Care for Orphanage Children in Knysna in South Africa
The famous Garden Route stretches along
the warm Indian Ocean and hosts the most beautiful array of natural
splendors, from exotic white beaches to ancient indigenous forests, home
to monkeys, buck and leopard and the elusive forest elephants.
The orphanage you'll work with cares for children of all ages, from babies
to older children, so you'll be able to help with all ages! Your help
affects the orphans immeasurably, because it gives them confidence from
interacting with people from a different country - and this is normally
very rare for the children concerned.
This project will enable you to get a good general feel of the orphanage
by working and/or observing. The type of work you'll be allocated will
depend to an extent on your own abilities and capabilities.
Not only will your experience add significantly to your CV, it will also
bring you the joy of seeing how you're making a direct difference. This
is a very worthwhile and satisfying project!
Knysna
is approximately 500km from
the beautiful capital city of Cape Town (see photo at bottom of page) and voted
South Africa’s favourite town 4 years in a row! Its mountainous backdrop,
impressively sized estuary and indigenous forests really give the town a natural
feel to it.
Although
it still has that ‘small-town’ feel, Knysna is growing rapidly, and has all the
amenities you could ask for such as banks, hotels, internet café’s, cinemas and
shopping malls.
Knysna, with it’s stunning views of the estuary
About 20-30 minutes' drive away from Knysna you'll find
Plettenberg Bay
(better known simply as Plett), which is a bit smaller than Knysna, but equally
stunning. Its' pure white beaches stretch as far as the eye can see and there
is a lot to do, from whale and dolphin watching, to hiking trails and awesome
nightlife.
The Garden Route is famous for all sorts of activities from adrenalin sports
such as bungee jumping, skydiving and shark cage diving to more relaxed pursuits
such as hiking, quad biking in the forest or visiting one of the many animal
sanctuaries in the area. Your local Travellers liaison will be happy to assist
you in finding interesting things to do and places to see so make the most of
it!
"I'm
absolutely loving South Africa. Knysna is much bigger and much more lively than
I ever imagined, and the schools are much more friendly and receptive than I
dreamed possible. I couldn't have asked for more support or a more beautiful
place to live in."
Gill Taylor, teaching in Knysna
ABOUT YOUR WORK:
We are currently working very closely with one
particular orphanage based in Knysna. The orphanage we work with cares for
children of all ages, from babies to older children, so you'll be able to help
with all ages! Your help affects the orphans immeasurably, because it gives them
confidence from interacting with people from a different country - and this is
normally very rare for the children concerned.
The staff at the orphanage are trained carers,
so you are there to help them and give general support where needed. Your
support is excellent for the carers as well as the children because it frees
their time to concentrate on other areas such as gaining financial support and
working on administration and legalities of running an orphanage.
By playing games with the children you also
encourage confidence building for the children. It also encourages children to
use English in an informal way, and even with the younger children it gives them
exposure to the language at an early age.
For
many of the older children you are able to integrate education into games and
also help them with their homework when they return from school in the
afternoons.
Work Content:
Your work here will be to help the carers with
the day to day running of the orphanage and general care for the children. Most
of your work will be to help and assist the carers with their daily rounds. You
will also be asked to help clean equipment and various areas within the
orphanage.
It is difficult to be specific about the day-to-day work you will do, but you
will get a good general feel of the orphanage by working and/or observing. The
type of work you will be allocated will depend to an extent on your own
abilities and capabilities, which is understandable given that you will be
dealing with children’s health and safety.
Your hours may vary, but normally you will work from 8:00-13:45 and then from
15:00-17:00 Monday to Friday and you will have weekends free for any site seeing
or independent travel.
You should be supervised all of the time while you are there, and you will be
given help and directions. Your work load will depend on yourself and your
attitude, with more work becoming available as you grow in confidence; and the
staff with you.
Here is a list of duties you may be asked to help with:
Preparing food for the children.
Helping the children eat.
Helping carers and caring for the children.
General cleaning of the orphanage.
Washing the children, and their clothes.
Changing nappies.
Teaching informal English, Arithmetic and sports to the children.
Organizing and facilitating games and plays for the children.
