Duration & Fees
| 2 weeks | £895 |
| 3 weeks | £1,045 |
| 4 weeks | £1,245 |
| 5 weeks | £1,445 |
| 6 weeks | £1,645 |
| 7 weeks | £1,845 |
Please note: The currency conversion is an estimate based on today's exchange rates and is to be used as a guide only. All payments to Amanzi Travel have to be made in Pounds Sterling (GBP)
Start Dates
2021 Start Dates:
31 May | 14 Jun | 28 Jun | 5 Jul | 12 Jul | 19 Jul | 26 Jul | 2 Aug | 9 Aug | 16 Aug | 23 Aug | 30 Aug | 6 Sep | 20 Sep | 4 Oct | 18 Oct | 1 Nov | 15 Nov | 29 Nov
This project closes for the festive season on 20 December - 10 January 2022
Payment
£180 deposit at time of booking – balance payment of project fee due 12 weeks before departure
What's Included
- Project fee - which goes directly back into the project to facilitate funding for resources, building materials, equipment and project supplies. It
also contributes to housing, communication and project vehicle costs.
- Full board and lodging including three meals a day at the volunteer house (excluding weekends)
- All airport transfers to and from Cape Town International Airport on arrival and departure
- All daily transfers to and from the project during the volunteering period
- Weekly laundry and housekeeping service
- Comprehensive orientation programme
- Help and support from the Amanzi Travel staff, local staff and project managers at all times
What's not included
- Transportation to and from Cape Town
- Visa fees
- Personal travel insurance for the duration of the placement which must include cover for repatriation
- All items of a personal nature such as gifts, clothing etc
- Email and telephone calls made during the placement
- Any activities or excursions outside of the planned project itinerary
- Soft drinks, in-between meal snacks and weekend food
Highlights
- Experience the real, un-cut Cape Town as a responsible traveller and volunteer daily in the township communities surrounding the city
- Genuinely impace on the lives of disadvantaged children, giving them the opportunity to access one-to-one educational opportunities that would otherwse not exist in severely over-crowded and under-funded facilities
- Through structured early learning development plans support an emergency foster care home that takes in abused, neglected and orphaned children
- Work alongside local teachers at community pre-schools, empowering them to be better able to educate the children in their care
- Become a positive role model at after-school care programmes that aim to provide a safe environment that keeps vulnerable children off the streeets
- See why Cape Town has been named the Most Beautiful City in the World for the past five years
- Live live a true "Capetonian" by exploring the many diverse food markets, restaurants, live music events and world class beaches
- Take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime activities this city has to offer, including cage diving with Great White shars, whale watching, visiting Nelson Mandela's prison cell, or snorkelling with seals
South Africa's Townships
South Africa's education system is ranked 133rd out of 142 countries in the world by the World Economic Forum. Lack of basic amenities, infrastructure and learning resources exist with many children coming from families affected by poverty and hunger and parents with little or no education themselves. The many townships in and around the Cape Town area, including Khaelitsha (second largest in South Africa) are a melting pot of different cultures, ethnicities and languages. Yet across these differences there are many parellels; poverty, unemployment and HIV/AIDS. Locals live in a vast range of housing types - from shacks built of wood, to larger permanent buildings. Schools are often over-crowded and short on qualified teachers. Visiting this township is an eye-opening experience where a communal standpipe for water and blocks of individual toilets shared among a number of families is the norm. It is also a wonderfully vibrant community where the streets are filled with smells of mealie (corn) cob and meat from makeshift grillers and sounds of kwaito music blur from taxi windows.
Volunteer Work (Monday - Friday mornings)
Community Pre-Schools and Educare Centres
The project partners with pre-schools caring for children between the ages of 6 months and 7 years. These schools offer children from disadvantaged backgrounds an invaluable head start to their education and future, with a specific emphasis on helping them to prepare for their next step to primary school. Unfortunately, understaffed and lacking in essential resources, these schools struggle to meet the needs of children. Volunteers help the classes to come alive, assisting teachers with lesson planning and making real progress for the next step of entering school. While the dally routine focuses on theme based lessons, structured play, story time and music and movement sessions, volunteers provide the most help when offering one-to-one attention to individuals who are falling behind.
