Volunteer ethically with us
We love to have volunteers at Forever Angels who can help us to develop as an organisation. We are specifically looking for volunteers to train our staff.
The following professions are always needed:
• Teachers / Child Care Professionals
• Physiotherapists
• Photographers
• Special Educational Needs
• Accountants
• Play Therapists / Family Therapists
• Social Workers
• Doctors / Dentists / Nurses
• As well as people who are able to teach Dance / Art / Baby Massage
We are open to suggestions - so if you are interested in volunteering, please get in touch for a chat about how you can help our staff and children.
Ethical volunteering is extremely important to us, and we expect all our volunteers to have the same ideology.
We are not a Gap Year organisation, and we can only host volunteers who have skills and experience in areas which will help us grow as an organisation. You will not be coming to just ‘cuddle the children’ – all day-to-day care of the children is carried out by the Mama’s and Aunts of each house.
"After my first visit I couldn’t wait to book my next trip, and the rest is history."
Since 2008 I have been to Forever Angels on five different occasions. The second I got off the plane I was welcomed by Forever Angels staff and brought to the safe and comfortable volunteer accommodation with a welcome pack waiting for me.
The staff were always available to answer questions and to give advice on where to buy food, what activities to do in the area, and most importantly, what I could do to be helpful.
The children are quite possibly the cutest kids in the world and will have your heart from the second you walk through the doors. I am a Paediatric Nurse and I loved doing training sessions with the staff.
I have made lifelong friends with other volunteers and staff members and will forever cherish my experiences at Forever Angels.
Amber
"Anyone thinking of volunteering at Forever Angels... do not hesitate!"
Volunteering at Forever Angels was one of the best decisions I have ever made. My time spent there will stay with me forever and the three years since my first visit I still continue to support and visit Mwanza as often as I can.
The memories I have made are some of the best of my life. It was during my time at Forever Angels in which I decided to change my career and start a new life as a Children’s Nurse. I have made friends for life and would do anything to return once again and see all the wonderful people I met on my visit. Tanzania is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited with the most welcoming people and holds a special place in my heart.
Jeanette
"Some of my highlights... spending time with the children with Special Educational Needs and training the staff on feeding and physio for some of the children with complex needs."
Forever Angels and the local community are truly incredible, I had never experienced such a happy, welcoming, and loving environment, and wanted to spend all of my time surrounded by the most amazing children in the world and embrace everything the rich culture had to offer.
Aysha
I have volunteered at Forever Angels seven times now over the past 9 years and it is always an incredible experience - from the support of the amazing staff, making lifelong friends in the other volunteers and simply being able to spend time in a beautiful part of the world with the most incredible children you'll ever meet.
Being part of the Forever Angels family is something I treasure deeply, and something I will always maintain.
Fiona
Please download and complete the Volunteer Application Form and email it to Amy Hathaway at: [email protected]
Volunteer Application Form
How does Forever Angels support Ethical Volunteering?
It is essential that our volunteers understand our ethos and are prepared to work with us to ensure they are doing good through their volunteering.
Our children live in FAMILIES at Forever Angels and our goal is for them to make secure attachments to their Mamas and Aunts. We do not believe that orphanage care is ever a good option for a child, and children are only in our care because there is no other safe option in the short term for them.
Many orphanages around the world exist to support volunteers who want to ‘travel and do good’ and in doing so, children are living in orphanages to fuel the ‘volunteer business’ – many who have relatives and who could and should be living at home. This is tragic and wrong.
Forever Angels exists because there is a real problem of child abandonment and maternal mortality in the city and there is no other option for these babies.
However – we provide short term care whilst searching for extended family members or adoptive families in cases where no family can be found. Whilst in our care, our children live in family and their Mama’s and Aunts are their caregivers and providers. It is essential that the children attach to them and not to volunteers who are short term and who come and go out of the children’s lives.
