All About Arusha... and Tengeru

Tanzania is located in East Africa and shares a border with Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Zambia and Mozambique. Arusha - where my volunteer placement will take place is located in the northeastern corner of Tanzania. Tengeru - where we will be living is 25 minutes east of Arusha.

The country of Tanzania has a population of 29 million. There are 120 ethnic groups and has a 45% Muslim population, a 45% Christian population and 10% of the population hold strong to their indiginous beliefs. The official language is Kiswahili and the second language is English. The capital of Tanzania is Der Es Salaam.

Interstingly, in Northern Tanzania, explorers have located rich evidence of the area's prehistory, including fossil remains of some of humanity's earliest ancestors. Discoveries that suggest East Africa may have been the site of human origin.

A Little History

The costal area of Tanzania felt the first impact of foreign influence in the 8th century when Arab traders arrived. By the 12th century, traders and immigrants came from as far away as Persia and India. Eurpean explorers and missionaries penetrated the interior in teh first half of the 19th century. Germany clonized Tanzania when it was know as Tanganyika at the end of the Second World War. The British defeated the Germans, forcing them out of the country. Tanzania gained independance from Britain in 1961 and until the mid 1980s, Tanzania was a one-party state with a socialist model of economic development. In Jan. 1992 - only 14 years ago... the government decided to adopt mutiparty democracy.


Arusha is a fairly rural area that is covered with banana and coffee plantations - for anyone who knows me... the coffee will definitely be a perk:) Arusha is dominated by the extince volcanic Mt. Meru.


Arusha has an English written newspaper that can be found at

http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/