Frequently asked questions

Having many projects directly managed by Street Shepherds Africa , Our team always strive to provide a number of option to volunteers from all expatriates, as we are linked with a number of organizations, orphanages, schools, hospitals and health centres, outreach programs, women’s groups and many more that are highly in need of your precious time, support, and expertise.

Street Shepherds Africa will always strive to find the best volunteering opportunity for you. Our Tanzanian based team will do all the hard work finding the safest and high quality placements for you ensuring that we meet your basic health and safety regulations,

Regardless of having abundant rich resources including vast fertile land Tanzania remains among the least developed and poorest countries among third world economies. Due to extreme poverty and poor education system with poor infrastructures, Tanzania is highly in need of more volunteers to help in the efforts to eradicate poverty, transform our youths and children by helping them realize their potentials in transforming the third world economies and social welfare.

There are a number of youths and children in Tanzania that need mentors to help them realize their dreams in life as well as helping them in their efforts to reach those dreams. Hence we really need you here! You will help our local communities and organizations while gaining career prospects and skills.

Since there is no third party involved, our fees are so much more affordable with surety that every penny of the fees paid goes direct into the proposed/ target projects. You pay directly to us and your program fees go directly to the project you work for. 100%.

The program fees you pay go directly to your destination country, pay for your airport/bus stand transfers upon arrival in and departure from Arusha, Orientation to Arusha town/Moshi town, Town tour and small hikes, accommodation with a local host family or in hostel with other volunteers, 3 meals a day (breakfast and dinner with the host family; lunch at the project site), support in case of illness or emergency, as well as helping the projects you will be working for during your volunteer mission with us.

Simply send an email to info@streetshepherdsafrica.org and we will send you a form to complete or create your own Tailor Made Volunteer Itinerary with us.

Absolutely Yes! We will ensure that you are accommodated together

Street Shepherds Africa receives volunteers from all across the world starting with our own counter parts, across Africa, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Canada, USA, Argentina, Japan, China, and many other countries. SSA is happy to have such a diversity which helps us learn more, enrich our thinking, and above all exchange our expertise in our efforts to transform our communities.

Yes. You will receive all details in your information pack. You can also see the basic requirements on traveling to Tanzania on our “Tanzania Travel Tips” on our website

Yes, as well as receiving a completion certificate, we will also provide references and act as your referee when needed!

As a sponsor, your donation will go to help your sponsored child and the people who matter to them most, their family, friends and neighbors. We’ve learnt that the best way to bring about lasting change is to help the whole community.

The projects we work on might include a medical aid for an overall check up to a struggling child on the streets, an orphanage, a poultry farm, wells to provide clean water and stop fatal diseases that can destroy communities. Child sponsorship could help a community to build a school or pay a teacher’s salary to a struggling school, so that children can learn the skills they need to free themselves from poverty. Your donation might buy the village seeds, and irrigation, that will in return feed the families that live there.

Your one-to-one relationship with your sponsored child means that you have a unique insight into their life, and the effect your donation is having. Through the special messages from your sponsored child and reports direct from our staff on the ground, you’ll be able to see the transformation first-hand.

With the opportunity to write to your sponsored child, you have the chance to build an incredible relationship.

Depending on the urgent needs sponsorship varies in length and may come to an end for a number of reasons including the child growing up and graduating school with a secure government scholarship, or best of all the sponsored children and their family successfully manage to improve their welfare and no longer need help.

Child sponsorship is mainly focuses on freeing people from dependency, and there’s no better reward for a child sponsor than knowing that your child and their community are ready to support themselves.

Typically, child sponsorship lasts for a minimum of five years, but if you want to stop, you can do so at any time.

Whether it’s a birthday or Christmas, you can share your celebrations with the child you are sponsoring.

We have set up a special Gift Fund you can donate to, which will buy presents for the children.

We set up the Gift Fund so that the community avoids having to pay import fees and we ask that you use the Gift Fund instead of sending gifts through the post.

100% of your sponsorship money goes directly to helping your chosen project or child. It will help change the life of your sponsored child and all the children in their community.

We have learnt that it is counterproductive to help one child and not others, hence our sponsorship program focuses on strengthening the community. By giving people the right skills, tools and knowledge we strongly believe that poverty can be eradicated for good.

You will receive messages from your sponsored child. Your sponsored child may never have held a pencil before, and may send you something quite simple. Others might send a drawing or even a letter. It all depends on the age and ability of the child you sponsor, meaning that each message is unique. Each message comes with a short update from the field worker, letting you know how your sponsored child is doing.

You’ll get reports from the community. These let you know how your money is being spent and how you are helping to change lives. Once a year, you’ll also get a new photo of your sponsored child.

You’ll also receive our newsletter three times a year, so you can find out about Street Shepherds Africa’s work in Tanzania

We hope you’ll be able to continue, but please get in touch if for any reason you’re having difficulty. There are other ways you can help that don’t involve the same commitment. If your circumstances change and you do want to stop, you can do so with an email. We will either find a new sponsor for your child, or arrange to make up any funding shortfall in other ways.

Absolutely yes!! Please write to your sponsored child. Writing to your sponsored children mean a lot to them especially when they get a letter from far away overseas. Receiving special letters from their sponsor really brings sponsorship alive for the children involved and gives them so much hope and encouragement to their lives and their families.

Children are also always very curious about finding out more about their sponsors, such as where you live, what pets you have, what sports you like. A simple message is fine, or you can even send pictures if you like.

When your message reaches your sponsored child’s community we take care to share it with all the children in the community so that none are singled out.

If your child attends school, the messages may be translated and shared in class and then displayed for a little while before being given to your sponsored child for them to keep. If your sponsored child doesn’t yet attend school then the messages will be shared in a special meeting.

Children love to get messages from their sponsors and we know that many children keep their messages for many years.

Street Shepherds’ approach in working with communities and changing lives ensures that all funds go to the target children, projects of which are closely supervised by our team and you can be sure that your donation really will make a long lasting difference to as many people as possible. We don’t believe in sticking plaster solutions, but understand that the best way to help a child is to tackle the root causes of poverty, at a local, national and international level.

The fact we are rooted in communities that most of us grew up in and went through the difficulties facing these communities is strong reason for our hard work ensuring that we strive to change our communities. Most of our volunteer staff is local and familiar to your sponsored child hence know much about the problems they face at first hand. They work closely with communities to identify their most urgent needs then help your sponsored child’s friends and family to work their own way out of poverty. This brings real change that lasts, meaning we achieve as much as possible with every pound, Euro or dollar you give us.

Street Shepherds Africa’s child sponsorship is incredibly personal. We put every sponsor in touch with an individual child, so you can be sure that you are forming a real relationship with a child, and that you are their only sponsor.

If you have more questions, kindly send us an email at info@streetshepherdsafrica.org and we will be happy to respond to your inquiries as prompt as possible