Stories from the Wild

Field notes, travel guides, conservation updates, and honest advice from the people who live and breathe Africa every day with International Volunteer Home Tz.

Green sea turtle release on a Zanzibar beach

Inside Zanzibar's Fight to Save Its Sea Turtles

On the eastern shores of Zanzibar, a small team of local rangers and volunteers patrol the beaches at dawn, tagging nests and rescuing hatchlings from plastic-choked tide pools. We spent a week with the turtle conservation project in Jambiani to see what it really takes to protect a species that has outlived the dinosaurs — and why every rescued hatchling matters to the fishing communities who now call themselves its protectors.

Monica Mathew

Founder & Head Guide · 10 min read

Jun 2026 9.2K

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Conservation

Reforesting the Rift Valley: A Morning of Tree Planting in Engaruka

The dry plains around Engaruka lose more topsoil every year to wind and overgrazing. We joined a volunteer group and local farmers digging planting holes at sunrise, and learned why choosing the right indigenous species matters as much as the number of trees in the ground.

Monica Mathew · 8 min

Jun 2026

Volunteer visiting elderly women in a remote Arusha village

Volunteer Stories

An Afternoon With the Grandmothers of Remote Arusha

In villages where most working-age adults have moved to town for work, elderly women are often left to care for themselves and their grandchildren alone. We visit a weekly home-visit programme that brings food, medical checks, and simply company to women who spend most days without a single guest.

Monica Mathew · 8 min

May 2026

Conservation

Protecting the Springs: River Conservation Work in Remote Arusha

As glaciers on Kilimanjaro retreat and rainfall grows less predictable, the rivers that feed rural Arusha are under real pressure. We follow a community-led project clearing invasive plants from the riverbanks, fencing off water points from livestock, and teaching farmers how to keep the water flowing for the next generation.

Monica Mathew · 8 min

May 2026

Volunteer Stories

How a Small Savings Group Is Changing Life for Women in Engaruka

Twelve women, one notebook, and a shared box of savings — that's how it started. Today the Engaruka women's cooperative runs a vegetable garden, a small tailoring business, and a peer-lending fund. We sat in on a Thursday meeting to understand how small, steady support is helping women build real financial independence.

Monica Mathew · 8 min

Apr 2026

Civic education workshop in a rural Tanzanian village

Volunteer Stories

Teaching Civic Rights in the Villages Where They're Rarely Discussed

Many residents in Tanzania's more remote wards have never attended a session explaining their basic legal rights, how local government works, or how to raise a grievance. We join a travelling civic education workshop that uses simple language, local dialect, and open discussion to close that gap, one village meeting at a time.

Monica Mathew · 9 min

Mar 2026

Sea turtle hatchlings being released in Zanzibar

Wildlife

From Egg to Ocean: A Night Patrol With Zanzibar's Turtle Rangers

Green and hawksbill turtles have nested on Zanzibar's beaches for centuries, but poaching and coastal development put every clutch of eggs at risk. We join a night patrol as rangers relocate a threatened nest to a protected hatchery, and watch the quiet, careful process of giving a new generation of turtles a fighting chance.

Monica Mathew · 8 min

Feb 2026

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