Cape Town Pre-School & Community Project
This programme involves various aspects of community work and development. You will have the opportunity to be involved in our exciting rural pre-school curriculum, as well as participate in community building projects.
ACTS Volunteers partner with a local faith based organisation called Living Hope. Living Hope started in 1999 and focuses on the prevention, care and treatment of HIV and AIDS patients in the South Peninsula of Cape Town, South Africa. Their foundation stone is in the Lord Jesus Christ and they focus on the passage from Matthew, “As much as you do for one of the least of these, you do for Me.” Volunteers will work in the Pre-school situated on the Living Way Campus, on the outskirts of Masiphumelele and daily helping these “…little rays of sunshine…” towards a better and brighter future. Living Hope offers the largest local church response to HIV and AIDS in South Africa and has touched entire communities.
| Location | Southern Peninsula of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| Project Length | Minimum 4 weeks (28 days) |
| Age Limit | Minimum 18 years, maximum decided on potential participants health |
| Project Fee | US$1595 for 4 weeks. Thereafter $1495 for 4 Weeks (or $375 per week) GBP£995 for 4 weeks. Thereafter £945 for 4 weeks (or £235 per week) |
VOLUNTEER PROJECT INFORMATION
The following links will jump you to different sections on this page, which provide all the information you will need for the Living Hope volunteer project.
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MORE ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Living Way Edu-Care:
Volunteers will work in the Edu-Care every morning from Monday to Friday and these are some of the ways in which you will assist:
• 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 clean, maintain and even refurbish the classrooms and gardens.
• Keep the children busy from 12h30 – 15h00 by playing educational games, reading bible stories, exc.
Volunteers will assist with looking after the children 3 afternoons a week at the Edu-Care while the other two afternoons (Tuesday and Thursday) will be community projects.
Manual Labour/Community Work:
Part of the project is getting involved in the community at large and on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, volunteers will be involved in a hands on project such as building shelters at the kids clubs, clearing rocks for play areas, gardening, painting and much more.
About the Living Way Campus:
The Living Way Campus is a custom-built skills training campus. It was designed to provide adult skills training for the surrounding communities. It is situated adjacent to Masiphumelele informal settlement and is within walking distance to Ocean View. It has 14 buildings - including workshops, classrooms, an educare, offices and business hives for incubating small businesses. It is perfectly suited for what Living Way is doing. It is as though we've been given our 10 year dream property - after 1 year of operating!
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 holiday’s 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
‘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 updates on them, their families, progress and leave a lasting impression in the community.
You will be living with the Cape Town Medical and Community Projects 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. These projects are also through Living Hope.
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.
PROJECT ORIENTATION & SUPPORT
Upon arrival at your accommodation in Cape Town, you will receive a detailed briefing on basic cultural aspects of your working environment, as well as further information on the current status of the Project and our other programme involvements in Cape Town. You will also spend time with your coordinator familiarizing yourself with local surroundings, staff that you will be working with as well as the community centres at which you will be based. Throughout your stay at your placement in Cape Town you will have the support and guidance of our project staff and coordinators. They are part of our greater ACTS support team, and will provide you with competent 24-hour field support and assistance.
ACCOMMODATION & MEALs
Accommodation
Our volunteer house is a comfortable and safe home shared with other volunteers during your time here. You will be sharing a twin room in the Cape Lodge, ACTS Volunteer House. Nestled under the Mountains and Fynbos the house is situated in the Southern Peninsula of Cape Town, very centrally located within the peninsula, only 40 minutes drive from the Airport and 30 minutes from the centre of Cape Town. The house is within walking distance of the Living Hope headquarters, King of Kings Baptist Church and also to the nearby mall with numerous shops, restaurants and movies. The property is very private and secure with 08 spacious en suite (shower, toilet and basin) bedrooms.
Facilities include:
• Wireless Internet
• Swimming pool & entertainment area with braai (barbeque)
• En-Suite (shower toilet and basin)
• Satellite TV
***Please Note: The only thing that you will have to remember to pack is your own towels.
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 you will need to prepare yourself, all the ingredients needed, will be provided. 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. Please advise us of any specific dietary requirements before you arrive!
getting there
We will meet you at the airport! Fly into Cape Town International Airport, where you will be met by our project coordinator or a representative from ACTS Volunteers, who will transfer you to the project accommodation.
When booking your flights please book them so that you arrive on the first or third Monday of the month. The only exception to this will be the months of June and July 2010, the arrival dates will be 31 May 2010(for June) & 28 June 2010 (for July). This is due to the fact that our projects will be running slightly different because of the Soccer World Cup being held in South Africa. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARRIVE NO LATER THAN 9PM.
project costs includes
• Project Fee: this entails financing that goes directly back into the project that you are involved with. This project fee facilitates funding for items such as teaching materials, sports equipment, supplies, etc.
• Transfer from the nearest airport, bus or train station in Cape Town to the project accommodation
• Orientation and introductions to project work upon your arrival
• All daily transportation to and from the project
• Full board and lodging which includes 3 meals a day at your accommodation
• Assistance in your projects by various Living Hope and ACTS volunteer co- coordinators. Full support from ACTS and LH and your coordinator throughout your time at your Cape Town placement
• Transport arrangements to church (King of Kings Baptist) on Sundays (we strongly suggest that church be attended every weekend while on project, even if it is the church in the community you work in)
project costs excludes
• Personal travel insurance for the duration of your placement (expected to include cover for repatriation)
• All items of a personal nature, such as curios, gifts, clothing (work and other)
• Email/Internet, telephone calls and soft drinks (internet available at lodge or within walking distance)
• All visas for border crossings (on extra excursions)
• Any excursions over and above your planned itinerary in Cape Town and within South Africa
• Transport after hours and on weekends
day in the life of a volunteer...
This is a typical day in the life of a volunteer working on the Medical Assistance & Community Project:
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, school holidays etc 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 the clinic preparing and assisting the nurses for the days schedule . To make sure you teach a variety of classes, you will rotate between different tasks and classes.
13:00 Enjoy your packed lunch or have lunch back at the volunteer house
14:10 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 are free to do as the please i.e. movies, malls etc
outside of ministry
The volunteers plan their own evening and weekend activities but what we do get involved with is a daily morning devotion and prayer time where we go through a chosen book of the bible and each person leads a morning. And once a week we have volunteer bible study lead by a senior company staff member but people who cross paths with the volunteers in some way or another are invited as a guest speaker on the occasional week. On Sundays they attend King of Kings and every other Sunday they go to a more traditional African service in one of the townships they work in. Cape Town has so much to offer in terms of activities, from the extremes of Shark Cage Diving, Sky Diving, to hiking Table Mountain, Winelands Tours, sight seeing to Cape Point and penguins at Boulders Beach. Other attractions included SA’s biggest tourist attraction, the V&A Waterfront, visits to neighbouring towns such as Stellenbosch, Hermanus, visited Robben Island – and the prison cell of Nelson Mandela through to the tranquil sunset walks where you can see whales and seals playing in the water. Volunteers often build strong relationships with the communities and Living Hope staff, that they often socialise with them on weekends too.
"If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big;
they are too small."
- Pat Morley
