Report from the school for children with autism in South Africa

I was with RGV for a total of 6 months in Cape Town. This was really an unforgettable time for me.

Arrival in South Africa and live in the Student House

In the beginning, Jermaine picked me up at the airport and assigned me a room in the Student House. I remember how I felt really lonely the first few days and was a little homesick. In the house, however, were super nice and open girls, so you could easily meet new people in a short time.

We traveled a lot together and saw really beautiful places. Cape Town is so beautiful: The nature, the plants, the landscape and the city are simply indescribable and again a complete contrast to the German flora and fauna.

Once you are there, you never get bored: you can visit really cool open-air concerts or open-air cinemas and there are super delicious food markets. The tourist spots such as Table Mountain, Cape Point or Boulders Beach are absolutely worth a visit.

Volunteering at school for children with autism

In addition to all the trips and excursions, I worked in a school for children with autism. In the beginning, the volunteers had an orientation phase, where you got to know all classes and then you were then assigned to fixed classes. I really enjoyed the work there:

The teachers there enjoyed working with the children and really welcomed us volunteers and showed and explained everything to us. Since there were really small classes of between 7 and 9 students, the lessons were usually very individually tailored to the students. There were also a lot of offers for the students, such as horseback riding therapy, judo and drumming lessons, a sensory room or a swimming pool for relaxation.

As a volunteer, you could support individual students, help with classroom activities, keep an eye on more difficult students, or sometimes help with cleaning or rinsing. However, I have always felt that the teachers and assistants appreciate our work and are grateful that they have volunteers at their school. However, one should not expect that one can change the world with his work:

It quickly became clear to me that by volunteering you relieve the teachers and make the lessons a little easier, but that you can't take on any blatant tasks, which makes perfect sense. Don't see volunteering as a chance to help everyone and change the world, but as a chance for yourself to learn something new and grow.

I have some experience in dealing with people with autism, such as being patient with the students or communicating with them in the most understandable way. We also visited a workshop where you can empathize with what it means to be autistic. That was very interesting and partly opened my eyes to something, which difficulties this group of people faces every day.

My conclusion

All in all, I am extremely satisfied with my stay abroad. I was able to gain really nice experiences and I also have the feeling that I was able to take away and learn a lot for myself. The Cape Town lifestyle has made me a little more relaxed and I can appreciate the little things (like a long hot shower, good wifi or just being able to walk around alone outside with music in my ears) that I took so much for granted in Germany .

I also really understood what it means to have a different culture. With the girls I had a good time and some of my acquaintances became good friends for me over time. I thank RGV for the beautiful, unforgettable time that I experienced here in Cape Town!  

Experience Report School for Children with Autism in South Africa by Eva H., April 2019