Emergency Foster Care Hoes for Orphaned Children
This foster care home - where the volunteers work - was established to care for abandoned and orphaned chiodren aged between 0 and 8 years in Khayelitsha and the surrounding area. This area has been hugely affected by HIV/AIDS and is thought to have the highest rates in the Western Cape. The home;s main aim is to place the children into fostr care as soon as they are ready. On average 40% of the children taken into the home are HIV positive and therefore the first stage of the home's process is to nurse the children back to health. Once the children are medically and emotionally stable, the home will look to recruit a foster family so that the children can be reintroduced into a family environment.
The role of volunteers is to help to implement a fun plan of activities to help the children with their basic development needs which will enable them to grow and learn. The programme works mainly with the younger children (0 - 3 years) and covers developmental areas such as social play, gross motor skills, language, numeracy and rhythm.
Volunteer Work (Monday - Thursday afternoons)
Live Skills Programme
Throughout the week, a couple of afternoons are spent at a foster care centre for children from various challenging backgrounds. These children live in a network of small family units, with a dedicated foster mother or father and no more than six children per household. The aim of the organisation is to one day return the children to their biological families or, failing that, with the help of those families and the volunteers, help the lead happy, successful lives.
Volunteers work regularly with approximately 15 - 20 children and teenagers, helping them develop life skills that will further their development and improve their chances of completing their education. More recently - and with the support of the volunteers - the children have been completing their "President's Award" which is very similar to the UK's Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Enrichment and Educational Support
At an after-school care programme set up to provide a safe space for children in the vulnerable hours after school finishes, volunteers help to plan and implement fun and educational games. These always have an emphasis on developing important life skills such as team work and leadership.
Volunteers rotate through activities so may also be involved in providing homeowrk support, craft making, gardening or holding a reading session. The input and ideas of the volunteers is always welcomed as new inspiration so this is a perfect place to share any skills the volunteers may have.
Volunteers may also be involved in workshops which aim to provide a platform for sharing information and skills wih the wonderful team of grandmothers that help to run the aftercare programmes. This encourages an ethos of cross-learning and is based on the "Each One Teach One" model that was implemented by Nelson Mandela and his fellow inmates dring their time on Robben Island.
During school holidays, activities may differ from the usual schedule, but the work will be equally engaging and rewarding.
The school terms for 2020 are as follows:
Term 1: 15 Jan - 20 Mar
Term 2: 31 Mar - 12 Jun
Term 3: 7 Jul - 18 Sep
Term 4: 29 Sep - 2 Dec
Please note that there are a number of public holidays throughout the year also in South Africa.
The school terms for 2021 are as follows:
Term 1: 13 Jan - 26 Mar
Term 2: 7 Apr - 11 Jun
Term 3: 6 Jul - 17 Sep
Term 4: 28 Sep - 1 Dec
Please note that there are a number of public holidays throughout the year also in South Africa.
A Week in th Life of an Early Childhood Development Volunteer
| |
Mon * |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
| AM |
Assist local teachers at a pre-school with a focus on child development |
Assist local teachers at a pre-school with a focus on child development |
Work on children's development at an emergency foster care centre |
Work on children's development at an emergency foster care centre |
Work on children's development at an emergency foster care centre |
| Lunchtime |
Lunch at the Volunteer Accommodation |
Lunch at the Volunteer Accommodation |
Go and be adventurous tasting some local delicacies |
Lunch at an amazing viewpoint, getting to know the history of where you are working |
Lunch at the Volunteer Accommodation |
| PM |
Support an after school care programme |
Support a community based foster care home for the youth |
Support an after school care programme |
Support a community based foster care home for the youth |
Plan the activities for the week |
| Evening |
Volunteer Welcome Night |
Tours Talk and free time |
Workship on topical issues and free time |
Events Night |
Weekend Begins |
* Meeting the team and full induction depending on arrival time.
| Sat |
Sun |
| Explore Cape Town and the surrounding areas on a day safari, wine tour or Peninsula or Robben Island trip. |
Spend your morning Shark Cage Diving or hiking up the famous Table Mountain, or there is always the beach to explore. |
Volunteers will be accommodated in a fully furnished house in Muizenberg, just 3 minutes away from the beach. This area is one of the major tourist attractions in Cape Town and a surfer's paradise. The area is filled with vibey bars, cafes and amazing restaurants just opposite a major grocery store for any extra shopping needed.
