Volunteering with VA32 in Chintsa, South Africa

One week after I arrived in this beautiful village named Chinsta, on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, I already wanted to change my flight to stay longer.  The Volunteer Africa 32 degrees South (VA32) staff is awesome, they are always happy and fun to hang out with.  They make you feel comfortable and at home right away from your first day. Chinsta is just an amazing place with plenty of different fun activities, crazy views, an unbelievable beach and the Inkwenkwezi game reserve just 10 minutes away.

Me teaching at Bulugha School

My task in Chinsta with VA32 is to teach the students at the Bulugha School on how to use computers and improve their English. The school is located right on the Areena Reserve where animals, such as giraffes and blesbok, meet you right at the fence. We teach kids from Grades R to 7 and this terms topic is on animals. With the older grades, we have been creating mind maps and flow diagrams about animals on the computers, using Microsoft Publisher. Later this term, we will be creating fact sheets on their chosen animals and we will introduce them to video editing software, so that they can create their own videos.

Working on the tablets with the kids - they loved them!

We were recently donated four tablets and have introduced them to the school to play animal games with the younger age groups. This is the first time they have seen a tablet and have had to use swipe gestures on a touch screen. They love them so much they don’t want to play computer games anymore. It is amazing to see how fast they have learned how to use them and how it has improved their learning about animals, their English and their sentence production.

Not only do I teach in the morning at the Bulugha School, I also take part in activities in the afternoons which include; playing sports with the kids from the Chinsta Village, Gardening and going to visit the Greensleeves Childrens’ Home of Safety every week. You really feel that all these initiative you are part of have an impact on the children and the society.

Teaching with VA32 at the Bulugha School is an eye-opening experience and has taught me a lot about life. Meeting with the VA32 staff and living in Chinsta has been one of the best experiences of my life and hope I will have the opportunity to come back soon.

Victor

VA32 Volunteer, Wild Coast Schools Project 2014