As a volunteer you will gain the following:
Skills in working with the needy children.
Learn about South Africa and life styles of its people.
Gain experience in working with children in difficult circumstances.
As a result of your volunteer work, the orphanage, the workers and the society
at large will benefit directly or indirectly as follows
Will get an opportunity to interact and learn foreign cultures
Have access to free work force and services
Will have their traditional knowledge and skills of doing care work
supplemented with initiatives from the volunteers
The children will have access to love and care which is fundamental for
their growth and development.
Your Travellers Project Co-ordinator on the Placement:
Once you apply for this placement, all your arrangements will be taken care of
by Elizabeth Tratt (better known as Liz
J),
Travellers UK-based Project Co-ordinator for teaching and care in South Africa.
She'll liaise with you to discuss your needs and will be able to answer all your
questions. Once you're in South Africa, you'll be well looked after by our South
African team, but Liz will remain in touch with you throughout your stay.
Volunteer house in Knysna
Monkeys in the garden of one of
the volunteer houses in Knysna
ACCOMMODATION AND LIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA:
Knysna: You will more than likely live in one of our homely volunteer
houses with other Travellers volunteers. One of the houses is situated in town
and closer to the estuary (which is handy for short walks into town), and the
other higher up above the town with beautiful views of Knysna Lagoon. Both
houses are very comfortable with great facilities.
You may either have your own room or will share a room with one or more other
volunteers. This depends on how many people are on placement at the time of
yours.
Food and groceries are provided. You may be expected to make your own breakfasts
and lunches, but dinner (tea) is prepared for you.
When accommodation is limited, we occasionally place volunteers in a local Guest
House which is very comfortable and convenient for access into town.
** Please note that occasionally the houses that we use may change owing to
availability, so the facilities you can expect may change accordingly.
There are several good, inexpensive steak houses and lots of good Chinese,
Italian and other ethnic restaurants all over South Africa. Seafood, of course,
is often fresh and plentiful.
With the current favourable exchange rate of about 14 Rands (R14) to the pound,
your spending money goes quite a long way! (Prices and exchange rates are
current at time writing, but please check rates regularly because they do
fluctuate.)
To give you an idea of costs, a local beer will set you back around 70p and coca
cola, roughly 30p (at time of writing), so you really can afford to spoil
yourself with a good night from time to time
On Arrival, your Introduction to the Country:
When you arrive you will be welcomed by a member of our South African staff who
will take you to your accommodation and introduce you to everyone.
During your first few days you'll be given an induction so that you can learn
about the country and its culture, as well as other useful information, like how
to use the transport system, banks, safety issues, tipping, and lots more.
"The area is beautiful and travelling is easy. The house we stay in is lovely
and the Travellers workers are such kind, loving people which really makes it
feel like a home away from home. What with all the other volunteers and the
Travellers staff, it really does feel like our own little family ... well, our
own very big family, I suppose!!!!"
Luke Brennan
TRAVEL:
You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled for you by Murray Rogers Travel Ltd., ATOL No. 6856. (Read
more about Murray Rogers Travel Ltd.) Where possible, we arrange for two or
more people to travel on the same flight and we will let you have the names and
telephone numbers of other volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to
each other or even meet up before leaving for your placement.
Where possible, all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets
because many of our volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in
their destination country. Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within
the limits of your visa and the level of your air ticket, of course. If you
choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour to get a changeable
ticket. We meet you at the airport regardless of whether you make your own
travel arrangements or not.
We can also arrange your flight
dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling
around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and wondrous country!
VISAS:. In countries where
visas or immigration documents are required, we'll send you all the necessary
forms and information and make the process very easy for you.
To
read about the extensiveSupport & Backup
we provide in our countries,
please
click
here.
Read how our volunteers have
made a difference to the children in the
schools
PRICES:
To see the Prices of this project and all
our other projects in South Africa, please
click here
Prices
include
Food & accommodation while on your project,
unless otherwise stated,
2 T-shirts, if required
for your project
All support and backup
during your programme
Meeting you at the
nearest airport, where appropriate, but exclude international travel.
.
+44 01903 502595
