While some people decide they just want to travel and ‘see the world' on a gap year, others decide to get involved on a volunteer project. A high percentage of these people decide they'd like to do something to help Africa.
The inequalities suffered by a high percentage of African people have been on the conscience of many people in the western world for some time and the idea that we should do more to help Africa came to the forefront again in 2005 with the G8 Summit and the resulting Live8 concerts organised by Bob Geldof. Bob Geldof himself has advocated the fact that giving money to charity in order to help Africa and its people is usually only a short-term, albeit often necessary solution, which doesn't get to the root cause of the problems. In this sense getting involved with a volunteer project to help Africa is doing much more than giving money to someone shaking a tin.
Many volunteer projects aiming to help Africa work on a policy of helping people to help themselves by organising on-going initiatives at a grass roots level.
Of course, not all volunteer projects aiming to help Africa are concerned with people. Many people who want to get involved with a project to help Africa have a love of African wildlife and the environment. There numerous projects dedicated to preserving the precious African environment and its wildlife. Aside from the prospect of gaining a real sense of achievement, working on this type of project to help Africa allows you to get to know a country, its people and its wildlife on an entirely different level from someone who's simply travelling.
There is a wide range of volunteer projects available aiming to help in Africa in some way. There are conservation projects that help Africa by carrying out valuable work with endangered species or vulnerable habitats. There are also projects dedicated to helping African people. It's possible to help Africa and make a real difference in whatever project you opt for.
You can help Africa by getting involved with conservation projects in several countries. For example, by joining the Wildlife Rehabilitation in South Africa programme you will nurse sick and injured animals, as well as ensure the survival of orphaned baby animals. This project is one of your best chances for hands-on work experience with African wildlife. This programme allows volunteers to help Africa by contributing to the valuable work of a wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary.
Help African people
If you want to help African people then South Africa has some really rewarding volunteer projects. You can work with children or with adults on a social placement. Volunteer work really is making a difference and in come offers vital to help to Africa's underprivileged communities. A South Africa gap year is a great way to help Africa.
If you are patient, enthusiastic, enjoy working with children and want to gain some valuable volunteer experience, then this worthwhile programme is waiting for you!
Travel to an amazing location in South Africa where you will not only have the opportunity to soak up the wonderful surroundings and lifestyle but also help brighten the lives of orphaned and disadvantaged children in Cape Town
There are hundreds of children in Cape Town’s inner city who live in poverty and are do not have the opportunity of an education and who have to grow up quickly to be able to survive. They do not experience a childhood that you or I take for granted. This is where your help will prove invaluable!
Join our action packed adventure tour and take in amazing scenery and incredible animal experiences. Enjoy the best South Africa's wildlife and try out thrilling abseiling, zip slides and sky high canopy tours.
Help the local children of the Masiphumelele township learn the basic skills they need in life including literacy, language and communication skills. Your interaction can greatly influence a brighter future for these disadvantaged children.
This is a great opportunity to experience the real South Africa in a small community near Cape Town, as well as making a massive difference to children’s lives by helping them to reading. Not only is this a very rewarding project but you will also be helping towards a generation of children build a brighter future.
Choose from a huge range of projects set up to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and adults in a great part of Tanzania. You could teach in primary or secondary schools, raise awareness of AIDS, or get involved in handicraft projects.
Experience an exciting and varied volunteer project on a beautiful Big 5 Game Reserve near to South Africa’s coast. Assist in conservation management whilst learning new skills and meeting some great people. You will also have the opportunity to take part in a worthwhile community project.
Discover the real Tanzania exploring the stunning scenery and wildlife on safari before joining a hugely rewarding child development project in Zanzibar, where you can help disadvantaged children at a local nursery.
Get involved with teaching, playing, singing and ultimately ensuring that you enthuse the local children about their education on this rewarding programme on the beautiful island of Zanzibar.
Work with local staff to offer friendship, love and support to orphans and disadvantaged children in West Africa. Help with homework, organise fun games and activities and most importantly build friendships and trust in this rewarding programme in the beautiful country of Ghana.
Enable school children from poor backgrounds the chance to a better future by helping to teach English, Maths, Science and Sports. This is a truly life changing project for both you and the children.
Surround yourself with some of Africa's most beautiful animals on this fantastic 2 week volunteer project. Located in South Africa, you will be assisting in caring for Lions, Leopards and Hyena's as well as many other species of wildlife.
Help Coach and play football with keen young players in a country where the sport borders on religion by assisting with well thought-out training and matches. Encounter Ghana’s other undiscovered marvels including rainforests, golden beaches and some of Africa’s friendliest people!
Help care and teach orphans and children whose parents can no longer look after them. Your love and attention can make a huge difference to the children in these two centres near Port Elizabeth.
Choose the 14-week placement which includes accommodation and meals during the 2010 Football World Cup!
Get close to the fastest mammal in the world! Monitor cheetahs and leopards and help restore the plains back to their natural state. You’ll play a vital role in preserving African wildlife for the future.
