International Project Assistant Profile: Meet Anj
Over the past 18 months, Made With Hope has grown into a wonderful community of people dedicated to alleviating poverty in Tanzania. Our trustee board and volunteers work extremely hard to develop multiple aspects of Made With Hope. We thought it’d be nice to introduce our trustees and volunteers to you so you can get to know them a little better!
The aim of this blog is for us to introduce Anj to all of our lovely followers! Anj is currently volunteering for Made With Hope in Arusha. She arrived on Sunday and will be in Tanzania until mid-March. You’ll be hearing a lot more from her over the coming weeks, and she will often be behind the camera for many of our social media updates from Tanzania!
Firstly, we’ll start with some quick-fire questions….
Meet Anj!
Name: Anjlee (Anj) Patel
Role at Made With Hope: International Volunteer (Representative)
Place you grew up: Salisbury, UK; Vienna, Austria; Toronto, Canada
Favourite food: Mexican or Thai food
Favourite song/album: too many to choose from!
Favourite thing you’ve watched on TV/at the movies: Most recently probably You on Netflix but I have A LOT of movies that I love (the Lion King being one, so I am excited to visit the Serengeti during my trip to Tanzania:D)
Favourite hobby: I am a bit obsessed with my ‘nightclub’ gym in London called 1Rebel, but I also love to travel and try to book 1 or 2 big trips every year so that I can explore new places and meet new people.
Best place you’ve been: Bali in Indonesia or more recently, travelling around the Phi Phi islands in Thailand was amazing!
Place you’d most like to visit: until now it was Tanzania, but now that I am in Tanzania I want to travel around more of Africa and South America.
Biggest motivation: Learning about different cultures, travelling the world and supporting people living in poverty/affected by natural disasters.
Now for some longer questions:
Anj’s enthusiasm was infectious as she organised a spinning class for Made With Hope and fundraised over £2000 in total!
Why are you passionate about international development?
I have been interested in International Development since I was about 11 years old. I attended an international school in Vienna affiliated with the United Nations for 11 years, so I was introduced to global affairs and charity work/fundraising from a young age. I was always aware of how fortunate I was and found it unjust that there were so many people in the world struggling to receive what many of us take for granted every day. My school was heavily involved in various charity events every year and I always found it difficult to hear about and see the devastation that things like poverty, natural disasters and wars were causing all over the world. I always felt this sense of responsibility that I needed to do more to help and support people who needed it the most.
What made you decide to get involved with MWH?
I have been researching charity organisations to volunteer with since I was in school. I knew that I wanted to travel to a developing country to understand more about the challenges they face and try to make some sort of a difference. As I became older, I realised that I didn’t want to travel with a big organisation where your itinerary is very structured and the cost of volunteering is very high, because I didn’t know what my money would be put towards and I felt like I had more skills and knowledge to offer. I came across MWH through a friend who was fundraising for MWH. When he told me about what he was fundraising for, I decided to research more about MWH and was amazed by how the charity was formed, how the charity was structured and how the projects were being implemented. What I like about MWH is that the charity is working with local communities and organisations, listening to their needs and implementing projects that will have a long lasting impact on the communities. The fact that MWH supports communities in Tanzania is also a plus, as my mum was born and lived in Tanzania for many years so I have always wanted to travel to and learn more about the country!
What do you enjoy most about working at MWH?
So far, everyone that I have been in touch with has been supportive and easy to work/connect with. I like that everyone seems to share common beliefs and goals and through the different project teams/volunteers and core charity members/trustees we can really make realistic and positive changes in Tanzania.
Ronaldo, Rose, Happy and Anj making friends at Decent Guest House in Arusha.
What are you most looking forward to at MWH in the future?
This is my first week out in Arusha, so I am really looking forward to the rest of my time here, meeting more of the communities, learning from them and hopefully contributing to MWH’s mission of improving access to education in Tanzania. In the short time that I have been involved with MWH, I have already seen so much progress and commitment from team members, so I am excited to see the charity grow, to see the continued successful partnership with CHETI and ultimately see the impact that this will have on the communities in Tanzania.