Q. What support does the program provide me in planning my travel?

Ans. We provide all applicants with a pre-travel orientation brochure that thoroughly answers your questions ranging from the weather, mode of dressing, culture and visa etc. Once you have submitted an application, we will provide you with this information. Also this FAQS page is meant to answer most of your questions.

Q. When is the best time to participate in your programs?

Q. Where can I read about the experience of other people who have participated in your programs?

Q. What are your program fees like?

Ans. Fees vary a lot depending on the program that you select. Generally for a two weeks stay, fees start at  USD 749. Beyond the first four weeks, our fees are set at USD 100 per week. Fees for the one week language and culture program are USD 250. For specific  information on our fees please go to our Zanzibar fees page.

Q. Can I pay the fees using my school credit loan or scholarship?

Ans. Some students have done that in the past. It all depends on the support they get from their school. If your school will accept your internship or volunteer work for school credits, then they will normally allow you to use the loan or scholarship as if you were taking the classes at school.

Q. What currency should I bring with me?

Ans. The currency that are most widely accepted are the Great Britain Pounds (GBP); United States Dollars (USD); Canadian Dollars (CAD) and the Euro. The most widely accepted travelers checks are Great Britain Pounds (GBP) and United States Dollars (USD).

You can change either USD or GBP to local currency at the airport or in the major cities of East Africa. 

If you bring Travelers Checks do remember to carry the paperwork (bank receipts) otherwise you wont be able to use them as the changers will reject them for fear that they might be stolen or fake. 

Most bank ATMs will also be able to give you money from your VISA DEBIT card.

Q. How should I distribute my money between Travelers Checks and Cash?

Ans. We suggest a 50-50 distribution to provide you with ease of changing and accessing money.

Q. How much money should I bring for my personal expenses?

The amount of money you bring depends on you. Most in-country transport to and from project will cost you about USD 1.30 a day. A meal will cost between USD 1.30 and  USD 13.00. Most participants can live on USD 25 a week (USD 100 a month) for out of pocket expenses. A weekend getaway  in one of the cities will cost you about USD 400.

Q. How do I make payment? 

Ans.  Please see the  item on Making payments at the base of  the Zanzibar fees page of our website.

Q. Can I pay for the program by installment?

Ans. Unfortunately no. All fees must be paid upon registration in Nairobi. We do not  have pay-by-installment plans.

Q. When do I have to pay for the program?  

Ans. The Registration Fee is due once your placement details have been sent to you. Payment of the Registration Fee signifies your serious commitment to participate in the program and enables us to reserve placement for you. 

The balance of the fees are due one month before your scheduled arrival date. For more information on this question, please check the Zanzibar fees page.

Q. I am an Egyptian living in England, can I participate in your programs?
Ans. Yes. Our programs are open to people from all countries of origin and residence.

Q How many participants will there be when I arrive?

Ans. The number of participants depends on time of the year; about  5-15 per project in summer and 1 - 5  in  other months.

Q. Where will I live during my time in your program?

Ans. You will live with a host family. There may be one more participant living with the same family as you or it may just be you alone depending on when you want to participate.

Q. How is accommodation like?

Ans. In order to maintain low fees for our clients, accommodation is provided by host families who are carefully selected from among respected members of society and in such as way as to ensure maximum security and comfort for our clients. If you would rather stay at a hostel or hotel that can be arranged with costs borne independently by you.

We provide all our participating applicants with all this information. Any traveler in East Africa can stay on a tourist visa for 3 months at $50 US dollars. You can get the tourist visa at the Kenyan or Tanzanian embassy in your country. Zanzibar Island is served by the same embassy that issues visas for Tanzania mainland. Kenyan visas can also be obtained from Nairobi International Airport upon arrival.

Q. Will I be safe in East Africa?

Zanzibar, Tanzania Mainland and Kenya are peaceful and safe countries. Millions of people travel to these countries every year.  As with any other country, isolated incidences of crime are reported mainly in the cities, but crime is rare in rural areas where you will be located.

Q. I want to participate in your volunteer teaching abroad program, do I have to go through the teaching orientation? 

Ans.  Yes, the teaching orientation is aimed at providing you with some basic but necessary teaching skills that will enable you perform your duties well in the local school environment. 

