Gaz Morris (Summer 2010): I volunteered with Upendo after being made aware of the excellent cause by friends. Our trip was the first to make it to Buswelu explicitly for the purpose of founding the orphanage and the experience was both enlightening and eye-opening. The children were fantastic - so loving and welcoming (I recall, as we walked up the volunteer house, being greeted by them running over and hugging us despite not stopping to know our names!) and they made the whole stay just that little bit extra special.The only way to experience this fantastic country and meet these wonderful people is to go out there and do it! Sure, going halfway around the world and massively out of your comfort zone might be scary, but the friendly volunteers and organisers, welcoming Tanzanians (of which the children are easily the most welcoming by far!) and stunning country easily make up for it.

Emma Shepley (August - September 2011): To say I enjoyed my time with Upendo would be a huge understatement! The majority of my time at Upendo was spent teaching the children (interspersed with lots of fun and games, a fair bit of socialising, exploring and a cheeky bit of safari), and through this I was able to observe for myself the improvement in ability, increased confidence, development and progression of learning in the children, which was absolutely priceless. All of the Upendo children are fantastic in their own way; each of them with brilliant personalities, all massively entertaining and an absolute joy to spend time with.Volunteering at Upendo also afforded me the opportunity to live and integrate within Tanzanian culture, an experience from which I was able to learn a great deal. It was also wonderful to meet and work with the Tanzanian members of the Upendo team, who all have so much love and kindness to share and to learn from. Overall, my experience with Upendo is something I would recommend to anyone – I came away with the burning desire to return.

Tom Basley (Summer 2011): Volunteering with Upendo was quite possibly the best summer I have ever had. There are far too many stories to remember but my favourites all involve Joshua, in particular his insistence on saying Shikamoo (a respectful greeting to elders in Swahili) to a chicken! I met some of the most incredible people that summer and I’ll never forget them, I hope to go back one day as it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Ruth Emond (August 2011): My experience at Upendo Children’s’ Home was the most unforgettable, life-changing and exciting of my life. I could not begin to explain the memories that I have of such a wonderful place and I think about it every day. Nuru, Edward, Ema, Mussa, Masalu, Maryia, Joice, Edina, Joshua, baby Carline, Eric all the adults involved in making Upendo so special will have a place in my heart for the rest of my life. One particular special memory I have was giving the children some bubbles that I had brought with me from England. It was lovely to watch their intrigued faces as I showed them how to blow the bubbles and then watch as they all tried (some a lot better at it than others!) Upendo is a fantastic place and Carly and the team are doing a fantastic thing for such an incredible community in Buswelu. I dream of the day I will be back there!

Mel Harper (August 2011 and May-June 2012): It was lovely to be back at Upendo this summer and I really enjoyed seeing the children again. I could really see how the children’s English had progressed. We also encouraged the children to speak in English at all times when they were at the volunteer house, so we could even see an improvement in the month that we were there. This year the children were at school during the day, so the learning structure was less intense than it was last year. We mainly introduced the children to computer lessons, helped them revise for their school tests, gave them extra tutoring on what they were learning at school and played sports/games with them. The children really enjoyed the computer lessons and they all performed very well in their school tests. I loved seeing the children again and look forward to going back to Tanzania to see them in the future!