Volunteer Teaching in Africa: Providing 600 children a week with the opportunity to achieve

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 26, 2010 -
Volunteer Africa 32 Degrees South (VA32) is a volunteer organisation based in Chintsa on the beautiful Wild Coast of South Africa. The organisation have been running initiatives in education and conservation to address social, environmental & humanitarian issues in the local area since 2004. Visit http://www.volunteerafrica.co.za for more information on VA32.

The Wild Coast Schools Teaching Project (http://www.volunteerafrica.co.za/schools.asp) is the pioneering initiative of VA32, it provides Computer Literacy classes to around 600 learners a week. Considered in today’s developed societies as a basic human right, computer literacy is only in its infancy in the Wild Coast region. In the few schools that have electricity, very few have computers. Those that have computers have been left to develop in a vacuum with inappropriate and non-existent support structures for the maximising of the resource potential they have. VA32 has built and networked 4 computer labs in rural primary schools from scratch; as well as supporting these four labs with a regular weekly timetable, they support 2 high schools with intermittent timetables (dependant on both supply of volunteers and demand on the part of the school). These lessons provide rural learners with a very real chance to break out of the manual and menial work chain as they move into adulthood.

This project relies on volunteer participation for both daily contact in schools, and capital; without this support the opportunities offered would simply not exist. For only £955* per month volunteers receive full support from the qualified and knowledgeable co-ordinating staff at Volunteer Africa, full board & lodging during their stay and all transport to and from project daily. The activities & tasks undertaken by volunteers include planning and delivering lessons in their assigned school(s) 5 mornings per week, afternoons provide the opportunity to be involved in community based initiatives such a sports programmes, adult computer literacy classes, “clean-up” programmes in the local area & “conscious cinema”.

This type of “working holiday” provides the traveller not only with the opportunity to live in & see a new and different country, it also helps to break down the natural tourism barriers in a social sense & can give the traveller the chance to achieve a deeper sense of involvement and incite into the community they volunteer in. Teaching in Africa is indeed a challenge, volunteers must be prepared to work in a very different education system to that most likely experienced in their developed country, as well as be prepared to work in a very under-resourced environment. The benefits for both traveller and community, however, outweigh by far, the challenges.

“It's not like other volunteer projects that I've heard about, where it's all for the volunteers and just so you can say you've done it -- the teaching we did had a huge impact on the children and the school.” Priya, UK

“I feel forever bonded and thankful for my time spent in Cintsa and with all the wonderful souls that I was lucky enough to grow to love” Lauren, USA

(To read the complete testimonials please go to http://www.volunteerafrica.co.za/pastvol.asp)

So if you’re looking for a challenge and the opportunity to gain the experience of a life time, whilst giving a little something back, Volunteer Africa certainly has something to offer you.  

*Project rate dependant on exchange rate.

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/10596228/1