Volunteer at a children’s safe house in a township in South Africa in the school term with home schooling and in the school holidays with more fun based activities and general care. Assist keeping the children occupied, entertained, stimulated and safe. Dream up fun daily activities to for the children to take part in involving sport, drama, singing, arts & crafts, cooking, basic English, mathematics, reading and entertaining educational fun! Assist the homeschool teacher and house mother in caring for the children and giving them a warm and loving environment building up their self-confidence.
| Starting days | Starting days are Monday to Friday all year round. Closed between the 5th of December and the 10th of January |
| Minimum Requirements | 1 week and longer subject to visa requirements. A minimum age of 16 years old and older unless accompanied with a parent |
| Cost | £1000 for 2 weeks and £350 for each additional week |
| What is included | Food, shared accommodation, meeting you at the airport, airport collection and drop-off, welcome braai (BBQ), Saturday tour, donation to the safe house, daily transport to the safe house and back in the week, pre-departure support, in-country staff, 24- emergency help and more |
| What is not included | Flights, visas, travel insurance, spending money, criminal background check |
| Best for | Gappers, career breakers, families, post-retirement gappers, couples, teaching students, qualified teachers, sports students, drama teachers, music teachers, dance instructors |
Project Description
Volunteer at a Children’s Safe House in South Africa assisting with a teacher with home schooling in the school term with children and in the South African school holidays, helping with basic reading, writing, Maths, general care and playing games, taking part in arts and crafts, playing sports and any exciting activities that you can dream of to do with the children and at the same time building up confidence for the children. The aim is to keep them entertained and occupied with educational and fun activities.
Often local children from the community join in the fun and games in the school holidays or after school, so the numbers can vary greatly. We do encourage that the local children also get to take part in activities too
The type of work you will be allocated will depend to an extent on your own abilities and capabilities, which is understandable given that you will be dealing with children’s education, health and safety. For example, the type of work you will be doing may include, cleaning and the care of babies and little ones if there at the time, playing and doing activities with all the children and teaching them the South African school syllabus with the home school qualified teacher. If you have a counselling background, we would also appreciate your help. The aim is to make sure that the children are always kept entertained and safe while educating them.
Here is a list of other duties that you may also be asked to help with as a volunteer at a Children’s Safe House in South Africa
- Assisting with the preparation and handing out food.
- Helping the home school teacher with teaching the children and thinking of fun lesson plans
- Helping carers and caring for the children
- Helping the children eat.
- Devising fun daily activities which could be cooking, drama, arts and crafts or reading- the sky is the limit!
- Encouraging the children with sports games
- General cleaning of the safe house
- Washing the children
- Changing nappies if any babies currently in foster care.
- Assisting with literacy and numeracy with the older children and assistance with any school homework they are struggling with
Accommodation
The volunteer accommodation is shared and self-catering in the town of Knysna close to shopping malls, restaurants, take-aways, gyms, nightlife, entertainment areas and essential services. There is security and the area is safe to walk around. Bedrooms are either shared with another volunteer or single depending on volunteer numbers, a satellite TV, a shared bathroom with a shower, basin and toilet and a washing machine. There is a braai facility and kitchen for meals. There is also WIFI. Couples, friends, and families can be accommodated.
Food
You will also receive a food allowance for your basic food essentials for your breakfast, lunch and dinner. You will be taken for a grocery shop as part of your induction on your arrival. This means that you can choose the specific food if you have set dietary requirements. There is a kitchen for cooking
Location
You will need to fly into George Airport for your airport collection where you will be met by your Volunteer International Adventures represented and driven to your volunteer accommodation in Knysna.
Knysna is one of South Africa’s favourite towns based around the beautiful Knysna estuary with views of the iconic headlands. It is not known as the jewel of the Garden Route for nothing and is surrounded by magical forests, farmlands and a breath-taking coastline dotted with blue flag beaches which are great for swimming, barbequing or just simply watching dolphins surfing in the waves. It is also home to the famous elusive Knysna elephant which are the most southern free roaming elephants in the world and there are still hot debates about the numbers with some saying there is only one left and others a small herd of about four.
The area that Knysna is situated is the Garden Route of the province of the Western Cape and it is a dream for animal lovers and extreme sports enthusiasts as there are numerous private wildlife reserves, national parks, whale watching, predator sanctuaries, primate sanctuaries, elephant sanctuaries, wolf sanctuaries, skydiving, paragliding, sandboarding, numerous interesting markets and so much more so boredom is not an option.
Our projects take place mainly in the local townships in the poorer areas where we do our best to try and lighten the load for the teachers, schools and NPOs assisting in the area with hands on help and financial support
For more information or to book, either fill in the contact form or please email info@volunteerinternationaladventures.com
If you like this project with children, you may also be interested in our Youth Development & Social Work volunteer project in South Africa with youth at risk. Read more…
