Wildlife Protection

Wildlife Volunteering South Africa: Wildlife Volunteering South AfricaThe Game Reserve is situated in Port Elizabeth towards Grahamstown. The reserve is on 6000 hectares of land which is filled with a variety of wild life, including the BIG 5! In addition to the mixture of grasslands and sub-tropical vegetation, it also has naturally formed pockets of water, amazing rock formations and splendid flora.

Duties of volunteers will mostly be outdoors and will sometimes be in unpleasant weather conditions. Duties will include: tracking animals, removing alien vegetation, mending fences, animal counts, animal feeding, general visitor management, accompanying guides on game drives and clearing paths (although these tasks are subject to change and dependent on season).

Volunteers are placed in fully furnished staff housing accommodation, which is split by gender. Recreational activities are limited on the reserve and weekend get aways to the city can be arranged every alternative weekend. Weekend work is also required but volunteers will get time off as per project agreement.

Please note that participants on the Wildlife program should fly directly to Port Elizabeth. Airport collections are at 4pm on Mondays so volunteers should arrive prior to this. Those arriving at the weekend should arrange their own accommodation until the Monday collection. At the end of the program volunteers are returned to Port Elizabeth on Sunday evening. Again accommodation may be necessary if waiting for a flight on Monday.

The Cape Town arrival and orientation will not be included for participants on the Wildlife Programme.

Social Welfare

Social Work South Africa: Social Work South AfricaSocial Welfare has many projects that need help and the volunteers can make a positive contribution to:

• Children Orphanages
• Abused children and orphans
• Homes for physically and mentally challenged

Duties of volunteers vary from feeding and clothing younger kids, to playing and assisting with homework and with those struggling at school. The kids mostly need someone to listen, a helping hand, warm hugs and affection.

At the homes for abused women and children the volunteer will assist with day to day activities. These may involve assisting with cooking and helping out with tidying up, helping with awareness programs and skills development. Volunteers need to be flexible and willing to help wherever help is needed.

Volunteers should be at least 21 years of age. A love for people and lots of patience are very important. A willingness to help in other areas of the project would also add value e.g. upgrades to the facilities.

Projects are open throughout the year but kindly note that placements during December are limited. Things are generally very quiet over the festive season and most homes close during school holidays as children are placed in foster care, therefore few or no children are at the homes. Participants must stay at least 12 weeks.

Education

Volunteer with Kids South Africa: Volunteer with Kids South AfricaVolunteers can choose to assist in educational institutions such as primary and high schools as well as pre-primary and crèches. Many volunteers enjoy working with local children and assisting in areas where there is often lack of resources such as toys, books and sporting equipment.

Volunteers help to implement a comprehensive approach to policies and programs for children from birth to nine years of age with the active participation of their parents and caregivers. Within the local community home-based crèches are established by unemployed women. The majority of these women have never received any kind of formal training in Early Childhood Development, and their establishments' resources are generally very limited.

Duties vary and include feeding, playing and teaching, helping with preparing meals and making educational toys and learning aids. Some activities may involve assisting with cooking and helping out with tidying up. Volunteers need to be flexible and willing to help wherever help is needed. It is also important that they understand the local community situations and the local challenges associated with these types of placements. Volunteers must be able to take initiative in assessing the needs at the crèche.

A love for children and lots of patience are very important. In the areas where Xhosa or Afrikaans is mostly spoken the volunteer would need even more patience as most of the children cannot speak English. The language barrier is not really a problem as the kids are very eager to learn and one just needs extra patience with them. A willingness to help in other areas of the project would also add value e.g. upgrades to the facility, finding creative ways to make learning aids/material.

During school holidays, volunteers have to inform us whether they would like a holiday program during their placement. All projects prefer volunteers to arrange their own private travel plans during the school holidays, as travel and sightseeing during placement disrupts the program.

Community Development

Community Development Volunteering South Africa: Community Development Volunteering South AfricaThe volunteer will help the development of people at various levels e.g. skills development, leadership programs, awareness programs and community outreaches.

Volunteers must be willing to help wherever help is needed. It is also important that they understand the local community situations and the local challenges associated with these types of placements. The volunteers must be able to take initiative and think creatively. Administration work will also form part of the duties of the volunteer. Some projects are very well structured and well managed others are less structured and require more patience, as workloads vary from day-to-day. This is very much the nature of working in a developing country.

Programs run throughout the year, however placements during December are limited as things can be very quiet over the festive season.

Sports Development

Sports Volunteering South Africa: Sports Volunteering South AfricaThis program involves coaching young people at primary school level. Volunteers can assist in coaching sports and teaching kids various skills such as fitness training. In some instances sports coaching involves teaching children about healthy lifestyle awareness and team building.

