Refugee Work Internships in Cape Town

During my gap year, I sought a new and different experience, and Cape Town, through VAC, turned out to be the perfect choice. I’m deeply grateful for the challenges, learning opportunities, and cultural experiences I encountered. To my surprise, after just three months, Cape Town began to feel like home. Thanks to VAC, I built lasting friendships, formed deep connections with my internship colleagues, and found a true sense of belonging. I worked at two diverse internship sites: An NGO that supports vulnerable elderly people and the legal advocacy center for refugees. VAC’s flexibility allowed me to gain invaluable experience at both. I bonded closely with the strong and caring “grannies” who feel like family. At my law placement, I took on significant responsibilities, such as writing court documents and meeting with clients, which greatly enriched my experience. I chose to extend my stay by a month, which was beneficial for fully experiencing both internships. Though adjusting from living with twenty gap year students to a smaller group of interns was a shift, I wouldn’t change a thing and highly recommend extending if you’re considering taking on multiple internships. The most memorable aspect of VAC was the people I met. The bonds formed with my fellow VAC participants are incredibly special, and I’m excited to maintain these friendships back in the US. VAC’s environment facilitated connections I wouldn’t have made otherwise, leading to some of my most valued relationships. Cape Town itself is an extraordinary city with endless natural beauty, culture, and activities. I hope to return someday and continue exploring all it has to offer.

VACorps did a superb job of making me feel supported, safe, and taken care as I explored the beautiful Cape Town and all of its rich culture. Their staff were warm, responsive, and experts at making you feel at home while away from home. During my first internship placement I worked primarily on a research deliverable for a land advocacy organization, that wedded international literatures and the South African context around farm worker evictions. I learned a ton about insecure land tenure and land dispossession issues across the world, and I am proud of the product. During my second placement at a refugee advocacy center, I really enjoyed assisting on legal matters — and in particular getting to see South African courts in session. I developed greater confidence working on legal matters and materials, and affirmed my interest in going into the legal profession. I really appreciated my supervisors willingness to connect me with meaningful opportunities and get me involved in his work. I was was so grateful for the internship placement, and my ability to contribute meaningfully to the organization’s work. I was involved in field work that made my time in Cape Town immensely enriching and eye-opening. VAC ensured that this placement was smooth and respectful.

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When I discovered VACorps in September, I applied immediately on a whim, but the thought of actually coming to South Africa and doing an internship here in the midst of a pandemic seemed laughable and almost dream-like. But there was the VACorps staff, instantly walking me through the rest of my application, meeting with me with less than a few hours’ notice, asking me about my personal and professional interests and my preferred internship placement. They were so dedicated to making this happen for me, and for that, I am beyond grateful. When I finally arrived in Cape Town, halfway across the world and knowing no one, I was so nervous. But VACorps made the transition so fluid. Within two hours of landing, we were already on a hike and then exploring the city’s neighborhoods. The orientation week was absolutely perfect; it provided an ideal mix of structure and independence such that I could instantly acclimate to my new home. It is hard to pinpoint the highlight of this journey because every part of it has met and surpassed my expectations. My internship (where I work with and teach refugees) has been so interesting and fulfilling—I genuinely look forward to going to work each day. Weekends in Cape Town are even more amazing. There are an endless amount of once-in-a-lifetime activities to do here: snorkeling with seals, sandboarding, wine tasting, hiking Table Mountain, skydiving, bungee jumping, shark cage diving, seeing wild animals on a safari, swimming with penguins, surfing, or tanning at the most gorgeous beaches. Cape Town is undoubtedly the coolest place I have ever been to. I’ve spent three months here, and I can say with absolute certainty that I could spend three more and never run out of things to do. I am so sad to be leaving Cape Town, but I will cherish the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had for a very long time. Coming here has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and is easily the highlight of my gap year. I would recommend VACorps to any independent and adventurous individual enthusiastically and without reservation.

