Although the CRS Farmer to Farmer program is no longer operating in Kenya, we felt it would be helpful for you to still have access to some of the logistical information should you chose to take a vacation here after completing your volunteer assignment in one of our current core award countries.
Tanzania Overview: This link gives you an overview of Tanzania’s: history, people, language and culture.
Tanzania Logistics Preparation Info.”at a glance”: This link tells you the essentials (SCROLL DOWN THE ENTIRE LINK), getting there, best time of time of year to go, currency and conversion, getting around, health and safety, insurance, and traveler’s advice specific to populations with special needs.
2018 Holidays: Check to see if your assignment will be during a major holiday, as this could shift your schedule of activities, and access to resources (example – most people don’t eat meat during “Lent” leading up to Easter).
Time and Weather: Make sure you are packing for the weather you will encounter, not the weather you “think” you will encounter. Check the Host Country Organization map at the top of the page to find the closest major city to your assignment. This link will give you that weather forecast.
Agricultural Country Old Stats Site: Overview of land use and major crops grown at a glance.
Agricultural Country New Stats Site: Select the “Search and Visualize” tab, then select the vibrating file. It will open to a selection of tables that share information on agricultural production, crops, and the population.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“…Tanzania is a multilingual country. There are many languages spoken in the country, but no one language is spoken natively by a majority or a large plurality of the population. The Bantu Swahili language and English, the latter of which was inherited from colonial rule (see Tanganyika Territory), are widely spoken as lingua francas. They serve as the two official working languages. There are more speakers of Swahili than of English in Tanzania [1].
According to Ethnologue, there are a total of 126 languages spoken in Tanzania. Two are institutional, 18 are developing, 58 are vigorous, 40 are endangered, and 8 are dying. There are also three languages that recently became extinct.[1]…”
Kiswahili Language and Tanzania Culture handbook
Cultural Mistakes to Avoid in Uganda: We are providing this link because although it addresses Ugandan cultural norms, we find it very relevant to many African Cultures. The information can help you navigate some of the unspoken cultural norms which can lead to frustrating experiences while working in African countries.