Creativity, innovation and determination: Expedition volunteers on project in Tanzania

Natural Resource Management (NRM)
Our aim is for volunteers to return to their home countries an international generation of champions of the natural environment. Raleigh’s 2017-2020 goal is increased resilience in more than 200 communities through sustainable management of resources. We hope to reach 25 million with Global Goals awareness campaigns.

We’re contributing to Global Goals #12 and #13. That’s responsible production and consumption (#12) and climate action (#13).

“The biggest impact of the NRM project will be education of young people, as this will be the longest-lasting effect and will make for project success. I’m looking forward to inspiring children to look after the planet.”
– Lucy Morgan, spring expedition volunteer.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Raleigh’s vision is to put young people at the heart of safe water, sanitation and good hygiene, ensuring long-lasting access to, and use of, safe WASH facilities for 75,000 people across all of our projects 2017-2020.

Our WASH programme works toward the aim of Global Goal #6, ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Whilst in community the volunteers will stay in homes of local community members, living alongside families there. To fit into her homestay, volunteer Roos wants to “talk to the family a lot and help my volunteers to be respectful.”

Trek

“I am looking forward to the adventure, having conversations and being honest with each other. It will be a good way of ensuring peace on trek.”
– Peter Eisma. Peter is departing on trek for his first phase on 20th February.

What better way to prove we have the grit, determination and resilience to get the job done than a 19-day trek through Iringa.

The challenging and exciting trek will allow the opportunity for individuals to focus on developing their leadership and team work skills whilst trekking up to 26km per day through remote and diverse terrain. The group is self-sufficient for the duration of the trek, carrying with them everything they need and camping under the stars at night.

With the support of a local Tanzanian guide and volunteer managers, the group learn navigation and camp craft skills as well as learning about local wildlife and issues facing the local communities through which they trek.

“I will be happy to see every program completed so that I can gain my confidence.”
– Renatha Rugeihyamu.

Expedition aims this spring:

This is Ffion’s second cycle as a deputy operations manager for expedition. “The greatest programmatic gain I hope to make this cycle is for this group of young people to become really passionate about sustainable development. I hope the variety of experiences gets volunteers really engaged and passionate about the projects they’re working on, and that they carry that passion home too.”

By volunteering their time and energies to expedition in Tanzania, the volunteers will not only contribute to the projects they are working on but they will also develop themselves,

“Changing projects for each phase does so much for the volunteers development. Each individual project presents different challenges, tasks and opportunities for learning. With that comes inevitable development, frustration at times and of course celebration of achievement. What one volunteer finds easy in one phase, another may find difficult, and that continually changes throughout the expedition. Volunteers empathise and think about their team mates and really get to know their personal strengths.”
– Ffion Chambers.

More than half of the world’s population of nearly 7.5 billion people are under the age of 30…

We believe that as a generation, they have the energy, optimism and creativity to make change happen.

We work with young people, equipping them with the skills, confidence and experiences they need to be empowered, effective and energetic partners and leaders in development.

Raleigh International exists to create lasting change through youth

Young people are ready to take ownership of what is happening in the world. Young people are full of creativity, innovation and determination. Given the chance, they can be leaders at the heart of global change. This is passed through to the volunteers via. their deputy operations manager and their volunteer managers.

By engaging young people in a short training programme after arrival in-country which includes sessions revolving around sustainable development, we can introduce which United Nations Development Days up this cycle and which Global Goals the teams will be working toward. We equip our volunteers to not only contribute their time and energies to projects whilst in Tanzania but to re-enter their own countries as active global citizens. We want to see the development sector as a whole recognise and value the role that young people take.

This cycle we will encourage the volunteers to engage in UN International Days such as World Creativity and Innovation Day 21st April. Look out for the progress of the expedition and blogs from the venturers themselves by staying up to date with posts to our blog and social media.

We are a global community working to build a sustainable future.

Images by spring expedition photographer Hilary Sloane. Words by communications officer Rebbie Webb.