Volunteers are not allowed to form close attachments to the children at Forever Angels – their role is to provide educational and fun activities to enrich and enhance their childhood experiences. Even better – we hope they will train our Staff so leaving lasting change and improvement for our community.
All volunteers need to understand the importance of this, and they will be expected to read about the issues surrounding growing up in institutionalised care before they come. They are also asked to sign to agree to work with us and support our ethical ethos at all times.
What support will I receive?
Pre-Volunteering Support
Amy (Our Founder who now lives in the UK) is available to answer any questions you may have. She is more than happy to have email or phone conversations or even meet you in person to discuss the volunteering experience, show you photos and basically tell you what an amazing time you will have!
She will guide you through the application procedure; give you booklets of information about Tanzania, Mwanza, and Forever Angels; advise you on vaccinations and travel health; and even give you some basic Swahili tips!
She is full of good ideas about fundraising and can support you to raise as much money as possible.
Amy will ensure you have all your correct paperwork and know what you are doing in terms of obtaining your visa on arrival, as well as advising about flights and hotels if necessary.
She has supported over 500 volunteers going to the Forever Angels and is happy to answer any questions you may have.
Volunteering Support at Forever Angels
You will be collected from Mwanza airport and taken to the Volunteer House on our Forever Angels compound (about 10 minutes away)
Our Managers will settle you into the Volunteer House and introduce you to the other volunteers. Our volunteers are always lovely and welcoming and will make you feel at home right away. You will have a ‘Food Parcel’ waiting for you to keep you going for the first couple of meals.
On the first few days you will be taken on a tour of the local market as well as into the main town to get your bearings.
We know you want to dive ‘straight in’ so the Managers will give you a tour of Forever Angels.
During your time volunteering – the Managers are around for you to chat to any time if you have any questions or concerns. The other volunteers are also always a great source of advice and support.
Amy is just an email away if you need anything.
The children now live in Family Homes and most of the day to day care is done by the Mamas in each house. Our goal for volunteers is to get them creating fun activities for the children, supporting in Preschool and helping our staff through training and idea sharing. Your experience will be much better if you come with training sessions prepared and ready and willing to help out wherever is needed.
Post-Volunteering Support
Volunteers are asked to complete a brief evaluation when they leave so we can strive to make the volunteer experience better. (But – if you have a lumpy mattress or a dodgy cupboard door, just report it to the Managers as soon as you notice so you get the benefit!)
Volunteers are invited to join our ‘Forever Angels Volunteer’ Facebook page to post any stories and photos and to chat to other volunteers.
Again... Amy is always around if you need a chat or just want to reminisce about your experience.
She is always more than happy to provide you with a reference and will send you a ‘Volunteering Certificate’ too.
How long can I come for?
Volunteers come for between one and three months and can arrive and leave at any time as long as there is room in the house. For visa reasons it is not possible to stay for more than 3 months.
What will a typical day look like?
The fun thing about volunteering with us is that there never is a ‘typical’ day – you take out of the experience what you put in. First and foremost, we require you to plan and carry out training sessions with our staff in your area of expertise. Secondly, we ask volunteers to plan and deliver fun and exciting activities to engage, educate and develop the children during their times at Pre-school…and help out with any other tasks required (which could be sorting clothes, painting walls, making Pre-school resources etc)
Is it a safe place to visit?
Tanzania is a very safe and peaceful country. Mwanza is a very safe city and our volunteers have never experienced any real problems. You do need to remember that you are a 'Westerner' in one of the poorest countries in the world though - so do not 'flash' mobiles, cameras, or wads of money around. And do not take risks you would not take in your home country.
Are there travel opportunities?
Mwanza is wonderfully located to travel to a wide variety of amazing destinations and there are plenty of travel opportunities for before or after your volunteering placement. We are very close to the Serengeti National Park, a short flight from Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro and close to the borders of Uganda and Kenya.
How much will it cost?
