Gain hands-on maternal health and midwifery experience in Zanzibar through hospital and community outreach, while earning an accredited Global Citizenship Diploma and travelling Tanzania.
Experience maternal healthcare from both the hospital and community perspective, working alongside local midwives, nurses and healthcare professionals supporting women through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Your placement can take you through maternity wards, antenatal and postnatal services and other areas of women’s health, providing a unique insight into pregnancy and childbirth within Zanzibar’s healthcare system.
Beyond the hospital, community maternal-health outreach forms an important part of the experience. You’ll explore the wider barriers affecting maternal and newborn health while supporting locally led health education and outreach initiatives around pregnancy, birth, postnatal care and newborn wellbeing. Combined with your Global Health learning and Legacy Project, the internship provides a broader understanding of maternal healthcare that extends far beyond the delivery room.
We’ve designed the Academy to take care of almost everything from the moment you
leave home to your day-to-day life in Zanzibar. Your program fee brings together
international flights, accommodation, meals, your internship and Diploma, Academy
learning, local transport and support, plus safari, cultural experiences and weekly
adventures — so you can focus on the experience rather than constantly organising and
paying for extras.
Almost everything you need for your 6 or 12 weeks in Zanzibar is built into your Adventure Academy fee.
A small number of personal and independent costs remain outside your Academy program.
Your 12 weeks are designed as a journey — from settling into island life and building real
relationships at your internship, to developing a partner-led Legacy Project and putting
your learning into action. Along the way, Zanzibar Adventure Days, cultural experiences
and one epic two-week journey across mainland Tanzania make travel and adventure part
of the learning itself.
Settle into Academy life in Zanzibar, meet your placement team and begin building genuine relationships. Through your internship, Global Citizenship learning and island cultural experiences, you'll start understanding the people, place and context behind your work before deciding how you can contribute.
Become increasingly involved in your internship as your confidence and understanding grow. Alongside your placement partner, you'll begin exploring real challenges and identifying where your Legacy Project could make a useful, sustainable contribution.
Turn ideas into action through your partner-led Legacy Project. Co-design, build, test and refine something your placement has identified as genuinely useful — while continuing your internship, Academy learning and adventures across Zanzibar.
Leave island life behind for two unforgettable weeks across mainland Tanzania — from the Swahili Coast and Usambara Mountains to Arusha, Kilimanjaro country, Ngorongoro, the Serengeti and Lake Victoria, before returning home to Zanzibar.
Return to your internship to see how your project works without you, make final improvements and hand it over properly. Your final weeks bring everything together through reflection, Diploma completion, graduation and one last celebration with your Academy crew.
Settle into island life, meet your placement team and quickly move from orientation into hands-on participation. Global Citizenship learning and cultural experiences help you understand the context behind your work as you begin identifying your Legacy Project.
Work alongside your placement partner to co-design, build and test a focused Legacy Project, while continuing your internship, Academy workshops, cultural experiences and Zanzibar Adventure Days.
Cross to mainland Tanzania for your signature overland adventure — travelling through historic Bagamoyo and the Usambara Mountains before reaching Arusha for northern Tanzania adventures and a two-day Tarangire and Ngorongoro Crater safari.
Return to Zanzibar for your final placement week, refine and hand over your Legacy Project, complete your Global Citizenship learning and finish with graduation, goodbyes and one last celebration with your Academy crew.
Monday
Start the week with breakfast before heading to your internship placement, then spend the afternoon wrapping up placement activities, planning and enjoying some free time.
Tuesday
Start with optional morning yoga before heading to placement, followed by an afternoon Global Citizenship workshop exploring culture, ethics, sustainability and responsible global action.
Wednesday
Spend your morning at placement before switching into Tanzania mode with an afternoon of Swahili, cooking, art, music or another rotating cultural experience.
Thursday
Head to placement in the morning before an afternoon of personal growth, reflection and wellbeing, then switch off for Academy Social Night, drinks, games or Arusha nightlife.
Friday
Spend the morning at placement or developing your Legacy Project, then enjoy a free afternoon for cafés, the pool, markets, the gym or whatever you feel like doing.
Saturday
Saturdays are made for exploring, with Academy adventures taking you to waterfalls, coffee country, hot springs, cultural experiences, cycling trips and beyond.
