Volunteer Programs in Johannesburg, South Africa

Walking with elephants has definitely got to be one of the highlights for me. Additionally, I have met the most incredible group of people that includes other volunteers and all staff affiliated with the project. Every person that has assisted me, from the moment I got off at OR Tambo international, has been amazing. Thank you for the experience.

It's difficult to pick a specific moment, as the experience as a whole was very memorable to me. Being part of the day to day life at the farm, working with the animals, and just living differently than at home was very enriching.

There was such a good vibe and drive in the group, so fixing the fence one of the days went fast as everyone was working hard and cheering each other on and we all felt we were making a difference. Feeding all the animals was more than amazing! Tassin made us feel very welcome in her home and was very helpful.

We spoke with fourth-year Oxford University Classics student Molly after she returned from volunteering with Operation Bobbi Bear in South Africa. Molly described for us what a typical day at the centre which deals with young victims of sexual abuse was like. “All the volunteers would get up quite early to get the children up out of bed, change nappies and get everyone off to school. There was always at least one other person in the house helping us out in the mornings because it was a little chaotic. We’d have a bit of time to have breakfast ourselves and then around 8:30 we’d get picked up. Shadowing Mildred was the best. We’d go around the police stations and courts and basically just helped out with whatever she was doing. We’d normally get back around 5 pm and look after the kids when they came home from schools and do bath times and homework and play with them and then they’d be in bed by eight.” VISITING LAW COURTS “That was pretty incredible, I loved court stuff. Before I went to the courts I did talks in schools and we had so many girls come up and give their statements to us so we knew what happens initially when a case opens so we knew that part but we didn’t know how it ended or where it went from there. Going to the court was the perfect follow up to that. The one we went to was in Zulu so I didn’t really understand that much what was going on but it was a trial of a man who had been accused of rape and it turned out he knew the victim so it goes quite intense. He was let out on bail. It was really interesting but also a really harrowing moment in the two weeks because it showed how people fell through the cracks in that he was allowed to walk free. That was pretty hard. All of the pretty difficult stuff was made better by having Mildred with us. The judge stuff and the law stuff felt pretty depressing at times. Being given access to the front seat in the court was such an experience, they’re quite small so you’re right in the middle of it and Mildred is such a big figure that you get in all the interesting situations.” WORKING WITH LOCAL STAFF “I’m slightly in love with her, she’s so kind and kind of encompassed all the right ways to do charity work, she wasn’t jaded but she knew the realities. She did everything in such a warm way. We followed her around and she just had everybody. The head of the police force and the main lawyer were calling her all the time asking for help because she has such an authority on everything. She doesn’t stop, she spends the day campaigning for people’s rights and then she goes home to the 23 children she’s taken in. Probably one of the most impressive people that I’ve ever met. She was the perfect example of someone who can break the cycle of abuse.” TOPICAL TALKS AT LOCAL SCHOOLS “That was really fun. It was nice having the other volunteers at that point because I’m not a massive fan of public speaking but it was actually so relaxed. It was quite cool because they were so responsive to what we were saying and so happy that we’d come all this way to talk to them, they wanted to speak to us the whole time afterwards, they really wanted to engage with us. We were talking about some quite intense stuff with such young children. You find such points of similarity with them you can speak about personal things with them so comfortably. It was a very good way of showing how much abuse and how much crime was going on because after the talks we would hold a drop-in session but we had up to 15-20 children coming in and making statements and reporting things.” OUTREACH PROGRAMMES IN THE COMMUNITY “That was incredible. We had a day there. It was me and Jacky doing the first aid stall and we had a stream of children for about an hour and they were all so malnourished and beaten and had terrible sores so that was the first time I saw how bad the problem was. The second time I went to the Tree they did a Zulu ceremony where they give you your name and that was really lovely and you meet everyone and that was the day before I left so it was a good ending.” MOST POWERFUL MOMENTS “Just sitting outside the first time we went to the school with some kids I was talking about my sister who was their age and they all wanted to see photos and we were just speaking and earning their trust and then they all gave their statements and we wrote them down. That was the first time we really connected with the victims and found out so much about their lives and having to write out these quite horrible statements. It was quite touching but also quite upsetting. On my final night, one of the boys had such terrible social anxiety that he was vomiting with fear before school and it was really hard for him to open up and wouldn’t show any affection. He took me upstairs on the last night and wanted me to put him to bed. He’d never really shown any affection to his siblings but that night he tucked them all in and then he made me pray with him and made me make a list of all the things that I was happy for and he basically prayed for me to God and it was so unbelievably touching, him listing all the things he was happy for. It was such a step for him wanting affection, it was a big turnaround for him. It was nice as it was just as I left. They all became such different people in the two weeks I was there. They all changed so much which was so amazing, a lot of powerful moments like that.” EXPECTATIONS BEFORE DEPARTURE “I was actually really nervous. I thought it was going to be really hard and it was all the things that I expected, it was really intense, but I hadn’t realised the comfort of being around really good people and people who are really good at their jobs and how I remember thinking about an hour after I arrived that I felt very comfortable. I don’t think having the kids there made a big impact because that’s something I didn’t know was happening. It felt like a house full of children so you just got stuck in and children are so easy to feel comfortable around so that was a really nice aspect that was so warm and lovely. We were immediately thrown into a lovely funny situation with these six really sweet kids. Equally, I didn’t expect to be so right in the thick of it and not quite knowing what to do with some of them. I can’t imagine going back without them. It was constant, we were fully immersed from start to finish. The relationships with them was the nicest part of it completely. I really miss them. One thing I did expect was the cultural divide between Zulu and Afrikaans. We talked a lot about the stigma of rape in Zulu culture and how that maybe got in the way of trying to help people. That came up in our training session right at the start and I’m glad it did because for the next two weeks I was always kinda aware of it. It would have been quite easy to offend someone by not taking in mind the differences in the culture.” REFLECTIONS ON THE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE “I feel weird because I haven’t talked to many people back here who aren’t family because it sounds so cheesy in a way. It’s been quite difficult coming home and trying to get back to normality. It’s been hard to take my exams seriously now. It’s been part of my decision for next year. I’ve been in these rigid academic institutions for so long and haven’t had a chance to take a breath and think about what I want to do and so this is the perfect way to completely disconnect so I spend two weeks doing something completely incredible and getting so much satisfaction out it that it made me think about all the academic stuff completely differently. It really shifted my decisions for next year, before I was going to go straight into a masters but now I think I’m going to take a year out and at least do two months of overseas charity work. I worked that out while I was out there. Because it was so different from what I’d done before it completely re-shifted the way I want to do the next few years of my life.” IN SUMMARY “A good mix between being compassionate and being invested in every single child’s interest but it also had that unity of a very strong charity. They had that thing of being cogs in a machine and working very effectively so it was a very good mix of being deeply personal but it also functioned very well day-to-day. The overriding feeling, I got was how much people cared. There were people openly crying about situations but also working on them for hours and hours, day after day, so that nice thing of not being jaded by these situations. It never felt hopeless, just quite extreme. You have to come to terms with the situation quite quickly and just get on and do the job.”

