About us

The Friendly Gecko Guest House shall make socially compatible tourism possible.

Development
After having established the NGO Organization help2kids in Tanzania, the founding members decided to take the next step: Establishing a small Guest House to make socially responsible tourism in Tanzania possible. For this reason the founding members have invested funds in a new company to secure the finance for the first years. We are convinced: Tourism with a social contribution is the path to a better future. We want to connect the touristic potential of Tanzania and its proceeds with the social problems of the society.

Our Tourism Concept
We strive to provide a convenient and safe accomodation for a reasonable price. We aim to create a fun and relaxed atmosphere where like-minded people can meet and experience the community. Travellers and volunteers are welcome, long- and short-term, people who like to see "behind the scenes". An international management shall ensure that a good standard of accomodation is permanently provided.

Friendly Gecko & helpk2ids
The help2kids children's home in the neighborhood shall get financially supported. For this reason up to 100% of our profits shall be donated to the NGO help2kids. Moreover we want to offer education possibilities at our guest house to the youth of our children's home.

Management in Tanzania
Lauren Giffen joined us on March 5th, 2012. She is coming from Canada where she completed her undergraduate degree in International Development at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). This is not Lauren’s first time working in Dar es Salaam, as she completed an internship in 2010 with CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) during part of her undergraduate studies. Lauren has been involved in community building projects at home in Canada for many years including, development of a drop-in centre for at-risk homeless women, Food Not Bombs (making and eating meals together between community members and people living in shelter), animal rescue projects, and finally volunteering with Arte Accion doing art projects with underprivileged children in rural Honduras. Her current focus is Management of the Guest House ‘The Friendly Gecko’ and also to act as Assistant Field Manager at help2kids. In the future, Lauren will be taking on more responsibility with respect to volunteer coordination for help2kids. Lauren is keen on continuing to the growing interest and support for our organization and projects. Karibu help2kids Lauren!

Juliet is our chef at the guest house. She loves to cook and prepares delicious dishes, a mix of traditional Tanzania and western foods. For USD 5 per person the guests may join the dinner with our volunteer team.

Stay at the Friendly Gecko and support the NGO organization help2kids!