Full details are available from this free leaflet download but you could, for example, go swimming with dolphins in Zanzibar.

How about a free sunset cruise on the mighty Zambezi river above Victoria Falls? Perhaps a free Cape vineyards tour is more to your taste?

There are half a dozen fascinating free adventures depending on which project you volunteer for so download the leaflet, see which one appeals to you and get in touch.

Places are limited, so you’ll need to act quickly if you would like to join us.

Please note that these trips are in addition to your volunteer placement. We are unable to offer free volunteer placements themselves because the projects and people still need your help and support. These extra adventures are our way of thanking you for that help.

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I could give you a lot of “advertising-speak” to try to convince you, but what it boils down to is the personal touches. We’re a small family firm and we rely on our reputation. We do our very best to make sure your trip is even better than you expect.

It’s a particularly nice feeling when we get letters and emails from people we have helped to volunteer in Africa. Here are a couple of examples:

“Hi Frances & Paul,
I am sending you an email to let you know that our time at the Vic Falls Lion rehabilitation project was absolutely amazing.  It exceeded all our expectations.  We were looked after exceedingly well by the project team. We learnt such a lot during our stay and enjoyed some tremendous new experiences eg, surviving in the African bush, about the decline of lions and the reason that we desparetly need to support this project and about african life.

As volunteers we were treated with the utmost respect and our safety was paramount.  We enjoyed close contact with two pairs of lion cubs who were truly adorable.  We enjoyed free game drives, entry to Vic Falls, elephant rides plus more.  The project is run by a really good team always happy to help.

We would like to thank you again for you help in organising this wonderful trip for us.”
Mr & Mrs P, UK

One of our volunteers had concerns over a medical condition. Fortunately not a serious one, but if you’re volunteering in Africa it’s a long way from home and you need to be sure. Our Frances made sure she had all the facts.

“Dearest Frances,
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly! Yes, I do feel reassured. Thank you too for being so caring.”
Mrs M, USA

If you have any questions about any of our African volunteer projects, Frances is who you deal with. She knows the projects and the people in great detail so she can always give you informed advice. She’ll also help you every step of the way if you choose to volunteer with us.

Some of the African volunteering placements are offered not just by us, but by several different companies. We like to think we do a better job than our competitors, but you do usually have a choice of who you go with.

We had one email asking why our African volunteer opportunities were cheaper than everyone else. Why did we want less money than other people for the same trip?

The answer is simple. Although we have expenses like any business, we believe that as many people as possible should have to chance to volunteer in Africa. As a result, we always keep our prices as low as we can. In fact we guarantee you won’t find better prices anywhere else.

Full details can be found here, but I thought a brief overview might help.

Whether you are an experienced amateur wildlife photographer looking for the ultimate photography experience or a beginner keen to develop their skills, there is probably no photography vacation that will compare with this.

The first three days will be spend with renowned African wildlife photographer Emil von Maltitz. Emil runs several photography courses, contributes to the Oxford Scientific Images photo-library (among others) and has almost twenty years experience photographing in this area. Volunteers are always enthusiastic about the teaching that he gives and how quickly and easily he can pass on expert photography skills.

After this intensive course you will join our African volunteer program where you can use your new skills and work on a variety of volunteer projects. Some of these involve cataloging the work we do. With others you will help teach conservation to local Zulu children. You might also help planting indigenous trees or be working with crocodile conservationists!

All the while your camera will be in constant use and your efforts will help us build an important educational resource. There’s even a chance for your African photography to win a prize.

I’ll stop there because the main page really has much more detail and there’s not a lot of point in covering it twice (don’t forget to check out the extra adventures available at the bottom). I’ll finish with this quote from one of our delighted volunteers:

“I loved every exquisite moment of my St. Lucia experience: beach sunrises, full-day game drives… I loved that the savannah was my workplace and the rhino and zebra my colleagues. I truly loved this program… all I can really remember is being inordinately happy in Africa.” Janet Wu, USA.

