Tragedy in Tanzania

Our first real UK-TEFL blog post has unfortunately, and rather unexpectedly, taken on a rather sombre tone.

Usually tales from the world of TEFL are filled with excitement, wonder and friendship as teachers report back on their exciting new lives overseas.

Earlier this month however, there was a shocking development in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous Tanzanian island which lies off the East-African coast.

Two British teenagers, Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, were the subject of a horrific attack. Acid was thrown in their faces, chests and hands by two men on a moped who drove past them on the streets of Stone Town.

The pair, both 18 and from London, suffered chemical burns and had to be flown home for treatment at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Kirstie and Katie were teaching at the St Monica nursery school whilst volunteering for a charity.
 

Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee.

Thanks to the nature of their work this has naturally caused concern in the TEFL community and may have made some people re-think whether teaching abroad is a good idea.

Thankfully we can re-assure you that incidents like this are extremely rare.

We have trained tens of thousands of TEFL teachers over the years and sent them off to work all around the world. Most of these trips run smoothly and an overwhelming majority of our graduates come back to the UK having had the time of their lives. You simply have to glance at the testimonials and newsletters on our website to see that this is true.

To further prove how safe TEFL is, we are also planning to host a series of guest bloggers over the coming months to report back on their time overseas.

So, if you were considering teaching abroad and had been put off by this news, please take it for what it is - a freak, one-in-a-million occurrence.

Tanzania's Minister of Tourism condemned the attack while the Foreign Office said the majority of 75,000 British nationals have "trouble free" visits to Tanzania every year.

No motive has yet been established although visitors to Zanzibar have been reminded to always maintain respect for local customs.

A stretch of Zanzibar's stunning coastline.

We do offer placements in Tanzania, however Kirstie and Katie were not trained or placed there by UK-TEFL.

Since returning to the UK Katie has thanked all those who supported her during the ordeal. It has also been announced that the girls have both secured places at university.

We wish them all the best in their recovery.