We caught up with Bath University second-year psychology student Nele, on her return from volunteering at Nkosi’s Haven in South Africa over the summer. “I really enjoyed it and I was completely involved in it. I believe I made the most out of it because I ended up tking over the baby day-care for two or three weeks and I offered to help with CV and job applications for the mums, and that was all taken on really really well, everyone was really happy with that." “I had quite a lot to do, there were different ways to handle the whole situation. I went with a ‘I can’ attitude, which gave me the motivation to find something to do that would benefit both sides. “We observed play therapy which actually happened with one of the kids that I had in day-care which was incredibly interesting and I really enjoyed it, I genuinely thought I got a lot out of it and I was very sad to leave in the end." Nele was able to work with other volunteers in creating a workshop for the children at the centre: “We did a workshop on sexuality and transgender themes with the teenagers. One of them even came up and asked questions afterwards. They wanted us to go talk to the mums and even thought it was such a zero-tolerance society. The people were great, the kids were great." Nele was also able to go outside of Nkosi’s Haven to see how other NGOs function in the country; We organised and went to a creche in Soweto so we made use of the time and we explored South Africa and Johannesburg, it was a great experience and I loved every second of it. The day trips were a great idea, every time we did one I had an amazing time. Gail organised for us to see the Teddy Bear Clinic which was incredibly interesting and it was really nice to see how other organisations in South Africa work. “Gail is one of the most hardworking women I have ever met, everyone knew who she was. I was really really attached to the kids and loved building something that will last.” “It was great to see that we are working for a cause that was so useful and well known." I think psychology can be involved under very specific circumstances, we’ve seen the places that Nkosi’s works with, which could definitely involve psychology aspects like, life skills workshops and psychology workshops. We suggested things like movie nights and dance nights to help boost the children’s self-esteem. There is also opportunity to participate in play and art therapy. “I cried when I left, it really is what you make of it. I loved working for a project that is doing such good work in the community”

