Teenager’s charity work in Tanzania

A TEENAGER spent three weeks carrying out aid work in Tanzania after raising £2,000 to pay for the trip.

Claudia Watts taught English to children and adults and spent time with isolated elderly people in and around Moshi, a town and municipality on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The 17-year-old, who lives in Paradise Road, Henley, with her parents Sue and Matt and sister Ellie, 20, arranged her trip through African Impact, a volunteering organisation she read about while conducting research.

Claudia raised the money she needed by giving speeches to fellow pupils at Bradfield College and organising doughnut sales.

She then spent her Easter holiday in Tanzania, flying from Heathrow to Kilimanjaro airport and staying with four other volunteers from around the world.

During the first two weeks, she taught English to both three-year-olds at a nursery school and to adults and then in her third and final week she did the same among groups of young Maasai tribesmen and women.

She taught them basic phrases and grammar with help from a Swahili interpreter, which helped her to learn a few aspects of their language.

Every afternoon she would visit the Wazee shelter, a government-run initiative for elderly people facing homelessness, poverty and isolation.

She brought them fruit and spent time chatting with them about their lives, playing games and reading them stories. She now hopes to raise £500 to provide them with a physiotherapist.

Claudia, a former pupil at Rupert House School in Henley and Queen Anne’s School in Caversham, said: “I didn’t think it would be possible to volunteer while I was still so young but I was amazed by what African Impact were doing so I spoke to my parents and they said it was fine as long as I raised the money myself.

“The first two days were really tough because I had to get used to a new culture and I was the youngest ever volunteer on the project as well as a solo traveller.”

Temperatures typically reached 35C during the day and 25C at night and there was no air conditioning.

Claudia said: “I barely slept for the first week because it was so boiling but you adapt to it fairly quickly.

“I soon became close to the other volunteers and found the visit a real eye-opener because it was such a different culture from anything I’d experienced before. They put enormous emphasis on family, community and education, which was everyone’s main focus.

“It was striking how everybody willingly attended school. Most people complain about it here but everyone there turned up without fail and were keen to learn, even if they’d had to walk for an hour or more to get there.

“The language was very softly spoken and everyone was so friendly. People would help you in the street and welcome you into their families and communities. They always wanted to be with you and take part in things with you.

“The teaching was tough at the outset because I didn’t know my students and I’m not a big fan of public speaking but it became second nature and the students liked me being there. We played games to make them think and made sure there wasn’t a sense of pressure and usually they would get it after repeating something a few times.”

She said the living conditions at the shelter were “striking” as residents only got one or two meals a day and were sharing a cramped room.

Most had no family or friends and had been referred by hospitals or under government schemes to reduce homelessness.

Claudia said: “I was very shocked but I became very attached to them. They all cried when I left because they loved seeing me. You become their family when you’re there and they like to tell you about themselves and their lives.

“They’re all facing different circumstances and some have very sad stories. One lady had been in a coma after a car accident and found her family had moved away when she came round so she ended up living on the streets.

“It’s horrible to hear but they’re so open about it and like to talk about it. It must be even harder for volunteers to leave once they’ve been there for a couple of months.

“I met a former biology teacher called James, who was just known as ‘Mr Teacher’ and became really attached to me and was really upset when I went away for the weekend. He thought I’d left and was dancing and singing when I came back.”

She said she enjoyed caring more than the teaching and would like to pursue a career improving human rights laws in the developing world.

Claudia said: “It has really changed how I view my future career. I didn’t want to leave by the end because I’d become so immersed in the project and had already got so used to the way of life. I’m hoping to go back there for longer in my gap year.

“My friends and family have all said I was brave and they didn’t think I’d have the courage to go by myself but they were all very supportive and I can’t wait to do it again.

“I now feel frustration when people complain about materialistic things because they’re so irrelevant to someone living over there. I think they’re 10 times happier than people living in this country and it’s made me put things into perspective.

“Everyone should be grateful for what they have because their lives could be so much tougher, especially considering that we’re in an economically stable country with the right and access to education.”