As with many things in developing countries some projects are very well structured and well managed while others lack infrastructure and resources.

Monkey Rehabilitation

Monkey Volunteering: Monkey VolunteeringSituated in the Limpopo Provence – this project’s mission is to help raise orphaned and injured animals and ultimately reintegrate them back into the wild. The program entails feeding animals, caring for young and sick monkeys and animals as well as cleaning cages, camps, clinics, kitchens and enclosures. Volunteers will be on 24 hour emergency stand-by once a week. They will assist staff with ad-hoc duties such as creating natural environments in the enclosures, building of camps, keeping data lists.

Volunteers are placed in staff housing accommodation that is split by gender. Recreational activities are limited on the farm, however volunteers get time off once confirmed with project supervisor.

Volunteers should love monkeys as well as having a willingness to get their hands dirty and working in sometimes unpleasant weather conditions. Flexibility and a willingness to learn and help where help is needed is necessary. Volunteers must commit to at least four weeks.

Please note that participants on the Monkey Rehabilitation programme have to fly directly to Johannesburg, arriving between 10am and 5pm. Late arrivals should arrange an overnight stay. Volunteers will be collected at the airport by project staff and transferred to the farm where an orientation will be undertaken.

The Cape Town arrival and orientation will not be included for participants on the Monkey Rehabilitation Programme.

Surf and Adventure Program

Surf Volunteering South Africa: Surf Volunteering South AfricaThe program takes underprivileged children out of the settlements and off the streets and teaches them valuable life lessons in the form of sports, adventure activities, team work and educational classes. The program is run as a weekly extramural activity for a disadvantaged school with the main focus on surfing, adventure activities and sport such as sandboarding, mountain hikes, swimming, soccer, team building, computer classes, workshops and beach clean ups.

Volunteers will work 3–5 days a week with the children. Mornings are spent either learning to surf, helping in a school or relaxing on the beach and the afternoons are spent with the kids teaching them to surf or one of the above activities. Every Saturday is a full day of activities with the children. Volunteers will also have a chance to learn how to surf with an instructor and have use of the boards on their off days.

Information about the children/schools:

• Most of the children can speak English yet their home language may be Afrikaans or Xhosa.
• The children live in townships
• Children in the program range from 12 – 14yrs.
• Children are split into 4 groups of 5- 20 children that will be part of the program every week.
• School starts at 08:00 and closes and 13:30/14:30
• There are normally 30 – 40 children in a class with 1 teacher.
• Many of the children do not pay school fees so the schools funds are stretched and any assistance is welcomed.

Volunteers are housed at a backpacker’s dormitory or volunteer house close to the beach. Meals while on program are included, but during orientation meals are not included. Breakfast comprises of cold self-service with yoghurts, fresh fruit and cereals with toast and spreads. Lunches include options such as fruit, sandwiches and spreads. Dinners include wholesome South African meals such as stews, casseroles, and a variety of South African vegetable, salad and starch combinations.

Environmental

Volunteering South Africa: Volunteering South AfricaEnvironmental programs revolve around educating future generations on conserving the environment, through educational camps and activities put in place to promote sustainability for the future.

Duties include visitor management and outdoor environmental work. For example clearing paths, removing alien vegetation, bird counting, and facilitating awareness programs for people of different ages. There are also various outdoor building and upgrading projects that could be done.

Some projects are very well structured and well managed. Most of these projects are government funded or subsidized through donations. Some projects charge a minimal fee for entrance or for use of facilities.

Volunteers should have a love of the outdoors and a willingness to get their hands dirty, they will at times be working in unpleasant weather conditions. For awareness camps and programs, you must love working with children and be able to work in a team.

Horse Welfare Program

Develop riding skills, while discovering the culture of Cape Town, South Africa and making a difference in Africa helping horses. In addition to working with horses, volunteers will be able to help at a local gardening project where organic produce is grown. Volunteers do not need any specific experience to volunteer on this project; however an interest in horses is important. This project needs volunteers to help with all the physical labour required to keep a ranch running, such as grooming horses, taking horses on road shows to teach school kids and increase their awareness about horses. The project also needs volunteers to assist in some of the administrative duties.

Volunteers will stay at a backpacker's lodge in the Oude Molen Village which is a stone through away from the stables. the lodge offers the best of both city and country living - self catering, clean & homely, high ceilings, wooden floors – cozy in winter, cool in summer. Oude Molen is a working model of a sustainable eco-village in which respect and consideration for people, nature and diversity is encouraged.