In this interview, you’ll hear from Aniket Majumder, a Peace Corps Education volunteer in Tanzania. Aniket shares what daily life looks like, the work being done, and how service has shaped their personal and professional growth. You’ll learn about housing, cultural differences, project work, language learning, and what it’s like to live and work in a new country. This interview offers a real look into Peace Corps service and what future volunteers can expect.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Social Identity
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. What do you do as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in Tanzania?
My day usually consists of two main things: My teaching activities, and my secondary projects. I reach school at around 7-7:30, and I usually teach for around 80 minutes in the morning. From 11-3, I engage in my secondary projects.
From there, I go home, and I speak to my neighbors, friends, and family. Some of the highlights of my day are dusk and dawn; there isn’t a more beautiful sight than the equatorial sun rising and falling. Following that, I wrap up the day and go to bed.
2. Why did you decide to join the Peace Corps and serve in Tanzania?
From a young age, I’ve wanted to have some positive impact on the environment around me. And changing the world can’t happen without knowing the world. And given that life is short, the best and quickest way to learn about the world is pure immersion. But, pure immersion where? Global change is already a hard enough task, and you want to stack the deck in your favor. I assumed that it’s easiest to change the world with quick development around you, which Tanzania fits to a T. Through this logic and personal research, I found the Peace Corps, and upon telling my community, I received an outpour of support, and I knew I made the right decision.
A number of my high school teachers also went to the Peace Corps, and they all had a positive experience, and they have been role models and mentors for me to look at.
The other reason I’m in the Peace Corps is that I was fortunate to graduate from college early. With two years saved, I had the freedom to engage in something like service, and not feel like I’m ‘losing time’. While I now think the ‘losing time’ aspect doesn’t make much sense, it played a factor in me joining, and I would not have joined had I not finished my degree before planned.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. What is your housing like in Tanzania?
I’m in a compound with shared walls, but I have an independent house. I can often hear my neighbors singing/playing/blaring music from my house. I’m in a village, but I’m also within walking distance from the capital. I get a lot of jokes made about my professionally made sofa, granite countertop, nice fridge, and running water. I definitely fit the Posh Corps label of Tanzania.
4. What moments or interactions stand out during your service?
I have had a number of interactions that have stood out, some big, some small, all wonderful. One of the first days I was at my site, I was at the school field, and a bunch of kids came up to me, wondering who this stranger was. But, we got to talking, and they wanted to learn a bit of English and Bengali. So, they began to say words in Swahili, and I gave them a translation in both languages. They also carried a mouse with them, and to this day I’m not sure why.
A few months later, I was speaking with my coworkers about my life in the States. American football is so different from football anywhere else, and when talking about my hobbies, they looked very confused. Luckily, the Super Bowl just happened, and I got a chance to show the highlights of the greatest gridiron game to them.
Finally, I can talk about my time at school. Teaching is a difficult job, and it gets even harder if you’re teaching in a language and a culture that isn’t yours. But, teaching students about the proof of the area of a circle, and how certain mathematical tools came to be are some of the greatest experiences I have had. I got to see the flash of understanding in a few students’ eyes, when they understood why the Central Angle Theorem started to work. And after a lesson, one of my students just said “We love you!” and I started just smiling and laughing.
That’s not to say I haven’t had bad moments at my school or work environment, but the good memories stand out really well, and I’ve been really grateful to experience the things I’ve seen.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about living or working in Tanzania?
For me, the biggest thing that surprised me was the massive number of similarities to India. A family-oriented culture, a variety of fruit, influence from both Arabic and English areas, and a wonderful environment, all of it has reminded me of India. Even the food is similar, although there is zero spice in the food here.
Another big surprise for me was how slow stuff moves here. Things will always take a while. If you think something will take a month, double it. But with that, people here have been nothing but great, and I’ve been welcomed into communities with no struggle whatsoever.