Sunday
Sleep in, enjoy a slow breakfast and spend the day by the pool, exploring Arusha, grabbing brunch or simply recharging with your Academy crew.
For the next 6 or 12 weeks, this is more than somewhere you sleep — it’s home. Based in Paje on Zanzibar’s beautiful east coast, your Academy home is a secure, social tropical base with comfortable shared rooms, private bathrooms, Wi-Fi, 24/7 security, a large swimming pool, island-style restaurant, bar and plenty of spaces to relax, study or hang out with your Academy crew. You’ll be right in the heart of Paje, surrounded by local life, cafés, restaurants and shops, with the Indian Ocean just a few minutes away.
It’s also the heart of Academy life — workshops and cultural afternoons around the property, lazy hours by the pool, shared meals at the restaurant, movie and games nights, drinks at the bar, music, social nights and plenty of spontaneous plans with the people you’ll quickly call friends. After placement, island adventures or days exploring Zanzibar, you’ll always have somewhere familiar to come back to — your own little home on the island.
Subject to successful completion of the required academic components, you’ll work towards an accredited Level 3 Diploma in Global Citizenship in Global Health.
Alongside your qualification, you’ll build practical experience working with Tanzanian medical teams, develop a collaborative Legacy Project, and strengthen the communication, teamwork, leadership and cross-cultural skills that can support your future study and career.
Work towards a Level 3 Diploma in Global Citizenship in Global Health, giving your international experience a recognised educational outcome.
Gain approximately 6 weeks to three months of hands-on Maternity & Community Medical experience, working alongside Tanzanian Doctors and Midwives and supporting women both prior and post birth, which is often inaccessible care in Zanzibar.
Build communication, teamwork, leadership, independence, adaptability and cross-cultural skills while developing practical experience you can carry into future study, work and applications.
Develop practical Swahili, explore community development and ethical international engagement, and learn how culture and local context shape responsible work with communities.
This program is designed for students, graduates and qualified participants in relevant fields such as midwifery, nursing, medicine, maternal health and other appropriate healthcare disciplines. Your level of involvement will always depend on your existing education, experience, professional scope and the supervision available within the hospital.
No. Your regular hospital placement is combined with community maternal-health outreach, generally around once or twice per week depending on the schedule and local needs. You may support locally led education around pregnancy, birth preparation, postnatal care and newborn wellbeing, giving you insight into maternal health beyond the hospital environment.
Your Legacy Project is a collaborative project developed during your internship around something identified as genuinely useful by your placement or community. This could involve maternal-health education, community resources, awareness initiatives, research or another capacity-building activity. The focus is on creating something locally relevant that can continue to be useful after you leave.
Ethical volunteering is about much more than simply turning up and wanting to help. Global development — particularly healthcare — is complex, culturally sensitive and often involves vulnerable people and communities.
That’s exactly why your placement is only one part of the Global Adventure Academy. Alongside your practical experience, you’ll receive Global Citizenship education exploring ethical volunteering, culture, power, privilege, sustainability, capacity building and community-led development.
We believe ethical volunteering is roughly 50% the project you work with and 50% how you approach it. Understanding your role, listening to local professionals, recognising the limits of your experience and learning to understand the local context are just as important as the work itself.
You’ll work alongside Tanzanian healthcare professionals rather than replacing them, with your involvement matched to your education, experience and appropriate supervision.
We also work with dedicated partners over the long term, and with a focus on capacity building & supporting education and awareness, we are able to make a culturally relevant and sustainable long term impact - rather than short term fixes.
Zanzibar is a popular international destination, and you’ll have plenty of support while learning to navigate everyday island life. You’ll live at our staffed and secure Academy home in Paje, with Wi-Fi, a pool, restaurant, bar and 24/7 in-country support.
Paje is a lively coastal community where local life and international tourism exist side by side. The beach, cafés, restaurants, shops and markets are all nearby, so outside placement and Academy activities you’ll have plenty of independence to enjoy the island.
You’ll receive a full local orientation covering transport, cultural customs, appropriate dress, nightlife, personal safety and everyday precautions. Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim, so understanding and respecting local culture is an important part of living here — and part of the Global Citizenship experience itself.
Wake up to the peaceful sound of water the shore. Lakeside Safari Tent. Wake up.
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