Experience report Volunteering in a primary school in South Africa

Motivation and planning

In order to use the time after my teacher training and before starting my legal clerkship sensibly and also to fulfill a long-awaited dream, I decided to do voluntary work in South Africa for 8 weeks. During my research on the Internet, I quickly came across Rainbow Garden Village and decided to base my stay on this because of the wide range of interesting projects, the high degree of flexibility in terms of arrival and departure times and the duration of the assignment, as well as the many positive reports booking organization. When booking and my questions before the trip, I always felt well advised by the RGV team in Germany.

Arrival and arrival

My journey started on October 03.10.18rd, XNUMX. I flew to Cape Town with a stopover in Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, without any complications. Immigration at Cape Town Airport also went smoothly. There, two other volunteers and I were picked up by Chad and first driven to the RGV Office House, where we met other members of the South African RGV team. We were then taken to our accommodations.

The orientation workshop took place the next day with everyone who had arrived in Cape Town the same day or the day before and lasted approximately 1,5 hours. Mina informed us about the most important rules of conduct and in the end we got the opportunity to buy a ticket for a sightseeing bus tour to get a good overview of the city.

Accommodation: Big House

My accommodation was the student house, where around 20 girls lived at that time. Even if living together wasn't always harmonious and it wasn't so easy to have some time to yourself (which is quite clear with so many people in one place), I look back on it positively. If there were problems, someone always had an open ear and you quickly made friends.

When I first arrived, I had the feeling that I was part of a permanent group that would not be easy to connect with. However, these initial doubts quickly subsided and I noticed that most were very open to doing something with new people. In addition, there is another student house just two houses away and the third student house and many of the host families are also in the immediate vicinity, so that you can stay in contact with the volunteers from there and plan joint activities.

Project: primary school

My place of work was a private elementary school. Since this is very close to my accommodation and the area is considered relatively safe, I was able to walk there. During my time there I got to know some differences between the German and the South African school system. So I first had to get used to the relaxed work attitude, but also to the somewhat harsher tone of the teachers towards the students. However, both the teachers and the children were very friendly and open to me, so I quickly grew to love them. My duties included helping the students with their homework, correcting their homework and supervising the children in the schoolyard.

Recreation

During my eight weeks in Cape Town I did a lot outside of working hours. One of my highlights was a safari tour in a nature reserve on the Garden Route. In Cape Town, I particularly enjoyed climbing Table Mountain and Lions Head, after which we were rewarded with spectacular views of the city and sea. But also the many food markets, where there was a wide variety of unusual dishes to choose from, or the many beaches were worth a visit. Of the beaches, I like Bloubergstrand the best, which although it's usually very windy, has a breathtaking view of Table Mountain.

Conclusion

Both the decision to travel to Cape Town and to do volunteer work there were definitely right. I was able to gain many new impressions and get to know the country, the people and the culture from a side that would probably have remained hidden from me through an ordinary vacation in Cape Town. This made my stay with RGV in South Africa an unforgettable experience.  

Experience report volunteering in Cape Town by Gianna B., April 2019