We caught up with one of our volunteers to Operation Bobbi Bear, second-year Leeds University, psychology student Emily Moore Emily explained that Bobbi Bear is a centre based in Durban for young victims of sexual abuse, in which volunteers helped the children with their pre and post-school routines whilst simultaneously helping with the local community. "The most amazing trip ever." Emily described it as “the most amazing trip ever.” She went to Bobbi Bear for three weeks. When we asked about her impressions of the centre itself, she said; “it might seem daunting at first but they’re so welcoming. Their work is tied mainly around sexual abuse and working with children, but they are such a huge part of the community, everyone comes to Bobbi Bear even if they’re not in the centre.” Emily recalls one incident specifically: “we worked with a couple whose child Bobbi Bear had helped, and even though it had all been sorted, they had kept up the association with them to help them get over drug addiction. They were such a nice couple and Bobbi Bear wanted to try to get them to rehab even though it’s not their specialisation. It happened and they even paid for them to go. It was really amazing. That’s one of my highlights, I think. I would say that there are so many different things to experience. It’s not just children, they get you involved in everything and you’ll always feel a part of the team, you feel like you’re a top priority to them, it’s really special.” ″You'll always feel a part of the team, you feel like you're a top priority to them, it's really special." Operation Bobbi Bear, High Court Visit, Psychology Placement, South Africa, Vocational Impact “You'd either travel to different centres or courts, hospitals and schools." When asked to describe a typical day during her trip Emily said, “it’s actually really hard to describe because there are no typical days as such. The craziest things happen every day. We lived at the Bobbi Bear House, which is the main rescue centre, so towards the end, we had six kids living with us so we would wake up to screaming children in the morning. We’d go down and everybody would already be there. It was very chill, it was very relaxed really, we’d go to the office and chat about the day ahead. Then it depended on the day, you’d either travel to different centres or courts, hospitals and schools. Towards the end, we just spent a lot of time in the house looking after the kids.” “They didn't know what a pillow was. They couldn't believe that a toilet flushed, they didn't know what toilet roll was." Emily was able to see one of the largest abuse cases Bobbi Bear had ever seen. The children arrived at the centre from the extremely poor conditions in which they had been staying previously. “They were in the most awful conditions, we needed to get them into the Bobbi Bear house. When we first arrived, they didn’t know what a pillow was, they just didn’t get it. They just couldn’t believe that a toilet flushed, they didn’t know what toilet roll was, it was really sad and it put everything into perspective for me. When I first heard they were coming I was so happy. They were the best part of the trip, it was stressful but I didn’t care. I just wanted to do whatever I could to help. That last week, it was like 24-hour care, that was the best thing because we really felt we made a difference. The six kids were a massive part of our trip.” “You wouldn't get that experience here in the UK" When we asked Emily to highlight some more memorable aspects of her stay, she said; “I think for me it was the courts, they were so interesting. It was so shocking really to be in that environment, it was so strange, the lawyers were just chatting with each other, everything was just so laid back. It’s just such a difficult situation, but it was fascinating really. You would never get that experience here in the UK. One hugely powerful moment for me was when this guy was sentenced to like 200 years in prison for rape and murder. All the victims and family and friends all burst into tears and were so happy, and when outside they chanted and sung Zulu songs, it was such a powerful moment. You could see the hurt that they had all experienced from this one man. We also went to police stations and talked to them about doing talks in schools. The police spoke about past talks and how successful they were. They had a lot of success stories about action happening after their talks because from that point the children would be educated about what rape was whereas before they wouldn’t have been.” “Working to uplift the country and sort out corruption in the police and court system" We asked Emily about her expectations before the trip and she said; “I feel like I wasn’t nervous until I got off the plane, but then it was very daunting. There was a culture shock as well. I didn’t go in having expectations as such, I just went in looking to see what it was like there. I would say I was really overwhelmed by how welcoming they were, they made you feel so relaxed and at ease, they were always there for us and it really felt like they wanted us there.” Emily said her impressions of South Africa were, “shocking, some areas were so backwards, but there were so many amazing people working at Bobbi Bear and the community. It’s really amazing to see how many South African people are working to uplift the country and sort out corruption in the police and the court system, it seems like they are working towards the right way to fix things.” “There was a focus on uplifting mothers and women, educate women and promote women's rights" Having mentioned uplifting, Emily spoke about the efforts made by women to educate other women and promote things like women’s rights at a help centre called the Tree. “There was a focus on uplifting mothers and women. In South Africa, there’s such a big focus on HIV and AIDS which Bobbi Bear has done so well in bringing attention to. Everyone knows what HIV is, the next step is women’s violence. People travel two and a half hours on foot to be there, one or twice a week, it was about the women uplifting themselves. Kids would come and get food and clothes donations there as well. We went twice and played with all the kids with hula hoops and balls and stuff like that. I met Jackie Branfield there, she was such an amazing woman, she made us feel so so welcome, she even said she had a psychologist on hand if we had been affected by what we were doing. She explained to all the Zulu ladies who we were, saying that we’d paid to come out there to help the community, got us to do a presentation on who we were and why we were there. They just make you really get involved and you’re never just watching, you’re always interacting. It was such an amazing experience. We also met this Zulu lady who sung in the most powerful voice and only after did we find out that she only had days to live, that was a powerful moment.” "It changed me as a person. You never forget the stories and the experience." Emily said that the experience had helped her clarify her career path. “I think I always wanted to work with children, especially in clinical psychology. I think it’s been confirmed that I really like working with children, I find it easier to talk to a child than an adult. Even when there’s a language barrier, I can play and use my initiative to interact with them, it’s just so easy. I’d love to work with children in an environment like that, where it’s so useful for mental health issues. I think it changed me as a person. It sounds cliché, but you never forget the stories and the experience, you don’t feel like you want to go back to your old lifestyle, it’s so hard to accept that that is their lifestyle. I’m already looking at what else I can do and I’m keeping in touch with Bobbi Bear. Once or twice a year we want to do something to raise money to send them.” “There are a lot of projects around the world but this one you get so involved. It's a particularly good placement I think" Finally, when asked if she would recommend the experience to others Emily said; “definitely, I made an Instagram account and we got all our friends to follow that and the number of messages I got was great, I told them all to get in touch with Vocational Impact. There are a lot of projects around the world but with this one, you get so involved in so many different avenues, so many projects when you’re there, it’s a particularly good one I think.”

