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TEACH DRAMA, MUSIC AND DANCE IN KNYSNA

Teach Drama, Dance and Music in the schools in the local community. It's a fun way to really make a difference to the disadvantaged children you'll work with, and it will have a very strong impact on you as well. You won't want to leave.

South Africa is FANTASTIC! Teaching is incredible. I've been excited every day to go to school. The kids are so ready to learn music and drama. I've been doing a mix with them. I bring my guitar to school every day and have taught most of my classes four of my favorite songs. Two by a band called Old Crow Medicine Show and the other two by The Grateful Dead. I've also been teaching the older kids some stage combat. I find it a little bit harder to get into serious drama with them but I am going to try later on this week. All in all everything is wonderful. Thank you for this experience!" Richard Adler
 

SUMMARY FACTFILE
Start Dates All year round (subject to school term dates) - you choose your start and finish dates!
Duration From 2 weeks to 12 weeks or longer, subject to visa requirements.
Requirements No qualifications or experience required, just lots of enthusiasm and an active imagination!
Price From £845 / US$1,270 for 2 weeks, ranging to £2,595 / US$3,895 for 12 weeks. Full Price List and other Currencies
What's included Accommodation Food Meeting you at the Airport Transfer to your accommodation Transport to and from your project Full pre-departure support Local in-country team support and backup 24-hr emergency support 2 free T-shirts
What's not included Flights, Insurance, Cost of Visas (if a visa is required, but we'll provide necessary documents and assistance), Return transfer to airport.
Who can do this Project? All projects are open to all nationalities.
You need to be aged between 17 and 77+

PROJECT OVERVIEW

WHAT YOU'LL GAIN FROM DOING THIS PROJECT:

  • An exciting, never-to-be-forgotten adventure into Africa and the many diverse cultures in South Africa

  • The enormous satisfaction of helping disadvantaged children and knowing that you made a difference to them.

  • New skills, more confidence, a greater understanding of a different culture, invaluable personal and professional development.

  • An entry on your CV or résumé that will put you head and shoulders above most others in the job market

  • And best of all ... an unforgettable experience!

WORK CONTENT:
People from all backgrounds can participate in drama, developing essential skills by learning to express themselves and gain self-confidence. Theatre can be aimed at young people, old people, disadvantaged people, sick people, homeless people - to educate and inform or simply to entertain. This can take the form of productions for schools, orphanages, old people's homes, plays for the education of local children, theatre workshops for disadvantaged children.

You'll be able to do some or all of the following:

  • Organising and putting on drama workshops in various local schools around George and Knysna. This would involve energising warm-ups, improvisations, dance-drama and devising pieces of theatre in small groups.

  • Organising an after-school drama club (and possibly even during lunch break) or drama sessions during school-time for pupils.

  • Helping the local school children to put on a small-scale productions so that they can all been involved in some aspect of it (either acting, creating costumes, masks, set or make-up). Please note that these may not always take place during your project - it will depend on what's happening when you're there.

  • Devising and performing educational pieces of theatre (on issues such as bullying) for the school children at any available venues (town hall/school yard/wherever!).

  • Alongside the drama, volunteers could also help out with conversational English classes (and any other subjects where needed). It may also be possible to incorporate drama lessons into the English classes, perhaps once a week.

The project may possibly be extended to involve local unemployed people, or street kids, or even elderly people or children's orphanages. These are just a few ideas and it may be that some volunteers will have more ideas that will help to make this project a worthwhile one that will benefit the community for a long time to come.

Comments from Sharon, Travellers Volunteer Liaison in Knysna, about what two of our Drama Volunteers did in a class she went to observe:
I went up to day to sit in on a drama class at Tembelitsha Primary School that two of our volunteers, Amy Powell and Jack Gunner, were going to take. It was Grade 5B class which is made up of children that are approximately 10 years old. The class started with Amy and Jack teaching them about the different ways of using themselves in drama, namely facial expressions, body language and their voices. How to maximise and minimise their body movements and facial expressions and then the different ways they could use their voices by whispering, shouting, talking, singing and crying.

As you can imagine the class got extremely rowdy and all the children had a lot of fun. The noise levels then increased as Amy and Jack showed the class how to do breathing exercises, and mouth warm-ups so they could make a ‘sound collage’ by splitting the class up into groups and getting the different groups to make one particular sound. Put together it was deafening but all the children loved it with them all interacting.

They then where taught how to create different effects with their voices by changing the pitch, speed and volume of their voices. All they learnt was then put together in character enactment and by volunteers from the class doing freeze frame sketches. They then ended the class with a song.

The hour class went by so quickly I actually had to check my watch to see if it was really over! It was so great to see so many children in the class participated and it was quite obvious to me that they all got a lot out of it as when the class was over Amy and Jack where surrounded by children hugging and kissing them! Well done guys!!

