coach you have the chance to enlighten youths in HIV awareness. Particularly for the young boys; a kinesthetic learning method is a highly effective teaching technique and is something youths rarely receive at school.

School terms
First term: 10 January to 6 April
Second term: 7 May to 3 August
Third term: 3 September to 30 December

During school vacation time volunteers run “holiday clubs.”

Holiday club is extremely important as it offers students valuable time to catch up on learning missed due to Zanzibar “Hot Seating” system. Not only does it give young people a safe environment to spend their summer holidays, it is also a lot of fun whilst providing an effective educational tool. Teaching volunteers work closely with sports volunteers to teach lessons for the first half of the morning and then engage the students in recreational activities and teach the importance of a healthy lifestyle. For self-starters, this project is a fantastic way to direct instruction for a few weeks and leave your mark on the students.

Specialist Sports
Your schedule is set for you by the sports coordinating team, however, if you have any particular interests or skills you would like to use, we would love to accommodate it! The children at the schools are always keen to learn new activities – particularly if they come from overseas!! We can set up a class for you to teach Tai-kwon-do, athletics, cricket, or whatever your interest is; we have been known to teach gymnastics to 5 year olds and yoga to 50 year olds! Equipment is very hard to come by so please keep that in mind, if you are able to acquire donated sporting equipment the community will greatly appreciate it.

Please Note: We cannot coach swimming in Nungwi, the fishing village of Zanzibar, and team sports requiring lots of equipment such as hockey, are unlikely due the constraints of getting and maintaining the necessary equipment.

Involvement in Community Projects
You will be combining sports coaching with a variety of projects in the local community. This allows you to make a difference in other areas and not just through sport. You will be able to participate in the following projects:

  • Family Support
  • Build / paint / refurbish schools and clinics
  • Sebleni Old People’s Home
  • Reading / Art / Adult Literacy Club
  • Study Group
  • Family Support

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