The accommodation uis a cosy, staff home shared by volunteers and staff. It has a central lounge and dining area, a living room with comfortable couches for socialising and relaxing, preparing for the next day or chatting with fellow volunteers. There is also a spacious backyard in the sun to relax or enjoy a South African Braii. It is the perfect base from which to explore this incredible city.
Three meals a day are provided at the volunteer house Monday - Friday, prepared by the team of great chefs.
South Africa - Help Local Communities Get Started
Why visit South Africa?
Every country in the world displays some diversity, but South Africa, stretching from the hippos in the Limpopo River to the penguins waddling on the Cape, takes some beating. There’s the deserted Kalahari, Namakwa’s springtime symphony of wildflowers, iconic Table Mountain and Cape Point, Africa’s biggest game reserve - Kruger National Park - boasting the most mammal species of any game reserve, and the magnificent peaks and plunging valleys of the escarpment of Drakensberg.
Cape Town is widely described as one of the world's most beautiful cities. Some of its more famous landmarks include Table Mountain, Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades), Cape Point, Chapman’s Peak, Kirstenbosch Gardens and the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. A combination of historical coastal charm and urbane sophistication, Cape Town has some of the finest beaches and is also the gateway to the lush Cape Winelands, famous for world-renowned wines. From here, it is an easy journey to the Whale Route, where Southern Right whales can be seen (June - November) and humpback whales, Bryde's whales, Minke whales and bottlenose dolpins can be viewed year round.
The Garden Route is renowned for its beaches, indigenous forests, nature reserves, lakes, mountain ranges, adventure opportunities and hiking trails. Plettenberg Bay is a relaxed beach paradise with spectacular walks and hikes where one can watch dolphins and whales on eco-marine cruises. With some of the world's finest beaches, the Eastern Cape's untouched and pristine coastline also has a rich social, cultural and political history. Port Elizabeth is the gateway to the Eastern Cape, and the perfect complement to the Garden Route. Cape St Francis is situated on the Indian Ocean coastline, in and around Africa's largest man made web of canals and waterways, and is renowned for its long, sandy beaches, surfing, rock fishing and tranquil lifestyle.
Kruger National Park is the flagship of South Africa's game reserves, offering an unrivalled wildlife experience over two million-hectares. Private concessions operating within and alongside Kruger National Park feature luxurious, exclusive game lodges with many exciting safari activities. Some of these lodges are unfenced, allowing for the free movement of wildlife. Madikwe Game Reserve, in the North West province, is one of South Africa's largest private Big Five game reserves and features numerous lodges and camps. The Waterberg area in the northwest is also malaria-free and is aptly named for its strong streams that flow even in dry seasons, making for excellent game viewing. Both reserves are great for those seeking an accessible malaria-free wilderness experience.
Durban is a sub-tropical city and the gateway to KwaZulu-Natal. It offers a unique mix of Zulu, Indian and colonial cultures. Visit the Anglo-Zulu battlefields, take a fascinating glimpse into Zulu culture, hike in the beautiful Drakensberg Mountains, dive the reefs, marine and coastal reserves of Maputaland, as well as experience Big Five game reserves. The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve is renowned for saving the white rhino from the brink of extinction, and Phinda Private Game Reserve is well known for its award-winning lodges and conservation initiatives.
Johannesburg meaning "Place of Gold", is South Africa's economic powerhouse. This vibrant and cosmopolitan city is home to many attractions including the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill, and also offers shopping from world-class to atmospheric curio markets. Known as the "Jacaranda City", the state capital of Pretoria features beautiful blossoming trees, significant old buildings and fascinating museums, including the Transvaal Museum, home of Mrs Ples, the australopithecine fossil found at the Cradle of Humankind.
