My volunteer work at the Children Center in South Africa

My journey to the project

My arrival went smoothly. I was picked up from the airport and taken to the Volunteer House, where I met other volunteers straight away.

The orientation program

The orientation program was supposed to take place the day after my arrival, but was then postponed at short notice to the following day. We went through a presentation with safety instructions and introductory information about the country. The whole thing took about 1 hour. We received no information about the project in advance, only the location and start time were given to us.

Areas of responsibility in the project

I was deployed to the Dove Road Children Center with 3 other volunteers. My main task was to support the teachers in the kindergarten, especially playing with the children, handing out food and helping to clean up. The daily routine in the kindergarten is very different than in Germany. The children have to sit as quietly as possible at their table for the majority of the time and are then given something to play with every now and then.

The accommodation

I was accommodated in the Volunteer House, where we lived with almost 20 people. On the whole, living together worked really well and was fun because there was always something going on. We actually did something every day in smaller groups and you could always join us anywhere.

The food

We were provided with breakfast (toast with jam and cereal) at the accommodation. Otherwise, we ordered groceries directly to the house via an app and then mostly cooked ourselves. At the weekend we often went to markets where we could try out typical African dishes.

Leisure time in South Africa

After our project we still had enough time to do something, such as: B. short hikes or trips to the beach. A trip to the Cape of Good Hope was offered at the weekend. Most of the time we organized trips independently.

Special experiences

I was particularly surprised at how quickly the children built trust in us.

Why RGV?

I chose RGV because of the diverse range of projects on offer. I felt I had received good advice in advance, but I would have hoped for more concrete information about the project and life in the Volunteer House. I had the feeling that we were starting off a bit off the charts. I would also have liked a little more support on site during orientation and especially in case of problems.

Experience report from Simona, volunteer at the Children Center in South Africa, July & August 2023