ETHICAL TRAVEL TANZANIA
Why We Don't Organize School & Orphanage Visits
OUR TAKE ON ETHICAL TOURISM IN TANZANIA
“Would we allow a Tanzanian that we’ve never met before to do the same thing in our home town?”
A simple question. But maybe the only one that matters. For sure it’s the first questions we ask ourselves before deciding whether or not a certain activity should be on our list of travel options. And the main reason why some are not.
We strongly believe that if something would feel intrusive, inappropriate or exploitative in our customers’ culture – it’s probably not okay here in Tanzania either. This is why we don’t include visits to schools or orphanages in our itineraries, even though they’re commonly offered by many tour companies in Tanzania.
WHY WE DON'T INCLUDE SCHOOL VISITS
At first glance, visiting a local school might seem like a meaningful way to connect with the community or give back. And we’re absolutely sure that that’s why you’d be interested. But here’s the sad reality: the only Tanzanian schools that allow visits are those serving vulnerable children – and only because they rely on outside donations to stay open.
These are not well-funded public schools. These are schools attended by:
Children whose families can’t afford the public school fees
Children with special educational or emotional needs
Street-connected youth
Survivors of abuse
When you enter one of these schools as a visitor, you’ll almost always be taken straight into the classrooms. You’ll be interrupting a lesson for children who are already struggling to keep up due to poverty, trauma or lack of stability.
Children that are already vulnerable because of their home situation. Children that are already behind in their learning process for whatever reason possible. Children that only go to school a few days per week because the rest of the time they need to work to support their family. Children that often already struggle with staying focused. Children that are suddenly treated like a tourist attraction. Multiple times per month, week or even day.
Would you allow a Tanzanian that you’ve never met before to disturb your children during class once a month, week or day?
… or even just once?
OUR POSITION ON DONATIONS TO SCHOOLS
We’re definitely not against donations – but we believe they must be thoughtful and respectful, and also given without expecting anything in return. Of course we understand that you want to be sure that the organization you’re supporting is serious, legitimate and honest but you’re not going to find the answers to those questions inside a classroom anyway.
“But the children were smiling, so they must be treated well!”
But any child would smile at you if you gave it a piece of candy… or some much needed attention they don’t get anywhere else…
It’s a quite well-known fact that children develop attachment issues when they’re constantly put in contact with people that come, bomb them with attention for a short period of time and then leave again – and remember, these children are already very vulnerable. And it’s not just visitors… the organizations that run these schools often work with short-term foreign volunteers. These well-meaning, but very often completely unqualified volunteers who stay only a few weeks, often cause serious attachment and abandonment issues as well.
How can you easily see this? Look at the way they interact with strangers and ask yourself if it’s the normal reaction of a child. For example, when these children come running straight to you and are overly affectionate, it’s an immediate sign. Children would normally have a certain level of caution towards strangers.
Another issue with these short-term volunteers is that there are thousands of qualified Tanzanian teachers that are unemployed – even though they know the language, culture, and educational needs of these children much better than most foreigners, have usually had a much more appropriate training and can almost always offer the children a much more stable environment.
If you want to help, we’d be happy to connect you with vetted, community-led projects that make a real difference – without disrupting children’s lives.
We also kindly request you not to post any pictures or selfies of local children on your social media or anywhere else. Simply because we’re pretty sure that you also wouldn’t like for a stranger to post pictures of your children.
WHY WE DON'T OFFER VISITS TO ORPHANAGES
Everything we’ve written above about school visit also applies to orphanages – with one crucial addition.
80% of children in Tanzanian orphanages are not orphans. (source: Unicef)
Please take a moment to let that sink in.
80% of children in Tanzanian orphanages are not orphans.
They have at least one living parent, and on top of that they usually have grandparents, aunts and uncles and other family members. 80% of the children in orphanages didn’t end up in an orphanage because their parents died, but simply because their parents are poor.
And while it might seem like orphanages are helping, research shows that institutional care almost always causes long-term harm. UNICEF and ReThink Orphanages reports that children in orphanages face greater risks of:
- Abuse and neglect
- Social and emotional trauma
- Suicide and developmental issues
And there’s more: over 90% of Tanzanian orphanages are set up and managed by foreigners. Many are religious institutions, driven by ideas from outsiders who don’t know the local communities and that perpetuate the damaging cycle of white saviorism and dependency.
Why are there so few organizations reuniting families instead? Because it’s much harder – and less profitable – than running an orphanage that attracts donor funding and “voluntourism.”
One more time, because it is just so incredibly shocking…
80% of children in Tanzanian orphanages are not orphans.
So we hope you’ll understand that we don’t support orphanages, but only organizations that focus on reuniting families and giving them the support they need to stay together.
Or would you allow a Tanzanian that you’ve never met before to take your children away from you just because you’re poor?
WHAT WE OFFER INSTEAD: ETHICAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
We believe in long-term empowerment, not short-term feel-good moments.
That’s why our tours focus on supporting adults, so they can care for their families with dignity.
One example is our women empowerment day trip to a Maasai community just outside Moshi. There, an incredible NGO called Tatu Project helps women create their own income-generating businesses, such as:
A menstrual health initiative that improves education and reduces stigma
A bike shop run entirely by local women
Masaa, a Maasai jewelry collective that earns income through artisan sales
Here, you can listen, learn, exchange and support – without intruding.
This is the kind of tourism we believe in: respectful, ethical, and truly beneficial for the people you meet.
