Hi, I'm Hattie. In January I'm going with VSO ICS to Tanzania, to work in one of two Teacher Training college's in Kilimanjaro region. I'm aiming to raise £800 for VSO, so that they can continue to work to improve the quality of education in Tanzania.

What is VSO?

Volunteer Service Overseas (VS0) work in over 30 countries around the world in four different areas: health, participation and governance, secure livelihoods and education. They believe in volunteer-orientated work - bringing people together to work in partnership towards the goal of eradicating poverty. Much of their work is about providing partner organisations all over the world with a wide range of support to achieve their aims. 

What am I doing?

In January 2015 I am going to Tanzania with VSO ICS (International Citizen Service), a UK government-funded development programme that sends 18-25 year old's from all backgrounds to fight poverty overseas. I will be working at one of two Teacher Training colleges in the Kilimanjaro Region of the country. 

Although there has been a massive increase in school attendance in Tanzania since the government's abolition of school fees in 2001, with more than 95% of Tanzanian children attending primary schools, there are major concerns that the quality of education is too low. A 2010 survey by UWEZO (www.uwezo.net) showed that of those children currently in primary school almost half fail the primary school leaving exams, finishing their formal schooling with limited skills. Low quality of education is one of the biggest issues in Tanzania at the moment, as it impacts access to higher education, employment opportunities and quality of other basic services such as health.

Education is one of VSO's main areas of work in Tanzania, and the programme I will be working on is aimed at improving the quality of education at primary and secondary level by improving the quality of teaching, with a specific focus on English for communication. 

Where does your money go?

Don't worry - by donating here you aren't paying for my trip! In order to make it accessible to all, ICS is government-funded, so none of the money you donate will go towards my plane ticket / food / accommodation etc. 

The money you give will go directly to VSO and their partners, to ensure that they can keep doing valuable work all over the world to eradicate poverty.

Thanks for your support!

Hattie x