Your volunteering mission on The Cape Town Teaching and Community Development Project…

Contribute to child development and the community through assistant teaching at local schools in the underprivileged communities on the outskirts of Cape Town. Make a meaningful difference and give a child the individual attention they deserve, but hardly ever get.

“The project exceeded my expectations and seeing the children develop, improve their learning and behaviour together with working with some amazing people that have now become my friends are all highlights of this project.” Helen Coxhead, Britain.

Project Highlights:

• Assist in community pre-schools and primary schools.
• Work with disadvantaged and vulnerable children.
• Reading to and doing crafts with the children.
• Helping to uplift the community through education, health care, building projects and sports coaching.
• Immerse yourself in local “Capetonian” culture and make friends for life!

Project Achievements so far:

From April 2008 to May 2009 African Impact volunteers contributed over 7,500 hours to community and child development in Cape Town South Africa, through school teaching and community initiatives. Our project structures, together with the support and advice of our charitable foundation team at The Happy Africa Foundation, are continuously assessing our work and project strategies to ensure that these hours are meaningful with measurable outcomes. For the same period, we have helped pay for children’ school fees for an entire year through our Sponsor a child programme as well as having rebuilt homes in Redhill township.

More about our Cape Town Teaching Program:

Children in Red Hill Pre-schools have a severe lack of facilities and are taught from containers that have
been brought into the community as donations. You will find that most of the schools have meagre and ill-equipped facilities, but a wealth of children with a desire to learn. As a volunteer, you will assist teachers and contribute to our effort of providing children with a better education. In addition, you will have the opportunity to organize your own classes.

These are the ways in which you will assist the schools:

• Assistant teaching: Provide individual attention and assistance to children during lessons.
• Help with crafts, painting, reading and games.
• Organize special needs classes for children who have not been able to keep up with the pace of the classes.
• Help with giving the children their meals. Every child receives a meal, which is often their only meal that day.
• Help clean, maintain and even refurbish the classrooms, most of which are quite run down.

You will be working with the following schools:

Redhill Community Preschool: This little pre school has been running for over 10 years in Red Hill and the 35 children from the community have been lead by the teaching of a very dedicated lady named Vuyiseka Lombo for the past 4 years. Vuyiseka has been assisted by Ntombi, the cook. The 35 beautiful children range between 2 and 6yrs of age, and mostly come from a Xhosa background. The school is run out of several containers with very limited resources. The children are given 2 meals a day, breakfast and lunch, which is sponsored by African Impact through our “Sponsor a Child Initiative”. African Impact have also stepped in by adopting this school and paying for the teacher’s and cook’s monthly wages. This will be financed through volunteer project fees.

“Helping to improve the children’s’ learning and just working with them made the whole experience just amazing. The happiness of the children in general is just so inspiring.” Hayley McDonald, Scotland.

Edu-care Centre: Situated on the upper slopes of Red Hill, lies Children of Hope, a pre school of 39 children coming from a more Afrikaans background. The school has been in its current location since 2006 and the 2 ladies who run it have been with the kids for 2 years prior to that. Sophia Dick and Ntombi are the amazing women who care for these precious little ones, ranging in age from 3 months to 6 years old. The centre has much better facilities than the rural pre-school, due to a generous donation from a Dutch gentleman, Mr Mags, whose memory lives on as he recently passed away. That said, the children are just as in need of assistance, care and attention as any of the others in this disadvantaged community.

Primary School: Situated in the township of Masipumelele, the primary school has over 1300 students of up to 49 learners per class. Children are aged from 7 -15 years and range from grades 1-7. Volunteers will have the opportunity to be placed as an assistant teacher in one of many classes needing extra support. Those with specialised teaching areas or interests (ie, Math, English, Science, Technology) will have the opportunity to be placed with in subject specific teaching.