Highlights of South Africa
- Breathtaking scenery, quaint coastal villages, cosmopolitan cities, wine routes and exclusive bush lodges.
- Exciting Big Five safaris in unspoilt wilderness areas.
- Malaria-free game viewing and sunshine all year round.
- See Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held in prison for 27 years.
- Go up Table Mountain by cable car for stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and beautiful Cape Town.
- Whale watching and great white shark cage diving.
- Beautiful, pristine beaches perfect for swimming and sunbathing.
- The Cradle of Humankind: Sterkfontein is one of the world's most productive and important palaeoanthropological sites.
Climate
For Johannesburg:
| Seasons | Max | Min |
| Summer (September - April) |
25 °C |
10 °C |
| Winter (May - August) |
19 °C |
4 °C |
| Rainfall: October to March, with November to January heaviest |
South Africa has typical seasons of weather for the southern hemisphere, with the coldest days in July-August. The Benguela Current, a cold motion that moves from the lower South Atlantic Ocean, causes moderate temperatures on the West Coast. On the central plateau, which includes Free State and Gauteng provinces, the altitude keeps the average temperatures below 30 °C.In winter, also due to altitude, temperatures drop to freezing point, and in some places, even lower. Heavy snows have fallen recently for the first time in decades in Johannesburg. During winter, it is warmest in the coastal regions, especially on the Eastern Indian Ocean coast and Garden Route, where it has year round mild weather with occasional rain. As winter is cooler and drier, it is more suitable for hiking and outdoor pursuits, and is also a good time for game viewing as vegetation is less dense and thirsty animals congregate around rivers and other permanent water sources.
In summer, South Africa experiences the hottest temperatures and this is generally when most rain falls, October – March. However, there is one exception - the Western Cape, which is a winter-rain area that enjoys a Mediterranean climate (average 26°C).
Christmas to mid-January, and Easter are the height of the peak season for visitors.
Autumn (April/May) and Spring (mid-Sept to November) are ideal almost everywhere.
Key Facts
Population – 50 million
Capital – Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town (legislative)
Currency – Rand (ZAR)
Official Language(s) – Afrikaans, English (South African English), Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Time difference – GMT +2 hours
Telephone – country code 27, international access code 00
I really enjoyed my volunteering experience in South Africa, the support from the project staff was excellent and I am still in touch with several people I met. I would like to travel on a similar project again, and hope to go back with Amanzi Travel in the future.
George, UK, aged 19 (Cape Town Sports Coaching and Development Volunteer, Cape Town Teaching Volunteer)
The Project has made me realise what is really important in life. I would also like to say that the people involved in running the project who I have met on a day to day basis are a real credit to the organization generally.
Robert, UK, aged 27 (Cape Town Sports Coaching and Development Volunteer, Cape Town Teaching Volunteer)
Great memories, it all worked out really well. The volunteer house is lovely, and all volunteers get on very well together. The work is very well organised. We spend every morning in a pre school (plus a visit to a medical center) and get to know the routines and teachers very well. In the afternoons we do different community projects depending on what needs doing, such as making curtains. At the Teaching Project I sensed a real care for the volunteers and a desire to make sure that the volunteers had a good experience as well as the benefits to the projects.
Mourjin, Holland, aged 51 (Cape Town Sports Coaching and Development Volunteer, Cape Town Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Volunteer, Cape Town Teaching Volunteer)
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The highlight was the general interaction with the children and the contribution that I made to their learning in what was a relatively short time. The people I have met even though they have limited material possessions are very positive and happy and it has been a real and genuine pleasure to meet them. I can honestly say that there is nothing that sticks out that has been a major issue in terms of something that I have not enjoyed. I have only been on the project for 3 weeks but I have got more than I imagined out of my participation. I have met some genuinely nice people and I think my whole experience will prompt a career change into a more social orientated role. The project as a whole is well run and structured. I would have no hesitation in recommending it to others. The Project has made me realise what is really important in life. I would also like to say that the people involved in running the project who I have met on a day to day basis are a real credit to the organization generally.
Robert, UK, aged 33 (Cape Town Sports Coaching and Development Volunteer, Cape Town Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Volunteer, Cape Town Teaching Volunteer)