6. What challenges have you faced in your Education work, and how did you respond?
By far the biggest struggle in Education is corporal punishment. Seeing kids get hit consistently is not easy to see. And while it hasn’t gotten easier, it’s become a part of life that I’ve tried to just accept. It’s not something I use in my teaching (I do not want to, nor am I allowed to). And I do believe that I’ve made somewhat of a difference, just by being an adult who doesn’t beat them.
Aside from that, the culture around mathematics is horrible. Math is known as the ‘ugonjwa wa taifa’, or the national disease. This is true in the textbooks, in the attitude, and in the method of teaching. The textbooks are very poorly written, to the point where I, as a native English speaker, have trouble reading them at times. The attitude of mathematics is one of consistent chagrin. Most students take mathematics as an automatic failure on their testing ballots, and focus on other subjects.
And math is taught as a tool of memorization, where students are often asked to vomit their short term memory on the test in front of them. Dealing with this isn’t easy, but math is such a beautiful subject that it is easy to teach well. And when the understanding of why something works the way it does clicks for a student, it changes the culture, bit by bit, until it’s everywhere, all at once.
7. What secondary projects have you worked on during your service?
During April, I hosted a camp where I got volunteers from all across the country to my school to share STEM-related topics with students at my school. This involved a hands-on environmental engineering activity, a bridge and tower building competition with spaghetti and marshmallows, and an American college admissions process tour.
We brought volunteers together during breaks, connected with our communities as a united front, and gave students hope. And I’m happy to say that following my conference, three other volunteers have used the template to help conduct a similar activity in their communities.
Creating Videos
Right now, there is one other math teacher at my school, and while he is fantastic, he teaches a load of classes that is 5x larger than some of the non-STEM subjects. Herein lie two problems; One, that a large teaching load can lead to miscommunication of subjects, and overworked teachers have a higher chance of teaching a poor subject. And with the national disease, we can’t afford that.
The other issue is in basic math visualization. In the States, we are blessed with smart boards and school computer labs, while classrooms in my school don’t even have electricity. Explaining how the Earth works as a Sphere does not work well on a dusty board and white chalk. I’ve created a few videos that have been presented to my fellow math teacher and their students, and they have been received well.
Teaching American football
Finally, I’m teaching football to my community. I’ve shown clips of the game, and while the rules are very weird for anyone outside the States, it’s gotten some interest. I also found a football in-country, and I’ve taught my neighbors how to throw and catch it. Putting the Super Bowl on the school TV or teaching teachers how to throw has been really fun as well. There’s nothing like just zipping the ball over trees into the arms of a Tanzanian.
Coaching Soccer
I’ve also coached soccer here, and it’s been a blast. I was fortunate to have a number of amazing coaches throughout my time in the States, and I wanted to give that back to my students. I’m known as a mwalimu wa michezo or ‘sports teacher’, and I get a chance to explore the interests of the students and the community through a soccer ball. Here’s a quick excerpt from one of the games:
“After a quick introduction from each coach and a couple of laughs during my turn, the opposing team’s coach had a phrase that will stick with me. Michezo ni Salama. Sports are peaceful. … Sports allow a showcase of the best of competition, with the biggest risk being a broken ankle. And to be able to promote peace with a corps of Tanzanians is why I’m in this country.” – My April 2025 Newsletter
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to future Education volunteers in Tanzania?
The best thing you can do is to take it slow. The first 3-12 months of service will be very different from PST (Pre-Service Training). PST is drinking from a firehose, and time up until MST (Mid-Service Training) is pumping the water yourself.
Take it slow. Understand your area, talk to people, and get to know the environment. Projects will come, but give yourself time to understand everything around you. The best thing you can do is to spend time with people. Also, don’t promise too much. Things will go much more slowly than you think, and if you underpromise and overdeliver, you’ll be in a stronger position than doing the opposite.
Also, make your friends here, both Tanzanians and Americans. People can make or break your service, so the earlier you find your people, the better.
9. How did Peace Corps training prepare you for service?
PST (Pre-Service Training) was a training in culture, language, and teacher training. We had a lot of practice sessions with teaching, where we had to teach a series of classes for 6 weeks or so. Language and culture came hand in hand with living with a host family, and so we were ready to embark on our projects at site.