More details here.

Which is all great publicity. The more people who know about the need, the more help and support they will get. Of course the real work happens largely without the gaze of the camera, so we thought it might be useful to feature our own volunteer orphanage opportunities. That way you can get a better flavor for what goes on and how you can help.

What we would like to do is actually take the focus away from volunteer orphanage placements and look at African children in general. Obviously those without parents have their own challenges, and we wouldn’t want to minimize their problems, but there are obstacles faced by all African children that you can help them overcome.

If you are looking specifically for a volunteer orphanage position there are (sadly) plenty to choose from. We say sadly because it is a shame that there are so many orphans in Africa that need your help. Fortunately the volunteer organizations are doing much to give these young people the support they need.

Which is why we would rather focus on the needs of children. The need for education, not just to read and write but also to make them aware of HIV and AIDS, which takes so many of their parents.

If you have medical or teaching qualifications you will be more than welcome, but none are necessary. Volunteer teaching assistants and volunteer nursing assistants just need a willing pair of hands and a willingness to get involved. You can read to children, help them learn through play, through making crafts and through sports activities. If you have a few muscles you can help paint classrooms or put up new buildings!

Whatever your skills you can make a massive personal impact on the lives of these young Africans.

But please don’t get the idea that everyone you meet will be down-trodden and that this is depressing work. While it’s true that these children often live very hard lives, surrounded by tremendous poverty, they nevertheless remain bright, cheerful and receptive. The only problem you might have is face-ache from smiling too much!

So please have a look at volunteering Africa in more detail by reading through our current projects featuring volunteer orphanage work and working with African children:

Sports Coaching and Physical Education, Cape Town, South Africa
Teaching and Community Development, Cape Town, South Africa
Sports Development and Community Project, Livingstone, Zambia
Teaching Assistance and Community Upliftment, Livingstone, Zambia
Rural Pre-School Teaching and HIV/AIDS Awareness, Vilanculos, Mozambique
Pre-School and English Teaching, Vilanculos, Mozambique
Orphan Care and HIV/AIDS Awareness, St Lucia, South Africa
Pre-School Teaching and Community Assistance, Zanzibar

If you have any questions, please do get in touch. We will do our best to make sure you find the best match for your abilities. We’ll also try to ensure you have a really good time!

For some people the objection seems to be that insurance is a bit of a rip off. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Your investment is very little and in return you get thousands of dollars of cover. So maybe you don’t need it – let’s hope so – but what if you do?

We take care of our visitors volunteering in Africa as much as we possibly can. We pride ourselves on it. Unfortunately we can’t control the company who provides your flights. What happens if they go bust? Who gets you home? Who provides somewhere for you to sleep while alternative travel arrangements are made?

No travel insurance = no flights and no bed!

Now maybe it’s an unlikely scenario. After all, travel companies don’t go bust every week. That’s true, but it seems all too frequent that we hear of one that has. Do you really want to take the risk for the sake of a few dollars?

Of course getting to Africa and back isn’t the only thing covered. We have to be realistic. While volunteering Africa isn’t a dangerous thing to do, sometimes people are unlucky enough to stumble and break bones in their own homes. We hope it never happens to anyone who volunteers in Africa, but however remote the possibility you need to know you would be taken care of properly. It’s why we insist on a “get you home” policy when you volunteer in Africa with us.

You also need to check everything that you are covered for. Read your policy carefully. If you are taking advantage of all that volunteering in Africa has to offer, including things like bungee jumping at Victoria Falls or white water rafting down the Zambezi, you want to know that your travel insurance doesn’t have one of those clauses that says you are OK as long as you aren’t enjoying yourself .

Any volunteer organization will have a preferred provider and we’re no different. World Nomads have many years experience and specialist knowledge so they’re the people we suggest to all our volunteers. Whether it’s volunteering Africa or just Disneyland, they are the people we recommend. Full details here.