We recently had a chat with Ryan, who volunteered at Nkosi’s Haven for a month. Ryan had worked in business development for several charitable organisations, including Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, which has a strong relationship to Nkosi’s Haven. This helped him get involved as a volunteer and put his experience as a fundraiser to use at the project centre. As he explains: “Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS is the fundraising arm of the Broadway industry and community. Each year, they raise close to $20 million, mostly through fundraisers and donations related to the Broadway shows.” The money is then granted out to AIDS service organisations, mostly in the US, but they do have a very special grant category that goes to South Africa. That’s because the Lion King is one of the longest running Broadway shows, it’s phenomenal, and a huge number of the actors in the show and the dancers come from South Africa. “The Lion King also helps raise millions and millions of dollars for Broadway Cares. So, years and years ago, they decided it was only right and only fair that a considerable amount of money be given back to NGOs in South Africa. They have about 20 different grantees in South Africa that get money from Broadway Cares. Nikosi’s Haven is one of the most well-known, most beloved ones, and for good reason. It’s got heart.” “There's a lot of need there, and I think they look towards volunteers as being able to temporarily fill those needs, whether it's something as simple as attention, or playing with kids, or tutoring them, or even better, just bringing special skills to improve their lives, like business marketing to help the organisation grow. I was immediately at home, I always felt like I was wanted there." “So when I was travelling, I decided I wanted to spend about a month volunteering. Nikosi’s Haven came to mind, so I got in touch with Vocational Impact and they welcomed me with open arms.” “I was pretty clear on what I wanted to do, I said : I have this fundraising and business experience and with your permission I'd like to help you with whatever fundraising programmes you have or if you don't have any we can talk about starting one up" “I arrived with some idea of how I wanted to help, and instantly helped Gail create a direct mail campaign to their existing donors.” “We also built something called Nikosi’s Angels, which is a programme for people to give at a moderate level and become Angels. In the evenings, I spent about two hours doing tutoring with some of the older kids.” While Ryan was discussing his work, he also mentioned the freedom the project offers volunteers: “ It's up to each volunteer to really take initiative and create whatever you want to create. if you want to get behind social media, or compliance and policy then there is an opportunity for you. If you want to help with fundraising and corporate CSR, then jump right in." As we all know, no volunteer opportunity is perfect. Ryan also informed us of one of the more difficult aspects of volunteering at Nkosi’s Haven. “When they’re on campus, it can feel a little isolating because you don’t have a car there. You can get Uber, and I would recommend getting Uber so you can take it to the nearest mall if you just need a break. But I was so busy with helping that I got stuck right in and the time actually went by really quickly.” However, at the end of the day, Ryan said what made the Haven the perfect fit for him was how he immediately felt at home “I was in touch with Vocational Impact just by email for a month and a half or two months before I went. They prepared me with documents and background information. This meant I could make a start almost instantly. Everyone who walks in those doors is fully embraced by everyone, by the students, by the kids, by the staff.” “I arrived and there was lunch set up for me, and then they took me around on a tour of the place. I think it's hard for anyone to show up there and not get this overwhelming sense of love and community, you're just embraced".

"Vocational Impact really helped set up my placement and tailored the topics to my specific degree requirements. No other volunteer organization provides this level of support." See below the different tasks you can get involved with. Get in touch with Vocational Impact and they provide all the support you need. Not to be missed! a) Develop a template to track financial situation & received funds. How can this inform future revenue predictions? b) Create a template for their yearly annual plan that can be used in the future, and complete 2019. c) Evaluation and risk management. How we can measure both? d) Assist with policy design by department - They have very basic ones and there’s an opportunity to add or ‘re-design’ e) Identify a business problem and craft a plan to solve this problem. Act as a consultant. f) Develop a plan to increase donors for the charity through fundraising. Document progress, challenges and plan of action. g) Create a plan to find new corporate partners. How do you make that connection with corporates and start accessing CSR budgets? h) Getting all compliant ready. One of the main challenges of starting new corporate relationships, where there is a high emphasis on compliance, is international charities are really struggling to keep up with compliance demands. i) Develop a centralised data system for monitoring, evaluating & information storage. This will include a list of policies, compliance, contacts, processes, action plans… so information can be drawn easily. j) Design performance and evaluation documentation for staff k) Workable Programmes for children during the holidays (i.e. based on budgets) and bearing in mind that the caregivers are not the most creative and energetic.

We didn’t stop during our trip. We sat down with the founders and established our shooting schedule. From that moment it was go-go-go. We should have gone for longer, but being guided around India with our local host meant we could get shots that we could never have done on our own. You can watch the top selection of photos I did on this project on their website.

