i-to-iCommunity work with orphans near Cape Town, South Africa
If you’re a natural with children and like your adventures to have as much meaning as excitement, this is the trip for you! You’ll get to change the lives of youngsters who haven’t had the best start in life while reveling in a stunning location!
Working at a residential home for orphaned, neglected and abused children in Cape Town's Athlone suburb, 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 prepare food and feeding to changing nappies and domestic duties! A TEFL certification is included to give you ideas for fun educational activities.
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.
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 Crèche 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
Accommodation included
You'll be staying at a volunteer house in Fish Hoek, approximately 25 kilometres from Athlone. You'll travel to the project each day by train.
Project resources and advice
You will be provided with all the necessary resources, but you may wish to bring items for any special activities you might want to do.
Food
It's self-catering, so you will be responsible for buying and cooking your own food.
Airport pick-up included
You will be met at the airport if arriving on the scheduled arrival date . Please book your flight to arrive into Cape Town (airport code CPT), we advise you arrive before 16.00 to avoid missing your orientation in the afternoon.
Things that you will need to organize yourself
- Flights
- Insurance
- Visa costs
- In-country transport (except airport pickup on your arrival date)
- Optional cultural add-ons (please contact i-to-i for more details)
- Return airport transfer
- Food (approximately US$50 per week)
You don’t need to be a specialist or rocket scientist to take part in this experience, but a little love, care, patience, commitment and enthusiasm will go a long way! Keeping an open mind will also help you enjoy the best experience possible. It will also help if you have the following:
- You should be a happy and outgoing character with a "can-do" attitude and a love of children.
- Experience with children will be highly valued but is not essential.
- You’ll need to be patient, understanding and fair, as the children can be very demanding for your attention.
- The centre provides full care for the children under their charge so you must be prepared to get involved in anything and everything.
- A proactive, enthusiastic and flexible approach will help you get the most out of your experience.
- There is a large age range at the centre, so you need to be imaginative and adaptable in order to think of and work with appropriate activities for the various age groups.
A journey into South Africa’s history is to haul through periods of racial tension, oppression and hope. Its multicultural mix originates from the earliest settlers, the San (also known as Bushmen) and Khoi-Khoi tribes, followed by Bantu-speaking groups, and through to the swarm of European traders. The Dutch were among the first European settlers and arrived in the 17th century, establishing their presence through their own dialect, Afrikaan, and religion in the form of the Dutch Reformed Church. By the end of the 18th century, the British began to push their presence forward into the country’s towns. It was a period of flared tensions with Zulu chief Shaka renouncing war on neighbouring tribes. Meanwhile, the Boers (Dutch Afrikaner farmers) and the British became locked in conflict; the Anglo-Boer War lasted from 1899 to 1902, ending with the British taking control of the Boer republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (OFS) and consequently ruling the country.
Duty officers