If you think “volunteering Africa” then one of the things that’s probably going to come to mind is being out in the wild – or at the very least somewhere where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of your normal life.

What’s more, you probably can’t get a phone signal in the African bush and there certainly won’t be an internet connection so nobody is going to bug you for a few weeks. For some it’s a very exciting thought.

Of course for some it’s a nightmare idea! Many people would be lost without their daily intake of Facebook or texting!

The fact is somewhere between the two extremes. If you’re out on a lion walk then you probably won’t get a signal. However, depending on your service provider and the deal you have you might well have access once you get back to your overnight accommodation. If you’re helping orphans in the slums of Cape Town you’re not likely to find somewhere to charge a laptop but in Cape Town itself you will find internet cafés so you can catch up if you want to or need to.

Modern communications are necessary for your volunteer project to work efficiently. We would also never leave you without any means of staying in touch with people. You may not be able to pick up your emails 24/7 but equally if you need to telephone home – or they need to contact you – a message can always get through.

You could look at volunteering Africa in some ways as the best of both worlds. You are safe and secure in the knowledge that you can make a call if you need to. On the other hand, if there are people that you would rather not talk to for a while you have a useful excuse – just tell them you can’t get a signal, they probably don’t know any better!

African volunteer at creche

We thought it would be a good idea to share what she had to say and show you some of the progress volunteers like you have made and some of the projects that you could be helping with in 2010. Here’s Laura:

I recently visited our projects in St. Lucia, South Africa and was again struck by just how much our staff and volunteers are getting involved in the local communities. I was delighted to be able to go on 2 game drives in the nearby iSimangaliso Game Park (a world heritage site!) with our photography volunteers as well as getting some “hands on” time on the community projects, which was wonderful.

Being able to help volunteers with building a home for one of our African families on the “10 families” project was both fun and rewarding. The 10 families project was set up earlier this year to assist some of the most needy in the local community.

Our Project Managers consult with the Induna (head chief) of the community and then meet with the family to discuss what areas they most need help with.

These are long term projects and our volunteers work with a few families over the course of 3 or 4 months.

The morning spent with the ladies at the HIV/AIDS support group was a special time. It is a great forum for them to speak about various health and family issues and offer advice and support to one another. If certain health questions arise which no one can advise on, our volunteers are able to go home and research the topic and then provide information to the ladies the following week.

The ladies also make crafts which are sold at the volunteer house, with all proceeds being given to the person who made the item. A local man, David, comes at the end of the session each week to run a yoga class with the ladies – great fun.

Unfortunately I could not get to one of the HIV/AIDS education sessions during my time in St. Lucia but these are conducted both in a local primary school as well as to an adult group, aiming to break down stigmas associated with the disease and educate the community on the prevention as well as – very importantly – how to live positively for those who have already contracted the virus.

I spent a morning on the home based care project, which is growing from strength to strength. Volunteers, along with a coordinator, go into the community visiting sick people in their homes, offering support and basic medication to treat their illnesses.

These people are often not even able to get to the clinics so the support offered them by our volunteers is hugely valuable. It is both an emotionally demanding and rewarding programme and now forms the core of our medical placement (details here).

The game drives were lovely despite an usually rainy week. My camera looked very small next those of our photography group, with their selection of large lenses, etc. but I managed to get some good pictures and found the information given from the guides to be very interesting and insightful. I think the group had seen a good selection of game although they were always on the lookout for the elusive leopard…

On Thursday evening they showed us a slide show of a few of their best pictures from the week – very
impressive.

My final morning of voluntary work in Africa was spent at the crèche which of course was great! Being able to play with the kids and watching the volunteers giving lessons and interacting with them was fantastic. One little boy who has some physical and mental disabilities really caught my heart. I’ve put in a photo here of him and myself. So for anyone who wanted to put a face to the name, you can have a look