Grades 1-3 remain with the same teacher and do a variety of lessons ranging from English, Math, reading, crafts and P.T. Volunteers will assist the teacher by:

• Providing extra support for the learners that are struggling to keep up (usually basic Math and English).
• General classroom help and supervision.
• Marking of work.
• Whatever support is required by the teacher.

Grade 4-7 learners rotate between classes according to their subjects/timetable. Volunteer help in the older classes will be more subject specific and the volunteer should feel comfortable with the subjects they choose to assist in. For those volunteers that have experience in teaching or a willingness to teach, they will have the opportunity to create and present their own classes at the teacher’s approval.

After having spent the morning at one of the schools that we work with, you will assist in the local community in various aspects in the afternoon. You will rotate between the following community projects:

Building and painting schools: Schools in Red Hill deal with a great shortage of classrooms and facilities, as a result of which they are limited to the amount of children they can accommodate. As a volunteer, you will assist with fixing fences and windows, and rebuilding and painting classrooms.

“It’s a great, friendly and rewarding project that I would recommend to anyone! I gained better communicational skills, parenting skills and teaching skills, as well as a greater understanding of African culture. It was a great experience that has inspired me to see more of Africa.” Alex Williams, England.

Educare Centre: Volunteers will assist teachers with after school care by helping with game playing, reading (both one-on-one with the kids and to the group during story time), and with other activities they engage the children with i.e. art, music, and dancing.

Primary School extra-mural involvement: The principal of the school is very keen to get their sports up and running and has dedicated Wednesday afternoons for that purpose. He is very excited about our volunteers helping with these sports that range from volleyball, netball, soccer and eventually to rugby. Volunteers can assist with coaching should they have teaching experience and knowledge on rules. During the first couple months of the year, the focus is on athletics and volunteers have been able to assist with practices and sports days.

Masiphumelele Library: Masiphumelele has been blessed with a wonderfully-resourced library and great facilities. The library offers many services to the community and volunteers slot into some of the existing programs offered at the library. These include arts and crafts, puzzles, games, literacy, one on one reading, homework club and math club.

Project Cost:

2 weeks: GB£785 / 4 weeks: GB£1,255 / 6 weeks: GB£1,645 / 8 weeks: GB£2,030 / 10 weeks: GB£2,390 / 12 weeks: GB£2,745

Project Cost Includes:

• Project Fee: this entails financing that goes directly back into the project that you are involved with. This fee facilitates funding for items such medical supplies, building materials, equipment, etc. Project fees are also used to buy vehicles / equipment for the project, and for developing new housing for volunteers to provide for the expansion of the project.
• All airport transfers from Cape Town International Airport upon  arrival and departure.
• Comprehensive orientation program.
• All daily transfers to and from your projects during your stay.
• Full board and lodging which includes 3 meals a day at our volunteer house.
• Weekly laundry service during your stay.
• Assistance in your projects by various African Impact staff and Project Managers.
• Outings to Cape Point– the most South-Western tip of Africa, Boulders Beach to see the African Penguin colony, and world famous Table Mountain.

Project Travel Highlights included in your placement:

1. A visit to Cape Point, situated within the Southern Section of Table Mountain National Park which is globally recognized for its extraordinarily rich, diverse and unique fauna and flora – with rugged cliffs, steep slopes and sandy flats!  See the baboons and perhaps some ostrich or buck if you are lucky!
2. A trip to Boulders Beach, home to a growing colony of the vulnerable African Penguin. Wooden walkways allow visitors to view the penguins in their natural habitat and visitors will love the penguins and their antics. Also a safe and enjoyable swimming or snorkeling spot.
3. A visit to the summit of Table Mountain where you will find the best views of Cape Town. The Cableway takes you to the summit in under 10 minutes and the cable car’s rotating floor ensures that all passengers get a 360 degree aerial view of the city.

