Afterschool program for disadvantaged children
Soshanguve, Gauteng 1 to 12 months
Volunteer project: Volunteers will assist in an afterschool program for primary and high school children in a disadvantaged community of Soshanguve. The activities range from academic support through community outreach to administrative work.
Volunteers should be prepared to assist with one or more of the following: Teaching English and Mathematics; Helping kids in after-school activities like homework, games and sports; Administrative tasks; Preparing progress reports for children; Preparing monthly volunteer newsletters and activity reports; Resource mobilization and fundraising activities; Community outreach in the neighboring communities. Volunteers will ensure students are adequately fed during the program. They will also prepare cultural activities and create objects to be used with the children.
Volunteer profile: No previous experience needed. Volunteers are expected to be open minded, ready to interact with people of different cultural backgrounds, positive and willing to share their experiences, flexible to live/stay in simple living conditions and eat local food, ready to do academic work on the project and willing to guide students especially in cultural and arts activities.
Leisure time: Weekends are meant for free tours that the volunteers can organize by themselves. There may be some weekend excursions with students to different areas of Pretoria.
Language: English
Duration of the project: The program in open from January till December. The minimum commitment is 1 month.
Accommodation: Accommodation will be in a house in Soshanguve. Participants are required to bring their own sleeping bags.
Location: Soshanguve, Pretoria. The community is multi-cultural and English is mostly spoken along with local languages such as Sotho, Zulu and Tshwana to name a few.
Terminal: Pretoria
Age range: 18 and over
Participation fee: $690
Extra fee: Euro 250 per month
The extra fee is intended to support the local host of the project who does not have sufficient funds. It is due upon arrival.
Care and support for orphans
Attridgville and Laudium, Gauteng 1 to 11 months
Volunteer project: Volunteers in this project will help provide support and care to orphans and improve their emotional state and their level of acceptance through daily routines at either one or two orphanage homes in Laudium or Atteridgeville near Pretoria.
The orphanages provide a caring environment for children that are at their most vulnerable (children living and working on the streets, child headed households due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, abandoned babies and toddlers). Their mission is to render services and programs that are in the best interest of each individual child. The main focus currently is to create better opportunities for the children to develop in a stable and caring environment, and to improve their life skills. The children attend regular workshops on various topics including hygiene, health matters and ethics amongst others. The children have an abundance of talent. They have violin classes, they are great chorists and are excellent gumboot dancers. Music is a great way of teaching the children about life, and also provides them some escape from their own experiences.
Volunteers will get involved in first hand activities such as baby minding, cleaning the home and other activities as needed. They will also run a multi-cultural exchange program for the children with the help of art, music and dance.
Child Abuse is rife in South Africa and unfortunately not nearly enough is being done to protect the children. Abuse and poverty are the main contributing factors to street children and abandoned baby statistics in the country.
Volunteer profile: Volunteers are expected to be open minded and the Doer type, ready to stand out in front of the others and coordinate the children. Any knowledge of musical instrument, singing or dancing is highly welcome.
Leisure time: Weekends are meant for free tours that the volunteers can organize by themselves.
Language: English
Duration of the project: The program in open from February till December. The minimum commitment is 1 month.
Accommodation: Accommodation will be in rooms at the center. Participants are required to bring their own sleeping bags.
Location: Attridgville and Laudium, Pretoria. The communities are multi-cultural and English is mostly spoken along with local languages such as Sotho, Zulu and Tshwana to name a few.
Terminal: Pretoria
Age range: 18 and over
Participation fee: $690
Extra fee: Euro 250 per month
The extra fee is intended to support the local host of the project who does not have sufficient funds. It is due upon arrival.