SCHOOL TERMS IN SOUTH AFRICA:
Dates for the 2009 school terms (semesters) are given below.

  • Term 1: 21st Jan – 3rd April

  • Term 2: 15th April – 26th June

  • Term 3: 20th July – 23rd Sept

  • Term 4: 5th Oct – 11th Dec

Dates for the 2010 school terms (semesters) are given below.

  • Term 1: 13th Jan – 26th March

  • Term 2: 12th April – 9th June

  • Term 3: 13th July – 23rd Sept

  • Term 4: 4th Oct – 10th Dec

Nervous about going somewhere new? Read Ben Smith's Case Study on this project

OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WHILE ON THIS PROJECT:

  • 5-DAY OR 7-DAY SAFARI from Cape Town up the renowned Garden Route: taking in Dolphin and Whale Spotting, visits to many tourist attractions, such as a visit to a brewery(!), the Bloukrantz Bungy Jump (reportedly the highest in the world), and a guided tour of the Cango Caves.
  • 1 WEEK WHALES, SHARKS AND DOLPHINS Project: This is an extraordinary and exciting project in a beautiful location, surrounded by white beaches and blue ocean. And two hours from the world's third favourite city - Cape Town. What more could anyone want?
  • SURFING COURSES: In the buzz city of Durban.
  • PARAGLIDING COURSE: Soar over the impressively beautiful Drakensburg Mountain. You'll get a licence at the end of the course which qualifies you to do solo paragliding around the world.
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South Africa, Sun, Surf and Sea, where you can do voluntary projects in teaching, care work, work experience, conservation, sports, and much more!




Volunteers Amy Powell and Jack Gunner in Drama class

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Volunteer Feedback
Photo Galleries
Knysna Diary
Wildlife Rehabilitation Diary
eMakhosini Diary
Wildlife Expedition News!

OPTIONAL ADD-ONS
Safaris and Tours
Photography & Photoshop Courses
1-Week Wildlife Rehabilitation
1-Week Zulu Culture Tour
1-Week Whales Sharks Dolphins
7-Day Surfing Course
10-Day Paragliding Course


Volunteers Amy Powell and Jack Gunner in Drama class

EXTRA ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE TO INCORPORATE INTO YOUR PROJECT

As an added bonus and extra activity during your project, you may also have the opportunity to provide help and support to the local community through the various afternoon activities we have to offer. This is an excellent way to immerse yourself in the African culture, but most importantly to give a caring hand to the local community. The activities could range from helping out at;

  • The Children's Home  - Make the afternoons fun and exciting for these lovely children by playing games, helping them with home work and just being there to give them the attention that they so crave.
  • After-school drama or sports - Take some time out after school to set up after school sports or drama clubs, the children love it and it's a great way to get to know them better in a relaxed and fun environment (If you'd like to set up a drama or sports club, please let us know when you apply so that we can arrange it with the school before you arrive.)
  • Other community projects  - In the past volunteers have helped to paint the outside of a crèche that was in desperate need of a lift. The crèche is now looking very cheerful with brightly coloured walls. A jungle gym was donated to this orphanage and volunteers also helped to put it together for the crèche too! There may be other similar projects available at the time you're there that you might want to participate in.
You could be part of these excellent and worthwhile projects ... so why not volunteer in Knysna!
ACCOMMODATION AND LIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA


Volunteer house in Knysna

Monkeys in the garden of one of the volunteer houses in Knysna

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Knysna: For this project you will live in our volunteer house with other Travellers volunteers. You may either have your own room or will share a room with one or more other Travellers volunteers. It will depend on how many people are there at the same time that you are. This is a comfortable house with good facilities and a beautiful view of Knysna Lagoon. You will be provided with a food budget, so that you can buy your own groceries and cook and prepare your own meals at the house, this makes for a great social event.

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 house that we use may change owing to availability.

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.

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

"Thank you so much for all the time and effort you have put into making this a fantastic stay for us. We will never forget this experience!" Cat Dunlop and Liz Lunn

TRAVEL:

You'll fly into George Airport where you'll be met at the airport by one of our staff. From the airport you'll be taken to your work and your accommodation and introduced to your hosts. You'd be well advised to prepare yourself for an almost overwhelmingly friendly welcome!

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 by Murray Rogers Travel Limited, ATOL No. 6856. 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.

VISAS: For many nationalities, visas are not required for a stay of 90 days or less. If you’re not sure whether you need a visa or not, please visit http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/visa_schedule.asp to see whether your country is exempt. If you do need a visa, we will assist you and help make the visa process as easy as possible.  

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.

To read about the excellent Support & Backup we provide before you leave and during your programme, please click here.

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!

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Elephant and baby in the wild in South Africa Adventure voluntary projects



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