Second-year UWE Early Childhood student and volunteer Lola Curtis spent her August volunteer placement month at Operation Bobbi Bear; a centre for children who have been sexually abused, located in Kingsburgh, South Africa. Lola describes the centre as being a place that liaises with everyone in the community without leaving anyone out. As Lola put it, “whether it be a family or a single child, everyone is included. Everyone who works there is amazing.” We asked Lola to describe a typical day during her month. “I was probably out with the police about 80% of the time, visiting schools and performing talks and events which had been organised with them. We’d typically present serious issues such as child abuse. Because we were foreigners instead of their usual teachers, the children really listened to us and we found ourselves to be pretty popular with them. I think it was a great way to get children to listen to important issues.” She would join the police early in the morning and quickly got to know the local officers, letting them know that drugs were a problem just in South Africa but the UK as well helped to build common ground between them. Lola was able to tour local police facilities and then taken to schools to do a presentation in front of the students. “My biggest audience was probably around 1000 or so children, it was a pretty big school.” By following the lead of the other volunteers and conducting her own research Lola found herself quickly able to address such audiences in her stride. When asked about other notable experiences during her time, she reels them off; “we were asked to be judges at a police event which involved children from four of five schools competing to become ‘Station Commanders’ by helping the police from inside a school. I also got to help a 19-year-old student called Michael who had dropped out of school but now really wanted to continue to learn, that was a really touching experience. We also helped with phycologist reports on the children and were trusted by the staff to contribute because we were in such close proximity with the children. When I was leaving, I was completely overshadowed because they had found a baby on the street, but I think that was a more important matter, but it serves to illustrate the kind of amazing work that gets done by places like this.” Helping out at the Bobbi Bear Centre made up the mornings and evenings of Lola’s day. “It was overwhelming at times, but I like children and I get on well with them so I didn’t have a problem. We’d help with their pre-school needs and then in the evening help with feedings, bathing and bedtime routines. These were some really challenging children, but it was very rewarding to work so closely with them.” When we asked her about her previous experiences Lola said “this was my first time volunteering abroad. It was really eye-opening, but I followed Operation Bobbi Bear on their Facebook page and I’d been in contact with them so I knew what to expect, plus Vocational Impact helped me every step of the way. Touring the schools I found it so inspiring that despite the hardship of the conditions they faced they’d done an amazing job of making do with what they had for their students.” Lola describes visiting the Blue Roof, a youth centre in a nearby township; “it was amazing, we don’t have anything like it in the UK. I think it was pretty new. It offered career and interview advice to teens and was open to the whole community. It had this amazing screen and headphone tree that gave advice on careers and when we visited, they had an art station set up with some of the older teens painting a mural on the floor.” Being able to see the side of South Africa that man foreign visitors choose not to see Lola says, “it really helped me to understand the situations that many of the children found themselves in. The one thing I did have to get used to was the timekeeping, someone summed it up as ‘go with the flow’ which is quite different to what we have in the UK. I think he had one event due to start at 9 but we ended up doing it at 11:30.” When asked about the most positive aspects of the trip Lola said “it was great to meet so many amazing people, it’s definitely impacted on my future plans, in many ways it sorted it all out when it came to narrowing down my choices for the future. I’d love to work towards a masters in social care, the CSO’s at Bobbi Bear were such an inspiration. I think Bobbi Bear is a great addition to have on an application to that sort of work. To be honest, I’ve been telling all my friends at UWE to go and volunteer, I won’t shut up about it.” Lola managed to raise half her volunteering costs herself through “mainly cake sales and social media spamming, half was my target so I’m pretty happy about that. I think next time I’d like to aim higher. Overall it was a great experience and I still keep in touch with my fellow volunteers. I was shown a video just this morning of a boy who had never said ‘thank you’ before saying it for the first time, which was so heartwarming to see.”

We spoke with York University third-year psychology student Sophie, on her return from volunteering at Nkosi’s Haven in South Africa for three weeks, working primarily with young children, but also older teens. We asked Sophie what a typical day at Nkosi’s Haven was like. “We would wake up and go to the day-to-day care centre from 9 to about half 12, there would just be a different activity each day with the little ones. We’d make sure they got fruit and had a lot of naps, and then after that, it would be a half hour break until lunch time. The kids start getting back from school around three and do homework, so we helped with that. In the evenings after dinner, we sat with the older ones and helped with the harder homework and helped with CV’s. They all wanted to go to university so we talked with them about that, we definitely felt connected to the older teenagers. It’s a nice place and all the kids and people are very friendly, everyone’s happy and say hello to you as you walk past.” Sophie was hoping to be able to use her psychological expertise during her trip and was able to create a workshop for older students. “We couldn’t really do a lot directly because we weren’t qualified therapy wise. “We planned a couple of workshops on transgender and sexual orientation because in the culture it's not very talked about." Sophie said; “It was always great to see the kids having fun. We had a disco evening for them. I was amazed by how good of dancers they all were, and they tried to get us to dance with them. Everyone was just smiling.” Sophie reflected on how it changed her as a person. “It gave me a whole different culture to experience while volunteering there. “It's definitely given me some personal development and some great life experience." Sophie also managed to spend time outside of Nkosi’s Haven: “We went to Teddy Bear Clinic that dealt with child abuse and we were shown around and talked with the woman who ran it who took us through some of the really high-profile cases they’ve had. We also met with the play therapist who comes to Nkosi’s Haven a few times a week. That was really interesting, it was like she was just playing with toys but then she’d told us what she meant through it. We went out with someone who tours around clinics as well, which was something I really enjoyed. You didn’t have to be on-site on the weekends so we got to do our own exploring. ‘We were really supported by Nkosi’s Haven staff and Vocational Impact, who helped us find our feet. I will remember the friendly atmosphere and the chance to observe play therapy.