Flights
Depending on where you are coming from, flights can vary hugely. From the UK an off-peak season Turkish Air flight can be bought for £450 to Dar es Salaam. But during peak season they can be more than £1,000. Internal flights from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza are around £100.
Visa
The Ordinary Visa permits you to volunteer for up to three months (a Tanzanian Government regulation) and it costs $50.
Accommodation
We ask for a ‘donation’ to cover your accommodation costs – this money goes directly to Forever Angels and helps us to fund our work. This covers your accommodation, lunch at Forever Angels as well as a cleaner to wash your clothes (hand washing is not as fun as you may think!)
1 month - £500
2 months - £800
3 months - £1,000
Often your skills mean more to us than the money – so if these accommodation costs will prevent you from coming, let Amy know when you apply. We may be able to offer a reduction.
Spending Money
Most Volunteers tend to live on between £50 to £100 ($85 - $160) a week in Tanzania - this allows them to go out to dinner a couple of times a week and buy food at the local market.
Other Costs
There could be other costs in terms of paying for vaccinations (some Doctors offer to do this for free for volunteers – it’s worth asking!), medical insurance, COVID tests etc. Please bear in mind, you must be fully vaccinated to come to Forever Angels and show proof of this.
What should I bring with me for the children?
Thank you for asking! We are ALWAYS in need of underwear (ages 1 to 6years), pyjamas (ages 1 to 6 years) bubbles, balloons, stickers, sweets (like Haribo / Smarties), colouring books, face paint, sterilising tablets, and 5ml syringes. If you can bring any of these items, that would be wonderful.
"I spent months and months researching non-profits all over the world and it wasn't until I came across Forever Angels that I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do."
I bought a flight to Mwanza, Tanzania with a return ticket to come home four months later. Four months turned into almost two years. And those two years being a volunteer have changed my life forever.
It is a grass roots organization that over the past ten years has done the most amazing work in helping underprivileged children and families in desperate need for support.
My days were filled with the sounds of children playing in the garden, Mama's singing and dancing, roosters crowing in the fields, and mosques echoing in the distance at sunset. I have never been more challenged in my entire life. I stepped outside of my comfort zone by traveling abroad to a country I had never been to before. I was immersed into a vibrant and colourful culture which I did not speak the language and I indulged in dishes that were unknown. My heart had never been fuller.
Forever Angels gave me the most extraordinary opportunity to have such a profound experience to help a child, to help a family, to help a village while at the same time to help me understand what it truly means to give selflessly. Working at Forever Angels is not for the faint of heart, but I promise you it will forever change your life.
Meghan
"It was fun, emotional, exhausting, amazing, eye opening, life changing and so very much more."
As soon as I read about the work of Forever Angels, I knew immediately this was a place I simply had to visit, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.
The application process was straight forward, and Amy was easily contactable via email to answer any questions. I was happy to know that the money went directly to the project rather than getting lost in “middle-man” administration fees.
I was met at the airport and immediately made to feel very welcome. The managers were always on hand to deal with any questions or concerns and to make sure I had help with sorting out changing money, negotiating my first trip into town for shopping, buying a local sim card, etc...
Forever Angels is a truly special place with a great team of dedicated staff, who provide consistent loving care to some extremely vulnerable children and families. I love that they work so hard to keep families together and their concern does not end when the children leave.
I made friends of all ages, among the volunteers and also of the staff. If you go with an open mind and take time to get to know the staff and local people, they will welcome you into their hearts and homes and help you experience and embrace so much of Tanzanian culture in ways you will never forget.
I spent most of my days supporting the staff to care for the Special Needs children as well as teaching sessions on Play Therapy and the Importance of Play. I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to be involved in a small way in such a fantastic project.
Any regrets? – Only that I didn’t go sooner and stay for longer.
Mandy
UK Registered Charity: 1111873
107 Weston Lane, Basford, Cheshire, CW2 5NJ
07903 079263
Volunteer ethically with us