In summer 2025, I spent one month in Paje, Zanzibar, where I supported a local public school through the organisation Boresha Maisha. The idea of teaching in Africa started two years earlier when I travelled to Kenya and spontaneously visited a local school. I was fascinated by how different school life was compared to Austria. Since then, I wanted to experience teaching in a completely different environment myself

Teaching in Paje

School days usually started with a 30-minute walk from the hostel to the school. I worked there from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The children were of different ages, with the youngest being only around three years old. The school was very different from what I knew from Austria. Instead of desks, chairs and notebooks, each child had only a small blackboard and a piece of chalk to work with. We learned through songs, games, picturecards and many activities outside. At around 10 a.m., we had breakfast together and I helped serve porridge to the children. I especially enjoyed seeing how much fun the children had with simple activities. It made me realise that good teaching does not always need a lot of expensive materials.

Accommodation and life in Zanzibar

I stayed in a hostel organised by Boresha Maisha, just a short walk from the beautiful beach of Paje. Around 30 volunteers from all over the world lived there together. Meeting so many different people and spending our free time together was one of the best parts of the experience. I also quickly connected with the local people. They were very welcoming and open, and after a short time it almost felt like being part of one big family. Life in Zanzibar was much more relaxed and less stressful than I was used to. „Pole Pole”, meaning „slowly, slowly”, describes this lifestyle perfectly.

My takeaways

My month on the island taught me a lot, both personally and as a future teacher. I learned to be more flexible and spontaneous and to make the most of the resources available. The experience also changed my perspective and made me appreciate many everyday things at home more. I still think about my time in Zanzibar very often and try to keep a little bit of the „Pole Pole“ and „Hakuna Matata“ lifestyle in my everyday life. I would definitely do an experience like this again.

Photos & Text: Nina Weinzettl