Help relieve the pressure on teachers who have up to 200 children to look after! Any assistance with core and creative subjects, and sport, will be much appreciated by everyone in the community.
Help improve the literacy, numeracy and communication skills of children in Port Elizabeth; you can really make a difference to the lives of your students and their future prospects.
Choose the 14 week placement which includes accommodation and meals during the 2010 Football World Cup!
This worthwhile project gives volunteers the opportunity to work in sports organisations and community clinics in Ghana. You will assist in providing physiotherapy treatment to West African athletes and local patients whilst experiencing a different culture and way of live in this beautiful country.
Dedicate your energy and skills to helping some of the world’s poorest children. Assist with community support, improve orphan skills, or spend your time teaching basic subjects and organising school activities.
Go back to basics in the Namib Desert as you take part in projects that help elephants and landowners to live together in harmony. You’ll go on a unique elephant patrol and get involved in building projects.
Embark on a life changing marine odyssey and feast your eyes on rare and beautiful species as you travel from the shores of Mozambique to coast of Costa Rica. Mozambique – Sri Lanka – Peru – Costa Rica
Get stuck into the demanding but highly rewarding work of caring for sick animals, building enclosures, darting and relocating animals, and helping release them into natural surroundings.
Whether you work in an orphanage, women’s centre, school or clinic, you’ll be giving something back to an underdeveloped but extremely friendly community. Living with a local family will give you extraordinary insight into Ghanaian life. Project Video Now Online
Keep young people off the streets with sports sessions. Coach football, netball, rounders or whatever you fancy – even the simplest drills will fire their enthusiasm! Get involved in successful conservation and construction projects, too.
Set off on an incredible journey across the world’s most fascinating continent! Discover the hidden secrets of the African plains and get to know its wildest inhabitants as you walk with lions and hang out with monkeys! Zimbabwe - Namibia - South Africa.
Help provide AIDS victims with food, shelter, emotional support, education and increased awareness of the disease. Children who have lost their parents to AIDS are given the chance of a better future through this programme.
Enjoy the best bits of Tanzania, hand-picked by Real Gap staff. Carry out rewarding project work on a community project, trek Mt Kilimanjaro and go on a camping safari in some of the best scenery in Africa!
Covering Thailand, China, Malaysia, Africa and Australia, this really is the ultimate wildlife experience! Lend a hand with vital conservation work across the globe and get up close to a variety of animals! Zimbabwe - Thailand - China - Malaysia - Australia - USA
Do the unthinkable - walk with lions! Collect data, carry out research and watch as the lion cubs learn to hunt. You’ll also educate local children, and pay a memorable visit to elephant orphans.
As seen on ITV’s incredible Lion Country series, meet the stars of the show yourself!
Experience the ultimate in wildlife conservation and walk with lions through the African bush. As you walk alongside the lions, enjoy the exhilaration of being part of a hunt as the young cubs learn to stalk their prey so that eventually they can be released back into the wild.
As seen on ITV’s incredible Lion Country series, meet the stars of the show yourself!
Experience raw Africa through the plains of Kenya. You’ll witness it's breathtaking landscapes, learn about nomadic cultures, help provide first hand data on wildlife activities and promote harmony between the community and wildlife.
Actively help to save endangered wildlife species in Zululand by initiating, implementing and managing some of the most exciting monitoring projects in this part of South Africa.
Experience life in Kenya from the inside with the Kenya Gap Experience. It includes community work, a wildlife safari, a snorkelling excursion, visits to Diani, beach parties – and an overwhelming sense of achievement.
Channel the enthusiasm of poor but extremely eager children into learning. Teach English, run after-school activities, organise sports lessons and give them a chance to make a success of their lives.
Swim with great whites…in a cage! Sail through Sharks’ Alley, among seals and penguins, while you record shark activity. Tuition on shark behaviour, underwater filming and lots more will give you an in depth understanding of these magnificent creatures.
Spend your gap year on a travel extravaganza across Africa, Australasia and the USA! In just 12 months, you’ll take in the best of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and the American South! Africa – Australia – New Zealand – Fiji – USA
Volunteers with medical qualifications assist in hospitals while those that don’t are just as valuable in the orphanages. Plus, you’ll be involved in tough but very rewarding work to improve life in Nairobi slums.
Nurse injured and orphaned monkeys, plus baboons, snakes, crocodiles and any other animals needing attention. Longer-staying volunteers have the chance to work on sites that release monkeys back into the wild. Project Video Now Online
Give some much-needed assistance to medical staff. Help out at a hospital or clinic in the mornings, then dedicate your skills to playing with children, renovating schools or the Elephant Pepper Project in the afternoons.
Learn to build houses the Swazi way! Get hands-on construction, painting and repair experience and provide children with secure shelter and proper facilities. A great project that desperately needs volunteer support.
Walk with lions and watch cubs hunt their first prey. This is a rare opportunity to get close to wild animals while contributing to valuable breeding and release work. Explore the grasslands on horseback or elephant-back, too.
