Health Education and Wellness Volunteer

Please Note: Volunteer positions are temporary and the length of your volunteer term can be anywhere from 3 weeks to 1 year. You must be at least 21 years old to be a volunteer with us.

Organization Overview

The Tanzanian Children's Fund (TCF) works to eliminate generational poverty in rural northern Tanzania by ensuring that the children and families in this region have access to all of the care and services they need to lead healthy, secure, and fulfilling lives. Our work falls into 4 key program areas: Education, Health, Home and Family, and Economic Opportunity. You will be supporting activities at the Rift Valley Children's Village, which provides a permanent home and family for orphaned and vulnerable children in our community, in partnership with the team at our Rural Community Health Clinic, which provides free and accessible health care to a community of 10,000 individuals.

Position Overview

The Health Education & Wellness Volunteer supports children’s holistic wellbeing by promoting hygiene, nutrition, physical fitness, emotional wellbeing, reproductive health, and healthy relationships. This is a non-clinical educational role designed to empower children and caregivers with practical knowledge and habits that support long-term health. The volunteer collaborates with caregivers, teachers, and clinic staff to create a sustainable, culturally grounded wellness program.

Ideal Background & Skills

• Background in public health, health education, psychology, social work, nutrition, or wellness
• Understanding of basic health, hygiene, child development, and emotional wellbeing
• Experience teaching sensitive topics respectfully
• Strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and cultural humility
• Strong English fluency
• Comfortable designing age-appropriate lessons for a rural context

Core Expectations

• Teach health knowledge in simple, engaging, culturally aligned ways
• Build routines and habits that caregivers can reinforce
• Maintain sensitivity around personal, emotional, and reproductive topics
• Promote English vocabulary around health and wellness
• Participate in general village programming during weekends and holidays

Primary Responsibilities

1. Core Health & Hygiene Lessons
   • Handwashing, toothbrushing, personal cleanliness
   • Safe water use, hydration, and environmental cleanliness
   • Sleep hygiene and clean living spaces
   • Age-appropriate disease prevention (very general, non-clinical)
2. Nutrition Education
   • Teach balanced meals using available foods
   • Promote healthy portioning and understanding body energy needs
   • Work with kitchen staff or caregivers to integrate learning into daily routines
3. Physical Wellness & Fitness
   • Lead stretching, yoga, or simple exercise groups
   • Teach body-care habits, rest, and movement for wellbeing
   • Promote fun, active lifestyle choices
4. Mental Health & Emotional Wellness
   • Teach emotional awareness, naming feelings, and healthy ways to express emotions
   • Lead mindfulness, breathing exercises, grounding techniques
   • Run group sessions on stress management, coping skills, conflict resolution
   • Provide training for caregivers on emotional support tools
   • Use art, journaling, or music as pathways for emotional expression
5. Reproductive Health Education
   • Provide puberty education for older children and adolescents
   • Teach menstrual hygiene management in a respectful, culturally aligned way
   • Explain body changes, self-care, hygiene routines
   • Provide sessions separately for boys and girls when appropriate
6. Healthy Relationships & Social Skills
   • Teach concepts of boundaries and consent at a child-appropriate level
   • Discuss respectful communication and positive friendships
   • Teach kids how to identify trustworthy adults and seek help
   • Introduce problem-solving and emotional regulation in peer conflicts
7. Wellness Resource Development
   • Create posters, hygiene charts, puberty guides, emotional wellness tools
   • Develop a simple, sustainable “wellness curriculum” for future staff/volunteers
   • Train caregivers to maintain habits beyond the volunteer’s time
8. Weekend & Holiday Engagement
   • Lead health- and wellness-themed activity days
   • Run fun group activities reinforcing physical and emotional wellbeing
   • Help facilitate general village programming

Impact of the Role

The Health Education & Wellness volunteer/intern strengthens the village’s capacity to support children’s physical, emotional, and developmental health. By giving kids knowledge about their bodies, relationships, emotions, and hygiene — all within a culturally grounded approach — this role helps foster confident, healthy, empowered young people.