Volunteer mission in Tanzania, Yann explains to us his mission

Yann went on a 4-month volunteer mission to Tanzania as part of his final year internship. He was able to work in contact with coffee producers and their cooperation in order to create and implement an export strategy in Europe. He tells us about it.

What was your volunteer mission in Tanzania?

I took part in the coffee development mission in Tanzania in Nkoaranga. It is a village near Arusha. While validating my Master’s degree in International Business Engineering, I was able to work for 4 months with an organic and fair trade coffee cooperative. My mission was to help the cooperative in the plantations and to create and implement an export strategy in Europe for their coffee. With another volunteer, we determined the tools, ways and means to be used, the actors to exchange with and to join the two very different working cultures between Europe and Africa. The aim of this mission is the financial empowerment of producers, that are often forced to sell their coffee on the local market at a derisory price; while promoting organic agriculture and its benefits on the environment and thus on the population.

What did you notice most in Tanzania?

What impressed me the most in this mission was the vision of the world and especially of daily life, which is fundamentally different from the western vision. People are smiling and never complaining. The present moment is also more important than at home. If you are looking for another time-space, I recommend Tanzania!

What is your favourite meal?

Definitely the chapatis! A kind of unleavened but sometimes slightly flaky bread cake. I could have eaten it at every meal, it’s delicious!

What is your favourite word in Swahili?

“Pole” is pronounced “polé”. It is said to a person doing useful work for their family or community (e.g. someone carrying a bucket of water or working in the fields), but also when one returns home after a day’s work. “Polé” notices someone for their effort, sympathises and thanks them.

Quite nicely, “Polé Polé” said twice could be translated as “Easy Easy”, almost a slogan in the country like “Hakuna Matata” (No worries).

How did you evolve throughout your volunteer mission?

The culture shock will be different for everyone, it depends on the environment and the people that accompany us. As the first LifeTime Projects volunteer on the mission and in Tanzania, I discovered everything by myself. Fortunately, Solene and Agustino helped me a lot to adapt.

As everything is different, our reference points are upset from the start: the landscapes, the food, the traditions, the hygiene, the language,… So much so that we can’t quickly compare anything with France and simply accept that we are in a different culture. Not better not worse, but simply different. And I loved it.

Afterwards, other volunteers joined me: we were able to share our visions and help them acclimatise.

Arriving alone, accompanied, joining people (French or not)… All this will influence the way we evolve throughout the mission. I was able to live “different missions” throughout the same mission and experience different things. Everything was great. It’s up to you to choose!

Did your mission change your way of seeing things?

When you live such an experience, the culture shock with the host family during four months, facing the realities and needs there, your vision is necessarily changed. I lived sometimes without running water for 2 weeks, power cuts for several days: priorities change. With all these examples and so many others, the culture is changed and when we return, the concerns here are simply not comparable.

Did your mission help you to better define your career path?

Thanks to the experience offered by LifeTime Projects in partnership with the Jabungu Foundation, I learned a lot. In terms of professional skills applied thanks to my internship; but also and especially from a personal point of view. This mission helped me to better define my professional project; and today I know even more on which type of projects I wish to work. Indeed, being able to help dozens of families, while working to preserve the environment, is something that really interests me. So, from September, I will be looking for similar projects that make sense, in France or abroad.

Through this mission, I have managed to prove to myself that win-win projects do exist. Sustainable development leading to economic growth, improved living conditions and environmental protection are made possible through projects like this.

For whom do you recommend a volunteer assignment in Tanzania?

I recommend a mission in Tanzania for those who would like to find meaning and make an impact. It doesn’t matter what your qualities or weaknesses are, what your social background is (financial help exists). On a human scale, whether in education, agriculture or development, Tanzania is full of surprises and above all: The country is ready to receive you.

Thank you LifeTime Projects for this experience.