Location
Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It has a cultural heritage spanning more than 300 years and breathtaking scenery, from the iconic Table Mountain to the glorious Cape beaches. With a comfortable Mediterranean climate, Cape Town is great place to volunteer all year round.
About the project
This project aims to assist the children in the Red Hill pre-schools, in the out-skirts of Cape Town. The schools have a severe lack of facilities. Educational materials are drawn from containers that are donations to community. Volunteers will find that most of the schools have meager and ill-equipped facilities; but a wealth of children with a desire to learn. Volunteers will assist teachers and contribute to our efforts to provide our children with a better education. In addition, volunteers will have the opportunity to organize their own classes.
Volunteer work and contribution
Volunteers will assist the schools during the mornings with the following tasks:
- Assistant teaching: Provide individual attention and assistance to children during lessons
- Help with crafts, painting, reading and games
- Organize special needs classes for children who have not been able to keep up with the pace of the regular classes
- Help with meal distribution: Every child receives two meals, which is often their only meals that day.
- Promote personal hygiene through washing hands before meals and teeth brushing in the mornings
- Help clean, maintain and even refurbish the classrooms, most of which are quite run down.
After having spent the morning at one of the schools, volunteers will assist the local community services in the afternoon. Volunteers will rotate between the following community projects
- Building and painting schools: Schools in Red Hill deal with a great shortage of classrooms and facilities and are therefore limited to the amount of children they can accommodate. As a volunteer, you will assist with fixing fences and windows, and rebuilding and painting classrooms. This project will also involve community litter, glass and rubbish collection.
- HIV and AIDS Orphanage: One of the afternoon community projects is working alongside a home for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS situated in the heart of one of the peninsula townships, providing a safe and healthy home to children whose parents and family members are unable to look after them. Volunteers will be involved in spending invaluable time with the wonderful children there, including supervising homework and playing educational games, as well as making friendships. The children at the home make this community project a delight and an incredible amount of fun!
- Mini Farming Projects: At the preschools there is an initiative to allow the school to grow a sustainable source of food to contribute towards the community partnership initiative which provides two meals a day to otherwise very hungry children. The vegetable gardens, looked after by the children and teachers of the school, provide carrots, beetroots, cabbage, onions, spinach and lettuce, as a way of adding nutrients to their meals. Volunteers might get the opportunity to immerse themselves in a mini-farm project, ranging from the basics of a vegetable garden, to building an underground drainage system to save on water irrigation.
- Educare Centre: Volunteers will assist teachers with after school care by playing games, reading (both one-on-one with the kids and to the group during story time), and other activities such as art, music, and dancing.
- Primary School extra-mural involvement: The school principal is very keen to get the sports' programme up and running. Wednesday afternoons are now dedicated for that purpose. Volunteers can help coach sports' activities including volleyball, netball, soccer and rugby.
- Masiphumelele Library: Masiphumelele has a library with wonderful resources and facilities. The library offers many services to the community and volunteers are often slotted into existing programs offered at the library. These include arts and crafts, puzzles, games, literacy, one on one reading, homework club and math club.
Project "Day in the life":
Please note that the itinerary may differ from the example below, depending on a volunteer's own experience and skills and the number of other volunteers participating during the placement period.
07:00 Get up, eat a breakfast of cereal, toast, tea/coffee, and start getting ready for the project
07:45 Head off on the short drive to the project
08:00 Start work at your community school. To make sure that volunteers teach a variety of classes, they will rotate between different tasks and classes.
12:30 After serving the children their lunch, volunteers will be picked up from their project, and taken to their volunteer house, where lunch will be waiting for them.
14:30 Leave for one of the afternoon community projects. Volunteers will spend the afternoon playing with the children at one of the schools or building and painting classrooms.
16.30 End of the working day. Volunteers will be picked up from their project and taken home where we evaluate the day and discuss the schedule for the next day. Or volunteers can opt to be dropped off in town to check their emails.