I originally chose South Africa to do an internship in-person, but unfortunately, Covid-19 ruined those chances. I wanted to intern in South Africa because I believe it has a very interesting culture, it is a place that comes with a sense of adventure, and I wanted to be doing something that was positive and helping those in need. I chose an internship with a Human Rights Law focus because I wanted to gain industry experience which I could use in my future career as a lawyer in Australia. I learned a lot about South African law, the struggles many people face in SA, and the difficulties of Zimbabwean refugees. I learned a lot from my cultural sessions and wish I had more time with my team. I will miss the calls with the VACorps staff, they were really friendly and did their best to deliver an authentic experience for me. I received a tremendous amount of professional value from working with a South African human rights NGO and, personally, I think I developed a lot as a person because of this experience. I am more culturally aware because of this experience. Working with my internship supervisor was amazing -- it was really inspiring to see someone work so hard for making the world a better place.

I chose South Africa, due to my interest in the country and yearning to help others in an environment that included diversity and challenges to what I knew. I wanted to expand my knowledge in law and be able to put into practice what I have been learning in university. What i loved most was the variety in cases I worked on, it was everything from family law to law of torts with a heavy dose of constitutional law. I was given a a goal with independence on how to get there which pushed me to think outside the box and view things multidimensionally rather than one from one point of view. What I learned about myself is that I definitely want to continue learning how to use law as an instrument of good rather than enrichment and I appreciate so much what my internship mentor does for people. It is truly inspiring and his easy-going attitude along with his sense of duty to each client made me feel really secure about going in to each case. I will never forget the feeling I felt when my internship mentor asked us to help draft a case that was supposed to go up before the High court in order to amend refugee law, I felt a great commitment to my fellow human beings who are displaced in the world not by choice and depend entirely on the laws of a foreign nation to provide them mercy. What I will miss the most is literally just working, because that is how much i enjoyed it.

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I chose South Africa as a destination for my remote internship because it was a country I wanted to learn more about and hopefully one day visit. I selected a human rights law internship because I wanted to better understand the law profession as it relates to refugee rights. I also wanted to see if this field would be something I would want to pursue in the future. The experience was incredible and answered many questions about my future. I loved working with my remote internship partner and she helped me learn so much and also was a great support system! I am going to miss working on tasks and working with my supervisor. The VACorps cultural workshops and weekly buddy chats were also fantastic!

I can't remember why I settled on Cape Town as my internship destination but it was the best decisions I've ever made! The second best thing to happen was working at a refugee center in Cape Town. Leaving today was sad and really hard because the people at the site have become my family. I have created an entirely new family here between my coworkers, VACorps staff, and amazing friends-- both local and international-- and it makes leaving Cape Town one of the hardest things I have ever done and I am not ready to go. Trust me, if I didn't have to go back to school for my senior year I would take a semester off and stay even longer!!

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Coming to Cape Town was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. On top of being placed at the perfect internship site, I was also able to completely immerse myself in an entirely different culture than the one I was used to. Even though I spent a mere two months here, I became a completely different person. I am now more open-minded, more adventurous, more grateful, more educated, more passionate, and frankly I have become a better version of myself. In terms of my internship at the Refugee Legal and Advocacy Center, my supervisor helped me hone my skills as I assisted in his court cases and even partially wrote a submission to the South African Law Reform Commission. During my downtime, I packed my schedule with every activity imaginable. I took a weekend trip to Garden Route and got to walk with some elephants. I visited the wine tram in Stellenbosch and found my love for red wine. I went to every market in Cape Town every single weekend, my favorite being the Oranjezicht City Farm market. I tried my hand at hiking (I am not as good as I would like to be). I ate my way through Cape Town and became a regular at Rust, Panchos and Mr. Lin’s. But I think my absolute favorite part about Cape Town were the people and relationships that were created during this internship. Without them, Cape Town would not be my absolute favorite place on this planet.

