MANY people dream of a holiday surrounded by the bright lights of Las Vegas, not poverty-stricken Tanzania.

But a lonely little orphanage in the African country is where Rockhampton couple Rhianna Blanch, 20, and Jamin Shulz, 27, have chosen to spend the next two weeks.

The pair were putting their hard-earned dollars towards a trip to sin city, when they suddenly had a change of heart.

Rhianna said she was sitting in their lounge room staring at a photo of their 15-year-old Salvation Army sponsor child in Kenya, Joel, when the idea of a volunteer program struck her.

The CQUniversity psychology student said the more she researched it, the more she wanted to do it. "We go to the tap to get water, but these people have to walk five or six kilometres to get contaminated water," Rhianna said.

The pair will teach Jitihada orphanage children in the city of Arusha some basic English.

"The children there are between three and six years old ... they speak Swahili," Rhianna said.

"Growing up here and living a pretty comfortable lifestyle, it's a bit hard to imagine what it is like for them.

"I'd like to know how growing up in poverty will affect you in the long-term."

Rhianna said she was afraid she would break down at seeing the poverty the children must endure. "But not as much as Jamin."

Rhianna joked Jamin, who works for Rockhampton Regional Council as a plumber, might put on the waterworks as well.

The couple, who flew out yesterday, are already planning to return to Tanzania for a longer period of time in the future. While Rhianna said she couldn't encourage people to spend thousands of dollars flying overseas to help people in poverty, she said there was something people could do from Australia.

"The $25 we pay a month (to support Joel) is as much as a night's worth of takeaway," she said.

"It even helped buy his school clothes. We just wanted to do something that's worthwhile."