The University of Western Australia, Psychology student Isabelle spent her five-week volunteering experience at Durban based Operation Bobbi Bear, a centre dedicated to handling young people who have been sexually abused. Isabelle described it as “a drop-in centre for victims of child abuse. I helped look after kids taken from some pretty bad situations.” A week after her return home we called her for a catch up about her experience. “I found it hard to come home. I made such strong connections with the children and staff" Vocational Impact asked Isabelle to describe what a typical day at Bobbi Bear was like. “We’d get up with the kids and help them get ready to go off to school. Then I’d go out to places like schools and police stations to do talks and counselling and then when I would be back at the centre in the afternoon for the children when they came back. But each week was different. One week we did five school talks in a row and we also went to the courts twice as well as places like hospitals and crisis centres, honestly, every day was different.” Isabelle thought the school talks presented by the international volunteers were an impactful way of getting messages across to children. “It was really appreciated by the teachers and the children. We’d typically go to a primary school and we’d written out a few different speeches that we could do. They were mostly on things like peer pressure or drugs or sex. It was amazing because we were talking about these really taboo things with these kids but that’s just how they do it over there, something like that would never happen here.” Over the course of her experience, Isabella estimates she took part in around 10 schools talks, eventually helping newer volunteers with them. “It was an opportunity I wouldn't get anywhere else and it really helped me decide what I want to do in my future as well.” I worked alongside a staff member called Mildred who was amazing, the most passionate person I have ever seen, working alongside her was a really positive experience.. “It made me realise that my interest was in clinical psychology and I'll probably apply for a masters and PhD" When we asked her to highlight a few impactful moments Isabelle said that there were so many to choose from; “We went to a protest outside a court over a child abuse case and everyone came out and said they couldn’t believe this has happened, it was probably a big moment for me as the perpetrator got released on bail. Another one was when I was counselling a police officer who had threatened to kill his fiancé and himself and we had to talk to him, that was massively impactful for me.” “I had a moment where I thought this is what I want to do for sure in terms of my career. We also had a girl come in to chat with me and another volunteer, she had been abused when she was younger and we struggled a bit as she was a representation of what the kids we were looking after would grow up to be because of their experiences.” Despite the hard-hitting nature of some of the work, Isabelle said about her expectations, “They were exceeded, to be honest. the things that I did get involved with totally exceeded my expectations. Working with the kids especially really made my experience, if the kids weren’t there it wouldn’t have been as incredible an experience.” “Being able to look after the kids, especially because I have a psychology background was really amazing. Because I was there so long, I was able to see the transition from when they arrived to when I left which was so transformative, I still try to keep in touch over social media with the centre and the other volunteers.” “I'ts something I'd really recommend for Psychology students" We asked Isabelle if she would recommend the experience to others.. “Definitely. More than anything else, more than just travelling. When you volunteer you are doing something you can’t do at home, you’re actually making a difference and living in a place and a community as opposed to just passing through.” “I’ve made really strong relationships with the people who live here and I think a lot of other students in Australia would be interested in doing stuff like this, there’s nothing for psychology students currently like this here.” Finally, when asked if it had changed her as a person Isabelle said, “it definitely did but I’m still working out how. The experience with the kids and the ladies working there definitely did. They are incredible people and I don’t think I’ve met anyone like them ever.”

This volunteer program is super meaningful and fun! I learnt about animals care and also wilderness, witnessing all the staffs and curators in the ranch taking care of the animals with passion and love. The lodge is super beautiful and luxurious! Hosts are super helpful and friendly, they always check on us and explain to us on our programmed work. During weekends, they drive us to do all the activities, bring us to approved restaurants, make sure we have the best experience and safe!

In November 2018, Portsmouth University International Development student Satara spent 4 weeks at our project in Johannesburg, living and working at Nkosi’s Haven, a community that supports HIV/AIDS affected mothers and children. During the time at Nkosi’s Haven, Satara had a large role working and helping with the admin task in the office. I assisted with researching and writing letters for fundraising. I took part in the celebrations of World AIDS day. I learned from being in the heart of a working and active internationally renowned charity. I observed and learned about how tasks are completed and how often resources are split, when they are limited by funds. Satara had a great time working alongside Gail, the founder and director of Nkosi’s Haven. Gail took time out of her extremely busy day to make sure I knew what I was doing and if I had any questions. There were constantly little feet running in and out of the office, it was so sweet, some of them were extremely cheeky and were constantly looking for a biscuit on your desk or a sweet in your bag. I definitely learned to work independently and persevere. I was working to update the system in which they send enquiring funding letters. Their system was very out of date and needed to be made practical and modern. For a student studying International Development such as I am, it is very important to have an idea on how an internationally known organisation such as Nkosi’s Haven struggles with funding. Whilst I was there, they were deperate for funders and it gave me a great insight into the process that they had to go through to achive fund to stay afloat. I was also able to build confidence when talking to all levels of people internally, from the Founding Director, the on-site nurses, social workers, funders, and everyone in between, helping my communication skills and time management experience. Nkosi’s Haven provides a lot of opportunities to learn from the inside of an internationally known charity. It is full of friendships and love. The children show you the future of acceptance of HIV/AIDS, they showed me the determination despite their disease to achieve their dreams. I got to see the how the internal medical ward worked, sat in the office when meetings with partners and funders and even experienced events held by Nkosi’s Haven. To volunteer at Nkosi's Haven is to see the future of South Africa, inclusivity and diversity. I believe everyone should participate in volunteering, especially in South Africa. I also got to watch Gail, the founder of Nkosi’s Haven present the children’s peace prize held in Cape Town. Gail’s son was the first recipient of the prize and now years on she is still pursuing his dream and pushing his message on. Showing the world that AIDS should be prevented but also accepted. It was great work experience and really opened my mind to the rest of the world. I can use the experience to apply to practical examples when I start applying for work. I am continuing my work with Nkosi’s Haven as part of my year placement at Vocational Impact. I am helping them with their international development efforts, including assisting with crucial fundraising and engaging funders so Nkosi’s Haven can continue the amazing work they do by providing a safe Haven for those affected by HIV/AIDS.