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Overall, I chose Cape Town to intern abroad because I wanted to gain international working and living experience, and I wanted to immerse myself in a culture that is very different from what I know. As an international studies major, I have spent a lot of time studying African politics and history, and I wanted to get a more holistic understanding of the current climate by seeing and experiencing it for myself first hand. What I loved most about interning here was making connections with both locals and refugees from all over Africa. You would be amazing to find refugees in Cape Town who have traveled here from as far as North Africa. My intern experience working at the CTRC made me grow personally and professionally because I learned to adapt to an unfamiliar working environment in an international setting, being that one day I want to work internationally I gained valuable skills learning to work with people from all over the world. Things I will never forget from the refugee center are not only the welcoming staff, but the harrowing stories from refugees who never ceased to inspire and amaze me by their strength and courage. It is hard to pick just one thing that I have loved about being in Cape Town for two months, but I have loved to learn how to navigate and get around a foreign city on my own. The city itself with the diversity and culture has been something I have fallen in love with. I loved the VAC program excursions and the staff, they were very helpful. Looking back on it, the ultimate highlight of my internship was leading an HIV/AIDS support group at CTRC. The clients and their stories were inspiring and I felt like we were able to make a strong connection. To future participants, I would recommend that you learn to communicate clearly, and always go directly to your own specific supervisor to avoid miscommunications. The centre is a very busy place and you need to learn to take the initiative when your supervisor is not present.

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I will take a tremendous amount away from my internship for it helped me grow in many ways. Like most things in life, my internship wasn't entirely what I expected but in the end, this was actually a good thing. It taught me to be self motivated and empower myself to see the changes that needed to be done. The staff was so friendly and working with refugees was unlike any other work I have ever done before. I've truly grown from this experience and am really grateful for it.

My experience in Cape Town was a tough dose of reality. Learning about the life and experiences of refugees was extremely eye opening. This is in addition to realising some of the realities of working for an NGO. I truly left my comfort zone here, but I was so blessed to have the opportunity to work with many different departments and learn new things about work and myself. Although many experiences were frustrating, as I learned realities, my time here was incredible important to my understanding of the world.

I was able to gain 1 on 1 experience with refugees and was very independent in my work. I understand how a social service organization operates in a developing country and learned how to deal with difficult situations myself.

I don't think I will ever forget some of the refugee stories that I heard and I gained a better appreciation for the resources I take for granted in Canada. I also learned how to better assess peoples' situations and to be more flexible for different ways of doing social work and interacting with clients. I definitely had some doubts about my placement before I arrived, but I learned a lot and grew both professional and personally. My placement site seemed grateful for having me there and I was grateful for the experience.

Cape Town is a beautiful place but to fully experience it, you have to immerse yourself in the culture and not just be a tourist doing fun outings and excursions. Walk the streets, get to know locals, and find those little gems that only locals know about. In regards to the internship, be flexible and patient and don't close yourself off. I learned a lot about myself professionally and personally and gained so many skills. This experience confirmed that I am on the right career path and that I truly have a passion for refugee and human rights issues.

Volunteering in Cape Town has been absolutely an amazing experience! There is just so much to do and to explore in this beautiful city and I have done so many things I did not do before. Sandboarding, quad biking, surfing, paragliding and skydiving, but I also stood on top of Table Mountain and visited Robben Island to see Mandela’s prison cell; this list just goes on and on with so many amazing experiences! Moreover, I really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful wildlife. From an elephant to just walk by right next to me during a safari trip, to snorkeling between seals, seeing baboons, penguins and hey, it might just happen that dolphins swim next to your boat during a VAC Friday Activity! I got exactly the human rights internship I was hoping for at PASSOP, which is a human rights NGO that helps refugees. I immediately received a warm welcome and they have all been so kind and helpful. They have taken me in as one of them and not as an outsider to get coffee. I have learned so much and am truly grateful for this opportunity. This internship fits exactly into my preferences of what I would have liked my internship to look like. It was a perfect placement and was sad to leave the organization and to say goodbye to my dear colleagues. I can strongly recommend VACorps to everyone. They did not only make sure I had a great volunteering/interning experience, but made sure that I got the most out of staying in Cape Town as well. VACorps is a very reliable and dependable organization. You are not a number somewhere down a list that gets forgotten once you have paid. Definitely not. Everything is very personal and they truly care about the people in their program. VAC donated a computer to PASSOP for me to work on and for PASSOP to keep when I would leave. When I told them how kind and generous it was to make such a donation, they reacted so modestly about it and only showed gratefulness to PASSOP. I could always count on them, even with things that had nothing to do with VAC or my work. Although I was regularly in touch with them, they often asked me if everything is okay and if I needed anything. I honestly could not have gone to South Africa through a better organization!