The Other Half; Reflections on an Extraordinary Volunteer Experience in South Africa

When Andrew arrived in Chintsa in 2011 to volunteer with a group of ten other International Student Volunteers (ISV) I'm not sure he was quite prepared for the extraordinary experience that he was about to embark upon. Since his time with VA32 in South Africa, Andrew has put energy into reflecting on what he learnt about himself in relation to the Chintsa community and his home community and we are lucky enough to have been included in those reflections and thoughts.

Andrews blog "An Extraordinary ISV Experience in South Africa" has been published on the ISV website:

An Extraordinary ISV Experience in South Africa 

"Four barren walls sit roofless above a decrepit foundation. In a small village on the Wild Coast of South Africa, this hollow structure echoes of failed government policy and the lingering effects of apartheid. Its initial intentions stood for a noble cause: to bring an additional classroom to an over-populated school. Yet, its realization was halted due to dried up government funds. Instead, it sat vacant for years, occasionally harboring valueless items from local villagers in need of storage..."
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Andrew has also taken the time to put his thoughts into an insightful movie which not only covers his perspective on his time volunteering but gives an insight into the adventure side of his tour of South Africa.

If you cannot view this movie on this page click here to view it in youtube.

From our side, it's an absolute honour to be involved in helping volunteers to live such personal and extraordinary experiences and we would like to thank Andrew for taking the time to share his reflections so eloquently and creatively.

To find out more about any of our volunteer programs visit our website at www.volunteerafrica.co.za.

April