What inspired you to work for Amani Hostel?
The intercultural interaction with different travelers is my main inspiration as we can engage with different ideas and opinions with open minds.
Through providing volunteer opportunities in both rural and urban communities, we offer a wealth of expertise and skills, in turn, empowering women, children, and men to discover their talents to strive towards a brighter and more prosperous future.
Describe a typical day at work.
One of my favorite parts of my job and what drew me to work with Amani Hostel is that there is no true ‘typical’ day. Generally on a day when there are no big meetings or presentations, I try to start my morning by catching up reading and, if necessary, responding to my email and direct messages and checking in with my direct reports.
I try to do any creative work mid-morning when I can, whether that’s brainstorming new campaigns or helping someone on my team come up with content or copy ideas since that’s when I’m most energized.
Generally, my company clusters routine meetings in the middle of the day from 10 AM to 1 PM to account for our remote workers across the country, and I usually spend most of that time in meetings and use any breaks to grab lunch.
My team knows that 1 PM is usually when I help them with anything that’s come up during the day and then respond to any requests from other departments or people outside the company.
Depending on what time I’m done with that, I usually spend the remainder of my day on focused work, whether that’s doing analyses of ongoing or completed campaigns or putting together presentations.
We are one
Why do you do what you do?
As a volunteer coordinator, I help organize all aspects of volunteering—from recruiting new volunteers to promoting opportunities for people who want more hours in their schedule. I am also responsible for keeping volunteers informed on administrative changes, schedule changes, and continued volunteering requirements.
What advice would you give for people thinking about traveling?
People become anxious regarding travel for any number of reasons. In some cases, you may worry about bringing the “right” clothes or forgetting something that you’ll need on your trip. So here is some of my advice:
Try to figure out what it is about travel that is making you anxious. What are you saying to yourself? Once you’re able to understand what you’re afraid of, ask yourself if the fear is realistic. Even if your worst-case scenario is something catastrophic, does the very small likelihood of its occurrence outweigh the severity.
If you have traveled before, what has your experience been? Did any of the things you’re worrying about happen? If they did, how did you manage? There’s a good chance you’re not giving yourself credit for being an effective and resilient problem solver.
Is the over-planning, list-making, or other strategies really helping? Everyone has their own way of preparing for travel. Making others conform to your way may cause arguments with your traveling companions and more stress.
Do you have strategies to help you to relax? Slow-paced breathing is one strategy that many people find to be effective. Try an app for your smartphone to begin developing your relaxation practices.
Don’t skip the self-care activities. Just because you may think you’re in a time crunch the week before a trip, build in time for exercise. Physical activity is a great way to manage stress. Pamper yourself. A haircut or a manicure may be an important part of your pre-travel preparation to help you de-stress.
We are part of changes
Why should someone choose your organization over competitors?
It is not always about what you have to say, but what your potential client thinks and has to say. We address their concerns, making them feel more comfortable. As we build contacts, we would make lists regarding our next step.
We would color code contacts regarding the response we received. This helped us organize our thoughts and provided us with our next action for the volunteer. Persistence is key, and we have always displayed that crucial skill.
I would say my organization is focused more on a balance of giving back to the community and remaining an effective institution.That's the main reason why I chose to work with this organization. I wanted to continue working in such a positive and challenging work environment.
What is your organization's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
To provide affordable hostel accommodations to all travelers in Tanzania, as well as providing affordable volunteer, gap year, and safaris programs, as well as trekking adventures in Tanzania.
This is all in an effort to help to boost and impact our community's economy and help our community get better services like healthcare, education, water, and accessible roads and transportation within the country.
It’s better to make a difference for the future
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
In our program, volunteers make a difference—every person counts. Community service and volunteerism are an investment in our community and the people who live in it. Through this, they get a chance to give back to the community resources that benefit the people they care about.
Volunteers learn things, like discovering hidden talents, that may change their view and their self worth. Through working with local non-profit agencies, volunteers learn about the functions and operation of our government. This means it promotes personal growth and self esteem.
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
They can contribute to changing the world little by little. They can gain new skills and work experience while traveling abroad. Traveling allows travelers to experience new cultures and perspectives while creating lasting bonds. They get a better idea of their personal and professional path.
It teaches us compassion and helps us put ourselves in other people’s shoes. This helps open your eyes, mind, and heart to the world around you.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
To me, meaningful travel is when travel enriches your life in some way. That could be done by focusing on making your own life better by discovering and learning new things about the world and yourself.
Meaningful travel is an opportunity to get involved but also to evolve yourself. When we go away, it’s so easy to pick up and move on. But when the trip is planned around meaningful travel, there will be countless opportunities to participate and learn. These are the things you will bring back home with you.