Following PST, we had EST without counterparts, and then we had EST with counterparts a few months later for us to discuss how exactly we could add to our work. The most useful was by far PST, as we learned how to survive and thrive in our villages for two years.
We have our MST coming up, and we’ll have a chance to discuss with our peers and staff about how to make the last year of service as strong as possible.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. What would you tell future volunteers to pack—or leave behind?
Pack a Swiss-Army knife, and some things to remind you of home. Two of the best things I brought with me were a UMass T-Shirt and some cologne.
But, service now isn’t like it was twenty years ago. You can find most things that you need to thrive already in the country; cookware, clothing, and comforts are all readily available in the larger towns and capitals. Bring things that are small and ‘pack a punch’ in terms of meaning.
11. How has language learning been for you in Tanzania?
I tried Duolingo before coming in, but the only thing I remember from that time was the word for pig, which is barely used here. To learn the language, the best thing I did was just immerse myself in the language.
During PST, a good friend of mine and I took walks across the environment while talking about a series of topics. We talked about how my Celtics would beat his Knicks, spirituality, philosophy, and a number of other things (in Swahili). It didn’t feel like practice, it felt like I was learning about him through the system of a new language, and I learned quickly.
Social Identity
12. How has your personal identity shaped your service experience?
I entered PC as a 20-year-old Hindu Indian male, and immediately I experienced a different side of service than most. On the first day of PST, I spoke Hindi to a shop-owner. Now, I play cricket every Sunday. And one of the best parts of language learning was the connections between Bengali/Hindi and Swahili, thanks to the loan words all from Arabic. I’ve learned that every part of my identity has come out, even parts that I didn’t realize would come up.
13. Did your identity lead to specific challenges or situations?
Greeting culture is huge in Tanzania. And upon finding out my age, a lot of teachers and others started asking me to do the greeting of the elders. I dragged my feet about doing it, with the logic of us both being teachers, but at a certain point, it wasn’t worth it. Showing respect is big, and it’s not an impossible ask to say a word. Although I’m still not a big fan of it, I consider them my equal.
The other big portion of my identity that comes into play is my Indianness. Indians are treated very differently from white volunteers. When my neighbor met some of my friends, he said “Finally, some real white people.” I don’t often get harassed at the bus stop in the same way my white friends do. I can blend in much better than my friends, but it works as a blessing and a curse, as I don’t feel as if I’ve gotten the same respect as if I were white.
14. What advice do you have for volunteers who share your identity?
Embrace every part of you. Every part of your identity can function as a rose or a thorn, and the best thing you can do is to make it help you. I’m so grateful that I’ve been in every position I’m in throughout service, and that wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t embrace who I was, flaws and all.
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
15. If you share content online, how has that shaped your service?
Writing my blog has generally hit goal 3 well, although it hasn’t much impacted my day-to-day here at site. Although it has absolutely helped in creating a lasting series of stories that I’ve had here. One of the best parts of the blog here has been sharing stories with fellow volunteers, and just understanding each other’s experiences and sites.
Aniket’s Newsletter features monthly newsletters chronicling his daily life, teaching experiences, cultural reflections, and philosophical insights from Peace Corps service since late 2024. Posts include personal anecdotes like cricket games, classroom moments, local interactions, and musings on finite vs. infinite games in education and peace-building. Click HERE!
16. What final advice or thoughts would you share with future volunteers?
You’ll have great days, you’ll have horrible days, you’ll have days of boredom, and you’ll have days of chaos. There isn’t anything like this job, so just keep going. Give yourself time, give yourself grace, and you’ll do things beyond your imagination.
Are you thinking about joining the Peace Corps? If you’re curious about service and ready for something new, apply today. Like Aniket, you can live abroad, work with communities, and grow in ways you didn’t expect. Apply to the Peace Corps and take the next step.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Tanzania Government.
