Community Work with Orphans Near Cape Town

  South Africa

• Cape Town: 
Cape Town (Kaapstad)

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks and 9-12 weeks
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: 4 - 12 week placements throughout the year

Description: Surrounded by children aged five and under, you'll be dishing out lots of love (as well as the odd tissue) to the children at this home who have had a difficult start in life due to abandonment, abuse or neglect. Working amongst the dedicated but over-stretched staff, you'll find yourself providing the children with stimulation and care in order to boost their physical and emotional development and enable them to go on to happier and healthier futures. You'll need to possess a genuine love of children and a willingness to get involved in all aspects of the homes daily running, from playing games and organising activities to helping to prepare food and changing nappies.

*What does the project do?
Christine Revell Children's home is registered to provide care for 49 abandoned, abused, orphaned and neglected children, some of whom are HIV infected. Full residential care is given to children from birth until the age of five years at the home.

The home strives to create and maintain a healthy, nurturing environment where children can grow and develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially. Our aim is for every child to reach his or her highest potential. At this tender age, the children in care already have to deal with loss of affection, the anxiety of separation and effects of abuse and neglect. With volunteer help, we therefore try our best to give the children the love and care they so desperately crave - together with a good balance of discipline.

*Why does the project need volunteers?
At the time of writing there are 50 children in the home but numbers will vary. The children have often had to deal with the stress of loss, abuse or neglect and so need lots of your love and attention. The older children attend an onsite creche where they can learn basic colours, shapes, numbers, etc. The centre is also able to provide specialized attention for any children that show behavioural problems, but local occupational therapy students also spend time here.

Find out more about i-to-i, watch their short video here: http://video.i-to-i.com/site-videos/video.html

Highlights:
* Making a real positive impact on the lives of young children
* Living in and learning about South Africa - a stunning country
* Watching whales meander around the coast (at the right time of year) - wow!
* Enjoying South Africa's traditional past time - a braai (bbq)

Qualifications: You will need to be flexible, reliable and responsible. The children at the center have not had the best start in life and can sometimes be demanding for your time and attention you will need to be patient, understanding and fair. There is a large age range at the center so you need to be imaginative and adaptable in order to think of and work with appropriate activities for the various age groups.

Mostly you need a happy, outgoing, "can-do" attitude and a love of children. Experience with children will be highly valued but is not required.

* Your role as a volunteer:
You'll be working alongside the 26 staff members, including the director, welfare worker, admin staff, domestic workers and relief workers. you will be getting involved in all aspects of the running of the home, These local staff work on rotation 24/7. The older children at the home attend Little Star Creche on the home premises from 8:30am to 11:30am. Under the guidance of two qualified staff members, they learn about shapes, sizes, colours, and are taught rhymes. Students who indicate behavioural problems receive additional specialized attention from Occupational Therapy students. Typical tasks include:

    * Providing and playing appropriate games and activities for various age groups
    * Bathing
    * Preparing food and Feeding
    * Changing nappies
    * Wiping noses!
    * Playing with younger children
    * Domestic duties can include - painting/ washing dishes/ cleaning kitchen/ washing walls/ gardening/ clearing out rubble/
    * Domestic duties might be put aside for hospital duty/ clinic duty

Cost in US$: USD 1975.00 for 6 weeks, USD 275.00 for every week thereafter

Experience Required: no

Age Range: 17 years old and above

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network

i-to-i Meaningful Travel's Mission Statement: i-to-i is an award-winning organization providing unique opportunities for you to travel, work and live abroad. Thousands of travelers aged 18 to 80 have joined our volunteer vacations and over 50,000 have learned to Teach English as a Foreign Language through our tailor-made TEFL courses. With over 400 projects on 4 continents, you can join the worldwide i-to-i volunteer community on an extended adventure in areas such as teaching, community development, sports coaching, conservation, building or internships in tourism, marketing, journalism, or health.

Year Founded: 1994