Volunteering with Preschool Children in South Africa

Meagan - a teaching student from Texas State University who joined VA32 for 3 weeks during July this year, shares her experiences working in a rural Wild Coast preschool. Foundation phase education in the Eastern Cape of South Africa is one of the most challenging areas to work in. Generally the preschools and day care centres are under-staffed and under-resourced with few facilities and a lot of children!

"Our first day at the school I, myself and the rest of my peers at that school, met the principal and all the teachers in the computer lab. After we all met, the teachers left the computer lab and shortly after, I went to the crèche where I would be teaching to meet the kids. To my surprise though, it was just the kids, Pumi (the teacher) was nowhere to be found.

Volunteering in the African Angels School

As a follow on to our previous blog "The Best Part of Me", volunteer Brittney shares her thoughts and experiences teaching at the African Angels Independent School.

"My first day at African Angels I was a little reluctant to do anything with the classroom full of 1st graders… With a teacher in the room I wanted to help, but I didn’t want to step on any toes or disrespect her. However after I asked one question she opened up completely and told me to let her know if I had ANY plans for her class. I immediately lit up and started to think of a plan.

Top 3 Outstanding Volunteer Program - Global Youth Travel Awards 2015

Volunteer Africa 32 degrees South (VA32) are proud to announce being awarded third place in the Outstanding Volunteer Program category at the 2015 Global Youth Travel Awards, announced in Cape Town last week. We entered the category in collaboration with project partner International Student Volunteers (ISV) whom we have built a solid working relationship with since 2009, when their volunteer groups were first hosted in Chintsa.

“The past two weeks have opened up my eyes to new people and new cultures. I gained friends and knowledge about South Africa and the beautiful communities. This experience with ISV and VA32 is on that cannot be topped” – Emily Carmack