Mawotsheni Preschool Volunteer Program

Help us to take care of a bunch of lovely children at a Preschool in the beautiful rural Mawotsheni Community. Explore real Xhosa life and enjoy epic Transkei landscapes.

High­lights

• Help us taking care of a bunch of lovely children at our Preschool & educate them in a joyful way
• Uplift children with a great afterschool program: art, sports, English, computer and sustainability workshops
• Get to know the Xhosa Culture by living with the Xhosa people in their rural community, join ceremonies and make new friends
• Adventure of a lifetime: get to know the culture, explore nature and wildlife, go on amazing hikes through the Transkei, learn surfing, meet amazing people, enjoy chilled beach days and go on exciting road trips

This volunteer program is especially suitable for:

Program Description

Our community project is a non-profit organisation based in the rural villages of the wild coast, Transkei in South Africa. It is mainly ran and managed by the local people, the population in the area is uneducated and has a lack of motivation to improve their skills and knowledge for a better future.

As the project, we work in community upliftment and early childhood development, through teaching young people permaculture skills and having a pre-school for children in the age of 2-5 years. We are based 10km away from Coffee Bay which is a tourism attraction. The beautiful landscapes of our surroundings is what makes staying at this Project an experience of a lifetime.

Our project has looked into the fact that 98% of local children in grade 4 cannot read and write with understanding. The pre-school provides a solid foundation for children but after they move to governmental schools, it gets difficult because there is a lack of study material and resources. Looking at this disadvantage for our local children the project decides to act in helping the children. Most young people in the village are uneducated and we hereby seek any help from people outside the region.

Typical Day

Working hours are from 8 – 13pm at the Preschool and 4pm-6pm for after school activities.

The Volunteer Program is right next to your accommodation. You have a break from 1 – 4pm which you can use to go to the beach (20min walk).

Daily working tasks may include:

• Help with the kids at the Preschool
• You can also help with farming, maintaining a greenhouse, contraction of new beds for the garden, painting on our buildings and teach children painting skills.
• help with our after school activities: help rural children know how to read and write, Teach art and crafts, improve their English language, Play games and have fun with local children, Teach recycling techniques & how to grow vegetables
• you have to be able to work with children even if they do not speak the same language, be able to play educative games and sport.

Free-time Activities

• Go Surfing or take Surf Lessons
• Enjoy relaxed beachdays
• Go on amazing hikes along the cliffs
• Visit the famous Hole in the Wall
• Do Yoga or Meditation
• During weekend or public holidays we do arrange visits to the near by hostels, beaches and towns
• Join our unforgettable Surf tours around the Wild Coast or the Garden Route

What is included in the program?

The fees cover the costs for accommodation, the whole program with it’s activities, some free-time activities and other project expenses.

Pick-up from Mthatha,  

We can pick you up from Mthatha at an additional cost of 80€ (2 hours drive).

You can get to Mthatha by bus from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth or Durban.

Accommodation

We provide accommodation, and volunteers can bring their own food.
1. separate dorms for males and females, they have 4 beds each. The accommodation is based on the project premises, kitchen and lounge area shared by staff and volunteers.
2. Being in deep villages we do not have flushing toilets, we use long drops that are treated every month. We use rocket showers that are operated by paraffin.
3. During the weekend or public holidays, we do arrange visits to the near by hostels and backpackers.
4. water is limited so showering every day is not always possible, we will sometimes ask you to use a plastic bath bucket to stand in instead

Food:

We offer Xhosa bread and coffee for breakfast and we prepare a small traditional meal for lunch. Dinner and additional food you have to organize by yourself. You can drive to the supermarket together with Nontsha once or twice per week.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

What is NOT included?

Visas, flights, travel insurance and vaccinations are NOT included in the program fees.

Visa

Depending on the length of your stay you may need a Visa. For stays of 3 months or shorter you will get a Tourist Visa on Arrival at the Airport. If you intend to stay longer than 3 months, please inform yourself about the Visa possibilities.

Flight tickets

The nearest airport is Port Elizabeth International Airport in Port Elizabeth. We can help you find cheap flights to South Africa.

Travel insurance

Going abroad is an adventure that should always be well prepared. Sudden illness or injury, cancellation or theft – a travel insurance for South Africa provides the necessary security.

Vaccinations

Before starting your volunteer work in South Africa, you should seek the advice of your doctor and check your required vaccinations for South Africa.

Information for your arrival

We can pick you up from the airport in Port Elizabeth. Just tell us your flight number and arrival time! At the airport a representative will have a signboard with „TripBuddies Volunteers“ on it to meet you. The first day you can relax and recover from your long journey on the beach or at the river and get to know everyone. You will get an introduction and we will make a plan for your first week.

Our Requirements:

You need to be at least 18 years old, speak English and have a love and passion for children, patience, ability to use initiative & willingness to help where help is needed.

Costs

Our Mawotsheni Preschool Volunteer Program starts at 180 € per week.

Why do I have to pay to volunteer abroad?

Our social projects are Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs). Thus, they hardly earn enough money to cover their costs. This is also the main reason, why they need your help. They cannot afford to bear all the costs by themselves. This is why they depend on donations and on the volunteer’s fees. Fees for the volunteers arise because a volunteer program causes expenses for the social project that runs the program.