Volunteer and Teach in South Africa

I have done two Ivhq programs and I loved them both for different reasons. What I loved about cape town it was so easy to get everything done and see it all on a budget. But why I loved this program is the school. I placed at Christian David Elementary in second grade. I insistly connected with the students and the teacher. I still keep in touch with the teacher to this day. This experience is more worth it than you know!

I googled volunteering in South Africa Cause my dad was born in Cape Town and I always knew I wanted to volunteer in SA. The first thing that popped up was IVHQ. I have been here for four weeks now and my program is for 16 weeks. And I absolutely love it. It's exceeded all my expectations. It's absolutely amazing. It's the only way I can describe it. There is no typical day in the life of an IVHQ person. Everyday brings its own challenge and is very unique. But I wake up around 7 everyday. I get picked up at 8:30 and we get to school around 9. I come into class and I say Good Morning, class! Either we're teaching Afrikaans, or Maths, or English. I assist mostly with the English lessons. I can do also do the Maths but they teach Maths in Afrikaans and that is not one of my fortes. And yeah, we have intervals. We have two intervals each day. Then we come back, have the second one, and continue with our lessons. Then we go home at around 2 or 2:30. Future volunteer need to keep your mind open to anything. Because a lot of people come here with like preconceived notions of what they're gonna do, and what they're gonna be involved with. They can be very very different from what you expect. Not in a bad way, just in a new way. And I've learned so much about myself as well as like what I wanna do in the future in the first four weeks that I never thought that I ever get to know. So it's very mind opening, I would say. So just keep an open mind. I just graduated from Queen's College. I have a degree in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy. Right now I'm still figuring out what I wanna do. Ideally I wanna work for the UN but I'm still figuring it out. So right now I just really wanted to volunteer and broaden my horizon as best as I can before I settle down and get a job.

When I arrived here, I found some volunteers working in the area. And I have been teaching in the school for about 8 years now. But since the volunteer group arrived here, it's been an asset for about 5 or 6 years. Each volunteer has a different skill. Each one has a different talent. And we try to utilize that for the benefit of the school. Since we've seen these volunteers, we've welcomed them with open arms and open doors. We have an open door policy. There's been an improvement in the kids as a whole and with regard to their performances. We utilize them for reading English, the PT, and other activities too. And they've really been an asset to the school. Secondly, the attendance have improved. The kids love being here when the volunteers are here.