Community Pre-school Volunteering

  South Africa

Pretoria,  Rural Areas

Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks and 9-12 weeks
Typical Duration of Program: 2-4 weeks
Dates: Start any day of month

Description: Award-winning company. Support in edu-care activities in the pre-school that serves the rural community and the nearby traditional Ndebele village. The facilities have been upgraded with the help of previous volunteers. All kind of teaching/tutoring support and further upgrading of the facility is welcome.

The pre-school is the only one in the area and serves a growing community need. The crèche was established in 2005 by Sibongile Mthimunye and originally accommodated 8 children, ages 2 to 6. The school was originally housed in a rented, old un-electrified cinema building with below-basic facilities.

Sibongile now owns her own house and creche thanks to the help of our volunteers! In 2006, Sibongile moved to her own 3-roomed house and ran her creche from one of the rooms. The brightly painted school attracted the attention of the local community who enrolled more and more children. The numbers swelled and soon the one room became too small for all the children. In 2007 Sibongiles dream came true and our volunteers built a 45 square metre room for her use. The numbers have again swelled to around 19 children aged from a few months to 6 years.

This is our most popular volunteer project because volunteers want to meet, live with and share their time with people on the ground in South Africa. You can stay either in the community in one of the local homes or be accommodated in a traditional Ndebele village in their Lodge the choice is yours! During your stay you will come to terms with much of the hardships and realities of rural life in South Africa. It may take a while coming from an urbanized city to get used to the way of life and realities on the ground, however, the riches you gather are well worth it.

This rural community has been historically marginalized, as it fell under the independent homeland of Bophutatswana under the old Apartheid regime. The lack of infrastructure and economic development are still evident to this day even under the new South Africa as rural development takes a back seat to urbanization and upgrading of major townships like Soweto. Mapoch Ndebele Village also finds itself in the same marginalized position as the Ndebele were forcibly removed under the Group Areas Act of the Apartheid government to their present site.

Your donation included in the project fee will contribute to the long-term sustainability of the project. On your return home you may continue to support the project with on-going donations directly into the projects account.

Highlights: Your Voluntouring experience is not complete without taking in some key heritage and tourist sites during your off-periods. We can recommend some must see places. However recommendations may vary and are dependent on the location of your project. Extensions and additional sight-seeing can be arranged for a fee on request.

South Africa is a land of absolute beauty and boundless diversity you can whale watch in Hermanus or track elephant in the Kruger National Park, you can bunjee jump off bridges or sip cocktail overlooking the mountains.

Qualifications: None required.

Cost in US$: Contact us for more information.

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Someone who is interested in working with pre-school children, interested in upliftment of disadvantaged communities, interested in assisting in admninistration, programme development and training in a pre-school environment, or assisting with food / sustainability issues.

Age Range: Anyone of full legal capacity can volunteer

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to South Africa Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Resume
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad

Voluntours's Mission Statement: We are a multi-award winner in the Imvelo Awards for Responsible Tourism for Southern Africa in 2007 and 2008 (Johannesburg). As well as winners in the prestigious Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award 2008 (London). We are a volunteer placement organisation and tour-broker operating within South Africa placing volunteers in South Africa. We intimately manage your volunteer experience from home. We will match your unique skills and interests with carefully selected volunteer projects, and also help organise the rest of your trip. A variety of long and short-term placements are available. Volunteers are housed either within the community or nearby. A project donation is included in the costing to ensure sustainability and transparency.

Year Founded: 2005