As seen on ITV’s incredible Lion Country series, meet the stars of the show yourself!
Spend your time in Malawi introducing children to community sports and getting involved with community projects. Based in an idyllic but desperately poor country, you’ll make a real difference to young people’s lives.
Give vulnerable children what they crave – love and affection. By organising games, teaching them basic English and maths, and helping build profiles of deprived children, you’ll play a vital role in improving their quality of life.
This is a fantastic opportunity to experience African wilderness whilst contributing to the conservation of large carnivores in this area. The carnivore research project offers a hands-on scientific experience as well as helping to conserve habitats and wildlife.
Help teach invaluable computer and sport skills set amongst Africa’s most spectacular scenery. This is a great teaching project, especially for first time travellers or those who may be nervous about taking the first step to teach. Project Video Now Online
Take part in projects aimed at helping children and adults in rural Mozambique. They could be fun days, English lessons, HIV/AIDS workshops, football tournaments, craft workshops, cooking lessons or house rebuilding for disabled villagers.
Handle rhino, train elephants and make a real difference to the future of endangered species in Zimbabwe. Living close to the animals will give you a unique insight into their lives and make for fantastic photos opportunities.
Take an unforgettable tour of southern Africa, getting close to game in South Africa, working with orphans in Swaziland and snorkelling with whale sharks in Mozambique. Indian Ocean beaches provide a paradisiacal finale!
Make a difference volunteering in clinics and hospitals in Ghana whilst help local medical staff administer essential treatment to their patients. You will also be supporting under funded clinics and overworked staff as well as gaining invaluable insight into medical care in Africa.
Get up close and personal with whale sharks – they eat plankton, not humans! Learn to dive in tropical waters and collect data on whale sharks, coral reefs and turtles.
Make a difference to a country crippled by AIDS and unemployment. Help teachers with English classes or give your own lessons, set up new sports clubs, put on plays or get involved in building new facilities for the schools.
Experience some of the best sights and culture in Southern Africa whilst giving vital help and support to desperate families in two project locations. Combine volunteer work with children and families in need with travelling along the stunning Wild Coast and Garden Route from Swaziland to Cape Town.
Get yourself on course to manage a game farm or nature reserve. Surrounded by the Big Five and other African wildlife, you’ll learn about educational bush walks, how to identify animals, game tracking, navigation and more. Project Video Now Online
Get hands-on with orphaned and injured animals. The centre cares for big cats, baboons, crocodiles and many others, and is also working to tackle the problem of wild animals attacking farmers’ livestock.
Study the fascinating workings of the African savannah and help protect its fragile ecosystem. Enjoy a five day Kruger safari where you’ll have the chance to see elephants, rhinos, lions and leopards before working along side wildlife researchers in a national park in Swaziland learning hands-on conservation techniques.
Volunteer on different projects in this community in South-West Zambia. Helping to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and adults you will build mud hut homes for locals and assist in the pre-school, out patients department and home for the elderly. You will also experience a trip into Botswana for a bush camp and wildlife safari.
Sample some of Africa’s exhilarating highlights. Camp in Kruger National Park with the big five, do a volunteer placement in Swaziland and learn to scuba dive in Mozambique. An adventure with a bit of everything!
Play a part in protecting South Africa’s beautiful Wild Coast. Work at a lion cub centre, sleep under the stars, learn about wildlife management, go on game drives and bushwalks, and more – perfect for outdoor people!
Through work experience at radio stations, newspapers and TV centres, you will gain valuable insight into the journalism and media industry in this beautiful country. This is a great internship placement to gain first hand experience whilst working with local journalists to help under-funded organisations.
Let sport work its magic on enthusiastic but deprived children in Swaziland. Organise sports days and run training sessions in football, tennis, netball and volleyball – or all four. Don’t be surprised if the children mob you!
Need a career change? Want a qualification? Always dreamt of working alongside the wildlife of Africa? Then this is field guide course in South Africa is the ideal programme for you!
Help provide much needed medical assistance and educate the local community about HIV/AIDS awareness on this medical programme in the beautiful location of St Lucia.
Live a horse lover’s dream! Help with the day-to-day care of neglected and abused horses and build up their confidence. You’ll be able to ride the Wild Coast’s spectacular beach and bush trails too.
Help teach the children in the areas surrounding Port Elizabeth the abiltity to swim. Not only is this a hugely gratifying experience, you will also leave a lasting impression on the children you meet and teach them a skill that could save their lives!
Put your love of photography to good use on a World Heritage Site. Photograph elephants, rhinos and many other creatures for a database, and possibly magazines. You’ll also teach local children about their surroundings.
Get up close and personal with Africa’s wildlife, from Black Mambas to Baboon Spiders. As a reptile centre volunteer, you’ll be involved in research, feeding, building enclosures, demonstrating and much more. Project Video Now Online
Offer vital support to young boys in Tanzania – AIDS victims, and those who have been neglected or abused. Teach them the skills and show them the affection they’ll need to lead happier lives as adults.
Project Video Now Online
