South Africa volunteering for the under 18s
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world.
Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We are dedicated to responsible tourism. All of the projects that we support directly benefit the environment, the local community, or both. All projects are carefully chosen to offer our volunteers sustainable and responsible travel, with specific attention being paid to their involvement in the sustainability of all their practices / project goals.
All of our projects issue the participants with clear guidelines on responsible tourism and ecotourism, all specific to the particular environment / region. These cover a number of issues, ranging from waste disposal in remote areas, recycling materials and buying from local businesses, to not exploiting the area’s wildlife or harming the environment.
Our programs often work to rectify damage done to the environment by humans. By encouraging everyone to engage with climate change, we work towards the sustainable development of the environment and the future of our planet. On all of our programs around the world we aim to keep our impact to a minimum and many of our activities directly affect the environment, for example:
Across Latin America and Africa we are working with communities to replace and sustainably manage forests in areas where there is a high demand for wood as fuel. In Kenya we have trained community members in alternative methods of charcoal production which are sustainable, generate income and protect the forest. In Latin America we build and provide simple energy efficient stoves to poor communities which reduces firewood consumption by as much as 70% and dramatically improves living standards.
Community
Many of the primary schools in townships throughout South Africa suffer from classrooms which are severely overcrowded. Many teachers are facing the challenge of having up to 50 students in their classroom which means that they are unable to give individual children in their classrooms the attention they require to develop and learn. In addition to the large class sizes, teachers are having to conduct lessons in English which is often not their home language. Some classrooms may have up to 11 different languages being spoken.
Some of the children fall behind at school because of the lack of individual attention. To address this problem, we have designed and implemented a volunteer program, in conjunction with the local teachers, that provides extra tuition to children having difficulties with reading and writing. We have already seen a huge improvement in the children, with better concentration, higher grades and a massive increase in confidence.
Activities and sports provide the children with an alternative to alcohol, drugs and crime, all too prevalent in the townships, and our aim is to promote healthy living and keep the children off the streets. Through sports the children build self esteem, they learn about 'fair play', they learn how to co-operate as a team and they make new friends.
Many of the nursery children we work with come from backgrounds of abuse, some are orphans and with your assistance we can provide these children with a safe, creative and caring environment where they can develop to their full potential.
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