How has it been since you returned from Nkosi's haven? It has been a slightly strange transition, from working full-on, every day in South Africa, to suddenly returning to a normal pace of life. But I guess this is the experience I was looking for, real work-experience. I felt that the few weeks I was there wasn’t long enough, and in hindsight, wish I had gone for double the time. But it’s hard to know this before you go, and there is lots to consider too, like costs and what the day-to-day demands will be like. I think I would have been able to get more stuff done if I had gone for longer. It would be a completely different experience if you go for 4 weeks instead of 2. I still have lots of plans and ideas in my head, that I would have loved to explore whilst I was in Johannesburg. Vocational Impact really helped set up my placement and tailored the topics to my specific degree requirements. No other volunteer organization provides this level of support. But it isn’t just the 2 weeks I went, I wanted to continue to work with the project even after I had left and offer them continued support of the amazing work that they do at Nkosi’s Haven. I didn’t want to just leave a project in the middle, once I had started it so being able to continue supporting from the UK is a really great part of this placement and means I can continue to gain valuable work-experience in a real-life environment. There was some elements that I didn’t want to rush, just to fit them in, so I have offered to continue my placement from the UK. You can see the time spent at Nkois’s Haven as your in-country placement and when you return you can continue the work, but remotely. So when you arrived, it sounded like you had to hit-the-ground-running? The first few days were good. I was introduced to everyone, and then rested after the long days of travel. I understand what was meant by feeling a bit isolated in the first few days, as it’s all so new, and overwhelming. Vocational Impact checked in on me every day, and helped me settle in as well as the in-country team. It can feel quite strange, as you don’t really know anyone, and nobody really knows you. It can feel strange as you’ve never been there before. I was prepared for this, as Vocational Impact really helped prepare me, we had a pre-departure call, and they sent lots and lots of information. Then it was the total opposite when a big corporate event happened at Nkosi’s Haven with over 100 volunteers there to work with the 50+ children. It was madness but really enjoyable to see everyone in action and the Haven so alive. Meeting the corporate partners was really interesting, and understanding how they help Nkosi's Haven. It was a very humbling part of the process. The corporate partners are a lifeline for NGOs. They not only provide essential donations, they also bring expertise and security. Understanding this relationship was really eye-opening. The history of the relationship, how it came about, the length of time they had been involved and how they supported. They bought 30-40 cases of donations, toys, clothes, and books. Corporate donors always get heavily criticised for the mistakes they make, and never get enough recognition for the good work they do, so it was really nice to see the direct impact of the corporate relationship. CSR is often seen as a box ticking / PR exercise, but seeing the corporate relationship in action encouraged me to make others aware that they do do good, and they are making a difference. And they do actually care. So I thought, how do you encourage another relationship like this? If there were 2 or 3 more corporate partners, then Nkosi’s Haven would be in a much more secure financial position. So I made this part of my placement, how do you make that connection with corporates and start accessing CSR budgets? Is it a case of reaching out to certain people? Or is it who you know? Getting compliant ready. Reaching out to South African based corporates to access donations Vocational Impact really helped me understand this better, as they have years of experience working with corporates and international development. It was great to learn about how to create these relationships and how the volunteer fee’s they create, form a big part of the donations received by their partner projects; including Nkosi’s Haven. One of the main challenges of starting new corporate relationships, where there is a high emphasis on compliance, is international charities are really struggling to keep up with compliance demands. This is where Vocational Impact volunteers have been stepping in and making a real impact. Volunteers have been helping Nkosi's Haven with policy, compliance, accounts, budgets, website content, marketing and policies. This is where the real need is, and this is where students are able to apply their university education and support. I was working on monitoring and evaluating for Nkosi’s Haven, as suggested by the Chairman of the charity. It was a big list, of policies, compliance, which is a wonderful idea, but how do you put that into place at somewhere like Nkosi’s Haven, when they literally don’t have any time? I felt like I was in the thick of it, based in the central office, where the phone is constantly ringing, there are children in and out, staff in and out, trying to keep all these people happy. This is why it’s so amazing what Vocational Impact are doing, supporting the running, the business and marketing needs through the volunteers they send. They prepare all the volunteers individually, set them up with a tailored project that is mutually beneficial to both Nkosi’s Haven and the student volunteer applying their degree subject in a real life situation. Both parties are benefitting from the relationship. Plus, they provide essential funding to Nkosi’s Haven, which will grow as the volunteer numbers grow. Educated young people absolutely can step in and fulfil this need. They can physically and mentally support an international charity that is fighting every day for the rights of children with HIV/AIDS. Nkosi’s Haven have fallen into the dangerous trap where international volunteers were costing them money, rather than receiving anything for hosting. There are many volunteer organisations out there that do not send a single £ or $ to the hosting organisation. They have since stopped working with all other volunteer organisations, and recognise the Vocational Impact