18.30 Dinner at the volunteer house. After dinner, volunteers often go for a few drinks at one of the local night spots.
Accommodation & Food
Volunteers will stay in a fully furnished house situated in the rustic town of Noordhoek. The house is on a private and secure property which is comfortable, spacious, and within easy walking distance of a shopping. It is also staffed with a cook and cleaner and each room has an en-suite bathroom. Other facilities include satellite television and a lock-up safe for your valuables. You will share your room with up to 3 other volunteers and whilst all bedding is provided, you will need to bring your own towels please.
Volunteers are provided with two cooked meals a day. Breakfast is on a help-yourself basis and usually consists of cereal / porridge, toast, tea and coffee. During weekends ingredients are provided for self- catering.
Project Orientation
Upon arrival at the project base on the outskirts of Cape Town, all volunteers attend a comprehensive orientation programme, which is included in the fee. This is facilitated by the Project Manager and includes:
- An introduction to the city of Cape Town and surrounding Cape Peninsula, as well as the communities where volunteers will be volunteering.
- An introduction to all of our Cape Town projects. Not only will volunteers see where they will be working, but the full range of projects where their fellow volunteers are placed.
- Volunteers will also receive our detailed "Welcome Pack", which contains detailed information for their stay with us.
Travel Highlights
During volunteer placements, volunteers can join the following excursions:
- A visit to Cape Point, situated within the Southern section of Table Mountain National Park, which is globally recognized for its extraordinarily rich, diverse and unique fauna and flora - with rugged cliffs, steep slopes and sandy flats! See the baboons and perhaps some ostrich or buck if lucky!
- A trip to Boulders Beach, home to a growing colony of the vulnerable African Penguin. Wooden walkways allow visitors to view the penguins in their natural habitat. This is also a safe and enjoyable spot for swimming and snorkeling.
- A visit to the summit of Table Mountain, where volunteers will find the best views of Cape Town. The Cableway takes you to the summit in under 10 minutes and the cable car's rotating floor ensures that all passengers get a 360 degree aerial view of the city.
Weekends are excellent opportunities to participate in tourist activities and to explore the surrounding area, so volunteers tend to be out-and-about during this time. These are some of the popular activities offered with estimated prices in and around Cape Town:
- Aquila private game reserve - a "Big 5" reserve situated 2 hours drive out of Cape Town: +-ZAR980 pp (based on a minimum of 5 pax), which includes a buffet breakfast, lunch and a 3 hour game drive. It is also an opportunity to pet cheetahs.
- City hop on-hop off double-decker bus: +- ZAR130pp Shark Cage Diving: +- ZAR1500pp (including transport and based on a minimum of 4 pax)
- Sky diving: +- ZAR2000 (including transport and based on a minimum of 2 pax)
- Abseiling down Table Mountain: +-ZAR495
- Surfing lessons: +-ZAR250
*Brand New Six Day Optional Tour *
Six day long optional tour from Cape Town to Addo Elephant National Park, along the famous Garden Route! The Cape to Addo Park Safari is a unique, safe and affordable way to experience the thrill of game driving in an authentic BIG 5 National Game Park, while touring the coastal regions of both the Western and Eastern Cape. On this tour, nothing is left out as we explore the Whale Route, Route 62, the Karoo and Garden Route all the way to Jeffrey’s Bay, Mandela Bay and Port Elizabeth. Every Cape to Addo Safari is professionally driven and guided by an experienced African tour leader and the itinerary is packed full of unique African experiences and exciting discoveries. Game driving, ski-boat cruises, beer tasting, caving, zip lining, bungy jumping, hot natural springs, horseback rides, surfing, elephant feeding and riding, river canoeing, the list goes on… and on.
Minimum Requirements
- Min age 17
- Good level of English
- Flexibility and open mindedness
- High level of independence and emotional strength
- Motivation to work with children
- Full travel & medical insurance
- Immunizations (please consult doctor)