Project Cost Excludes:

• Personal travel insurance for the duration of your placement, which must include cover for repatriation. We recommend WorldNomads.com.
• All transport by air or bus to Cape Town. We can help you with this if you like, just get in touch.
• All items of a personal nature, such as curios, gifts, clothing (work and other).
• E-mail / Internet and telephone calls.
• Soft drinks, wines and spirits.
• All visas for border crossings.
• Any excursions over-and-above your planned itinerary in Cape Town.

Project “Day in the life”:

Please note that your itineraries may differ from this, depending on your own experience and the number of other volunteers on the placement at the same time, and this is simply to give an example:

• 07:00 – Get up, eat breakfast of cereals, toast, tea/coffee, and start getting ready for your project.
• 07:45 – Head off on the short drive to your project.
• 08:00 – Start work at your community school. To make sure you teach a variety of classes, you will rotate between different tasks and classes.
• 12:30 – After serving the children their lunch, you will be picked up from your project, and taken to your volunteer house, where lunch will be waiting for you.
• 14:30 – Leave for one of your afternoon community projects. You will spend the afternoon playing with the children at the schools or building and painting classrooms.
• 16.30 – End of the working day. You will be picked up from your project and taken home where we evaluate the day and discuss the schedule for the next day, or you can opt to be dropped off in town to check your emails.
• 18.30 – Dinner at your volunteer house.  After dinner, volunteers often go for a few drinks at one of the local night spots.

Project Orientation:

Upon arrival at our project base on the outskirts of Cape Town, all volunteers are involved in a comprehensive orientation programme, which is included in your fee. This is facilitated by your Project Manager and entails:

• An introduction to the city of Cape Town and surrounding Cape Peninsula, as well as the communities you will be working in.
• An introduction to all of our Cape Town projects. Not only will you see where you will be working, you will also see where your fellow volunteers will be spending their days.
• Volunteers will also receive our detailed “Welcome Pack”, which will contain further information for your time with us.

Project Support:

Throughout your placement you will have the support and guidance of our experienced Volunteer Coordinators. They are part of our partner African Impact’s support team, which will provide you with competent 24-hour field support and assistance.

Project Meals:

You will be provided with three meals a day. Breakfast is on a help-yourself basis consisting of cereals / porridge, toast, tea   and coffee. Lunch and dinner will be cooked or prepared for you by one of our chefs at your volunteer house. On weekends you will need to cook your own meals (we will provide ingredients) as our staff will need to be given time off. Weekends are usually a good time for tourist activities and exploring the surrounding area, so this is the time that a lot of volunteers are out and about.

Project Accommodation:

Volunteers will stay in a fully furnished house in NoordHoek. The building is spacious, comfortable and staffed with a cook and cleaner. There is a superb pool and a lovely big garden with barbeque facility. Inside you’ll find satellite TV and a games room with pool table, darts, table tennis, etc. There is a lock-up safe for your valuables. All bedding is provided, but you will need to bring your own towels please.

If you fancy a stroll, there’s a shopping mall and cinema close by.

How to get there: We will meet you at the airport! One of our representatives will meet you at the airport upon your arrival in Cape Town. You will then be escorted to your volunteer base in NoordHoek.

“The children…I love them all! The scenery, the wildlife, and Cape Town…I also was very appreciative that I was given many opportunities to play on my strengths. I learned a lot through this very humbling experience and believe that I made a positive impact on the project and the children.” Caroline Soucie, Canada.