Q. What if I already have teaching qualifications or experience? do I still have to go through the teaching orientation? 

Ans.  Your teaching orientation may be shortened depending on your prove qualifications and/or experience but you will still need some assistance to get familiar with the local teaching environment. The teaching orientation takes about a week although it is more of an in-service orientation.

Q. Suppose I plan on coming with a group but end up coming alone, do I still get the group discount? 

Ans. Unfortunately we will not be able to give a discount in such cases. The discount is supported by the possibility of lowering costs when we work with groups, this possibility is lost when you end up coming as an individual.

Q. I need to attend church on Saturday. Please let me know if your programs require me to be working on Saturday?

Ans. You will not have to work on Sunday or Saturday. Our program participants have weekends off all the time, they do not work over the weekends at all.  If you need to be absent from work on any other day on a regular basis, we can arrange for that. But you will need to inform us in advance. Unless otherwise arranged with our office, absence from work within the pre-agreed work week, has to be arranged with staff at the project site.

Q. How many hours per day do I have to work?

Ans. All our programs, require between a minimum of two and generally between 3 and 8 hours of work per day. If you want a smaller daily work load, please contact us. One can work for up to 8 hours if they wish.

Q. I have a group of  high school students and  teens I lead in my community/church/school and would want to bring them for a trip with your program -  would you have provision for them? 

Ans. High school students and teens who have reached the age of sixteen can come on their own. We do prepare special packages for high school students  and teens under the age of sixteen who must be accompanied by adult leaders or supervisors. Please contact us to for further details.

Q. Is this program affiliated to any religious organization?

Ans. No.  We do work with both secular and religious organizations but are not affiliated to any.

Q. I would like my internship to be counted for college credits at my school.

Ans. Whether the internship will transfer to credit depends on your school requirements. We suggest you ask your school what they need to make the internship transfer into credits, let us know and we will tell you if we can do it - we are not a school and so don't offer the internship for credit but we do supervise students and grade their reports so they can qualify for credits at their schools. We have done it for students before but each school is unique.

Q. I would like to come with my friend and be placed with them the whole time that we will be in the program. Is that possible?

Ans. Members of the same sex can be placed in the same project and with the same host family. But most of the time culture doesn't allow unmarried people of different sexes to be put together under the same host. We might be able to place you together depending on the project. Do write us and inquire. In the worst case scenario we can place you in the same area with host families about 5-10 minutes walking distance apart and you can work at the same place. We will normally put you under the same project placement.

Q. Will my money and valuables be safe at my host home?

Ans. We have had no reason to believe that your monies will not be safe. We do encourage you however to take the necessary precaution to safeguard your monies and personal properties, as we cannot be held responsible for any loses. Some of the precautions you could take include locking your bedroom when you are out of the house; not leaving your valuables exposed when you are outside the room; no inviting people to your room unnecessarily, etc.

Q. What gift can I bring for my host family, school or orphanage?

Ans. Suitable gifts include t-shirts, mugs, a family oriented movie DVD or CD; coloring pencils and books for kids; balls for games and other sports equipments for kids and schools etc

Q. I would like to send books to the school/orphanage that I will be placed at - can I do that?

Ans. Yes, ask us for the address please.

Q. I would like to participate for more than 6 months, is that possible?

Ans. It is possible to do so in some cases. In other cases though, we are unable to provide you with placement that will last longer than 3 months in any one country. In such cases we would consider placing you for about 24 weeks in Kenya and another 24 weeks in Zanzibar and/or Tanzania Mainland. The two countries are neighbors and you can easily get to one from the other. Kindly asks us how to go about this if you need to, and we will assist you.

Q. My Visa Processing in the city of entry will take time - will someone wait for me?

Ans. The visa process at the airport will normally take at 30 minutes to 2 hours. If we know that you will be getting visas at the airport our party will wait for you however long it takes.

Q. Can you book me a hotel since I will be arriving earlier than the scheduled arrival date?

Ans. If you want us to book a hotel for you we can do that - it will mean though that weather you spend a night there or not you will have to refund us the cost of that hotel accommodation since the hotels wont refund it.

If that is what you want, please let us know and we will go ahead. We can also give you telephone numbers of a few hotels that you can call up from the airport so if you don't find us you go ahead and call them up for accommodation - some of them will provide airport pickup too. Simply let us know.

Q. Who are your sponsors?