programmes as the most beneficial, with funding and providing educated students. It takes the strain away from Nkosi’s Haven, with their business demands ever increasing and volunteers being able to provide support. Vocational Impact want to increase volunteer numbers for Nkosi’s Haven. Another one of the challenges at Nkosi’s Haven is that there is so much information, all over the world, from people that have helped over the years, and it hasn’t all been drawn together. They would really benefit from a centralised data system and storage so information can be drawn easily. Because of the resource struggles, the communication between Nkosi’s Haven and the outside world is compromised. There is so much media published around Gail and around Nkosi and the whole history of Nkosi Johnson. It was making world headlines. So many positive stories. They need a social media strategy, and consistent content uploaded onto their social media channels, this is the perfect project for a business and/or marketing student to work on. One of the kids could be taught how to handle this, which also provides skills to the residents of the Haven. They have lots of work to do on their compliance, and policies, and this is a project that a law student, or international development student could work on. It was amazing the pre-departure information Vocational Impact sent me, it was so accurate to what I ended up doing on my placement, and helped me understand the type of projects Nkosi's Haven were focusing on and where I could jump in and help with straight away. I was given free-reign and was told ‘if you see a gap, go right ahead and explore’. I’ve done business for 4 years, and it’s all about how to present yourself, pitch ideas, but going to Nkosi’s Haven was the real deal, there was freedom to make an instant impact. I started working on a marketing strategy, and then moved onto a strategy document that bought in all the elements and highlighted areas of growth and how to overcome challenges. One of the great things is handing over these to the next volunteer, who can then put their mark on it. By the end of the summer, Nkosi’s Haven will have received constant help, from business students. By the time I finished my placement, I had completed an online marketing strategy, and a strategy report as well as templates that Gail could use for writing policies and updating compliance. How would you say, overall, the experience was? Did you feel you made an impact? Did you learn? Did the experience match your expectations? It’s hard to form expectations about volunteering abroad. I’d never been to South Africa, I didn’t have much context. But this meant I was kept on my toes the entire time. When you learn about business in the classroom, you aren’t always sure if you would be able to put it into practice, but this experience showed me that I was capable, and able to make decisions. There were ups and downs, but I’m so pleased I did it. Especially as it it feeds into my masters degree in International Management and Leadership, where we had to find an international project with a business problem and solve it, it was also about project management and self-reflection. This placement certainly ticked all those boxes. I had to present my plans to volunteer at Nkosi’s Haven to my lecturer to get it approved, which it was. I found the business placement a very humbling and worthwhile experience. It was the first chance I've had to put all my education and learning into real-life. Working with a charity, I think, is one of the best ways to focus your business skills, as at the start of your career, you want to know about each part of a working organisation. And charities you need to be able to help with all sorts of things, and be prepared to try anything. You can then start to focus more, when you know what specific area of business you want to pursue. How did you find your placement? I fundraised. I actually found that one of the most challenging parts but a really rewarding experience. It is hard to get money off of people, which then gave me the understanding of how hard it is for charities to raise essential donations. There is a big parallel between personal fundraising and organisational fundraising. It’s really challenging, but this possibly is where I learned the most about business and gave me so much experience about how money works and how people think about money. It’s something Vocational Impact really help with and they knew how to support me. Fundraising is a really good skill to add to your CV, that you are able to fundraise as it shows your communication skills, planning and persistence. Any employer would snap you up. It's a huge personal achievement Nkosi's Haven, Johannesburg So what's next? I wrap up my masters degree, and I’ve been offered a job in London. but I don’t think I’ll take that one. I think I’m going to accept a year place on a programme in New York, that starts in August.

The Project Leaders at the Wildlife Sanctuary were amazing! The program is well-organized with a great balance between work and fun activities/experiences. The food served to the volunteers was delicious, to! Horse back ride that got us so close to the giraffes. They are such massive and graceful creatures. It was very surreal!

Overall, the trip was incredible. The site/location itself is ideally suited for those interested in animal welfare and environmental conservation. Interacting and feeding the animals onsite was incredible - we were fully immersed in the day-to-day operations and had a truly unforgettable experience.

Out of the 3 travel volunteer experiences I've completed, this was the most impactful for me. You have teamed up with an amazing organization in South Africa. The people, the culture and the work with the animals was truly a life changing experience. Soweto and the graffiti tour was really amazing to see prior to the project.

This trip has been the best thing I've ever done. Being so close to the animals at all times. Hearing the lions roaring while laying in bed. Seeing the monkeys and the giraffes walking thru the area while eating lunch. Best trip of my life!

It’s impossible to choice just one memorable part of my experience. I overall loved everything about this project and what we did. I personally loved the animal enrichments we did over the time I was there. I also loved building the enrichment area. This was truly an amazing program.