10 Reasons to volunteer in Cape Town on our Teaching Project:

1. Brighten the day of the pre-schoolers life by providing them energy and affection.  This is your chance to really make a difference in their first years of schooling and provide them with some basic English to get them on their way.
2. Catch an infectious smile and become humble by the way the local people live so simply yet so content.
3. Assist one on one with a child struggling to understand maths, science or even reading when you work out of our library community project.
4. Learn more about HIV/AIDS and how it affects the lives of the people we work alongside.
5. Make a community proud by renovating and revamping their pre-schools – they will never forgot the generosity and dedication of our African Impact Volunteers and how they are changing the lives of their children.
6. Share a local meal at Red Hill Township as you are invited into the house of a special friend who will cook you a traditional South African Meal, accompanied by singing ‘of course’!.
7. Come face to face with a baboon, ostrich, Bontebok or zebra when you visit Cape Point Nature Reserve.
8. Walk or swim with the penguins at Boulders Beach, also as part of your project fee.
9. Meet many like-minded volunteers who you will become friends with for life – the best of them come to Cape Town!.
10. Be inspired knowing that if it wasn’t for people like you we wouldn’t be able to have such a great impact on such a deserving community

Cape Town Teaching and Community Project notes:

We have found in the past that the more you as a volunteer put in to your involvement, the more you will get out. If you are coming to assist teachers, we suggest that you have some lesson plans or ideas, bring or make charts, maps, body parts etc and take initiative with the children. We are excited to offer you the opportunity to educate them, to entertain them and to love them…

During the school holidays volunteers will assist teachers in the community projects and will be involved in building, painting, holiday clubs and much more! Though the project might be slightly less  ‘structured’ than during school term, there will be NO shortage of amazing, rewarding and exciting work to do with the local kids and in the local communities.

The school holiday dates for 2010 are as follows:
*11 Dec 2009 -13 Jan 2010 / *27 Mar-11 Apr 2010 / *10 Jun-12 Jul 2010 / *2 Oct-10 Oct 2010 / *11 Dec 2010-11 Jan 2011.

Red Hill and Masiphumelele are in essence townships, but both are safe and peaceful with wonderful people. Our partner organisation, African Encounter, has been working in these communities for many years and have built solid relationships and trust. This is a dynamic, exciting project with loads of opportunities to really make an impact in the people lives and communities you come into contact with.

‘Adopt a Child’ initiative – the children’s school fees are such a minimal figure to us, but a huge amount for a family with one working parent, or in some cases, even no parents at all. When you arrive we will go through detailed information with you on how you can sponsor a child’s fees for the year and receive quarterly updates on them, their families, progress and leave a lasting impression in the community.

You will be living with the Cape Town Medical and Sports Volunteers and the community sections are the same. You will thus be potentially working alongside them in the afternoons, depending on the need of the projects at the time. Red Hill pre school, which is opposite the Red Hill clinic, is an area we would really like to put in a lot of resources.

Please also understand that our projects are continuously evolving, being improved, and adapting to the needs of the local communities that we are involved with, so involvement areas do change from time to time. Rest assured your work will be necessary, rewarding and exciting. We invite you to be more than a tourist…

South African Travel Highlights:

These are not included in your volunteering fee, but our coordinators are able to assist you with making the necessary booking arrangements.

• Vivacious Cape Town is one of the most stunning cities on the globe.  It is the home to the heritage site of Nelson Mandela’s prison home, Robben Island; it is the gateway to the stunning Western Cape wine lands; and boasts magnificent beaches, amongst other spectacular highlights.
• The “Wild Coast” along the eastern frontier of South Africa is a collection of unrivalled surf spots, beautiful beaches and cultural stops that will intrigue even the most seasoned traveler, endearing  this land to you.
• Garden Route weekend. Guideline prices for popular activities offered in and around Cape Town: Aquila private game reserve – a “Big 5″ reserve situated 2 hours drive out of Cape Town – ZAR1200 pp (based on a minimum of 5 pax), which includes a buffet breakfast, lunch and a 3 hour game drive. It is also a possible opportunity to pet cheetahs. City hop on-hop off double-decker bus – ZAR130pp. Shark Cage Diving – ZAR1500pp (including transport and based on a minimum of 4 pax). Sky diving – ZAR2000 (including transport and based on a minimum of 2 pax). Abseiling down Table Mountain – ZAR495. Surfing lessons – ZAR250.

Come and work with us and you’ll make a real difference to these children’s lives – and your own. Contact us now.