Report from the childcare in South Africa

I've always wanted to work with children in Africa. That's how I came across Rainbow Garden Village together with a friend. We chose the volunteer project at the Children's Center in Cape Town. The anticipation was huge.



Then it started on October 01st, 2017. We flew from Munich to Cape Town via Doha, everything went smoothly. Chad from the RGV team from Cape Town picked us up at the airport and took us first to the office for a brief introduction and then to the host family. We were overwhelmed by this great city and left-hand traffic took a lot of getting used to.



The accommodation in Cape Town


Our host family was great. The host mother is the director of the Children's Center and took us to work every day. In the family we had the chance to get to know the African culture very well.



Our project in childcare


The Children's Center is a facility for children who come from townships and farms. That means the children didn't come from the best of circumstances. Babies and children from around one year up to pre-school are cared for in the Children's Centre. The children come every day on the school bus or are brought by their parents and go home at around 15 p.m. We were in the "nursery class". There the babies were aged from 9 months to 2 years.



Our tasks were:



• Feed the children with meals, breakfast and lunch or help them eat


• a bit of personal hygiene (washing face, brushing teeth, washing hands)
• "Nappy Changing", ie change diapers, take over the educators, who are called by all children "Teacher"
• our main task was to play with the children, to cuddle and to spend the whole day with them (handicrafts, singing, dancing, etc.)



Working with the children was great. You immediately notice that all the children are very open and incredibly happy about everyone who lovingly cares for them. The African upbringing style takes some getting used to, but it's the way it is and it's just different than here in Germany. A little tip: take old clothes with you that you only wear in the Children's Centre, because they will surely get dirty.


Leisure activities in South Africa

After work and on the weekends, one can explore the incredibly fascinating and beautiful Cape Town. You can get anywhere and above all safely from A to B with the "UBER app" or with the public bus "CityBus". We spontaneously rented a car for a weekend and explored a little more of Cape Town and the surrounding area. We spent a total of 4 weeks in Cape Town and during this time we worked at the Children's Centre. Then we drove with a second rental car from Cape Town through the whole country to Johannesburg in 3 weeks. It's definitely worth it! We thought that since we are going to fly so far, we would also like to explore the country. We drove over 5000 km and it was worth it! South Africa is amazing!



After 7 super great weeks we flew home from Johannesburg. We agreed with RGV in advance when booking flights that we no longer wanted to fly home from Cape Town but from Johannesburg. That wasn't a problem at all. Of course we didn't have a transfer to the airport from RGV in Johannesburg. But that wasn't a problem as we were able to leave our car at the airport without any problems. Then we went home from 25 - 42°C hot South Africa to cold Germany. It was an unforgettable trip! Thanks to Rainbow Garden Village for making everything run so smoothly.



Childcare Report in South Africa, by Pia H., 16.04.18