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This project offers you the opportunity to contribute to important community and sports programmes, working with children in rural African. You would be helping the children to develop their soccer skills, working with them to increase HIV and AIDS awareness, plus taking part in craft workshops, English language tuition, and a range of community development initiatives.
Age restrictions
The lower limit is 18 years of age. There is no upper limit, although acceptance onto the project is dependent on applicants’ health and fitness.
Highlights of your Mozambique volunteer project
- Teaching in a rural pre-school through songs, games and crafts
- Local orphanage involvement and assistance
- Work on our outreach project and provide sick people with the skills to gain a sustainable income for themselves
- Help rebuild traditional houses destroyed by Cyclone Favio for disadvantaged and disabled villagers
- Learn some of the local language
- Coach a local youth soccer team
- Immerse all of your senses in local Mozambican culture during an enlightening day involving an insight into the traditional lifestyles of the local area, including traditional food, dancing, drumming and singing
- Make friends for life with the other international volunteers on the programme
Your Volunteer Programme
You will be able to take part in a wide range of project areas such as craft workshops, cookery lessons, HIV and AIDS workshops, teaching English and general community development work. You will also spend your time playing with the local kids on the football project, developing their skills and organising tournaments, whilst also gaining an invaluable insight into the everyday lives of local Mozambique communities of Africa.
This project has a very rural feel and involves various aspects of community work and development in and around the coastal town of Vilanculos. We support a number of different community development initiatives, where mornings are spent at a village preschool and afternoons are rotated around various community projects.
The projects are always evolving so will be at different stages. Therefore, you should be prepared to be involved in a wide diversity of project work as things evolve and develop, all of which are moving the project towards a common goal. Our aim is to provide you with a diverse and varied experience, which will allow you valuable insights into the everyday lives of underprivileged individuals in this area of Mozambique. You will have the opportunity to be involved in the following programmes and various project areas included. These are:
1) Rural Preschool and Learning Programme
You can visit the pre-school every morning supporting the local teachers and educating the children in creative ways, such as:
- Singing and dancing with the children in both English and local languages
- Developing the children’s creative skills through crafts such as painting, drawing and colouring
- Playing games with the children to keep their sense of childhood which is often lost with the tasks that they perform at home
- General upkeep of the school to keep it a pleasant environment in which to learn.
After the Cyclone, the School was badly damaged with the roof missing, veranda destroyed and paint peeling off. Thanks to the generous assistance of a private donor we were able to facilitate the repair of the roof, the outside has been painted and a new garden planted. Volunteers painted the inside of the school and the children now have a fun, inspiring and vibrant place to learn. In 2008 we hope to facilitate the building of another two classrooms to expand the facility.
2) Community Projects
After having spent the morning at the pre-school, you will help out the local community in different areas in the afternoon in projects such as those outlined below:
Orphan Care Work
- Building development at certain times of the year.
- English and Portuguese lessons with the children with the assistance of visual aids and a translator.
- Developmental playtime where the children get to learn new games and play with toys that they wouldn't normally have access to.
- Constructive sports games such as Frisbee and Soccer.
- Giving the orphans the one on one care and attention that they deserve but rarely get.
- We are now teaching them craftwork such as making Rag Rugs, shell mobiles, pot decoration etc. These are mostly with the use of free materials and things that the kids can source easily in the local community, which teaches them resourcefulness.
Rural Home-Building
Cyclone Favio hit the Mozambican coast in February 2007 and devastated much of the local area. Our project was involved in the initial relief work and assisting AID agencies and through our local contacts we have continued with rural home-building for local disadvantaged and disabled villagers.
Whilst most of the visible damage of Cyclone Favio has been erased, there are still many disadvantaged villagers who are homeless. We are currently managing to build 1 home every 2-3 weeks. They are simple and rustic structures of the same style as the local community and provide shelter for individuals who would otherwise have nowhere to call home. The work is sometimes grueling, but always rewarding and offers an amazing insight into rural Vilanculos and the chance to interact with locals.
3) Sports Coaching: Football
You will be involved with 2 sessions each week with our main team of older boys and also with the coaching of younger children who are eager to be involved and learn. We work closely with a local coach who oversees all training with older boys which adds to the consistency and effectiveness of the programme.
You will be involved in:
- Basic exercises and team-building drills such as running/fitness, stretching, team-work, skills and drills
- Soccer games and tournaments
Even if you are not particularly interested in being involved in football, the chance to work with the younger children using the football field as a stage to teach them life skills and enhance their sense of self-worth is extremely rewarding, and fun! Even with the older children you can just join in doing their warm ups which is quite amusing. For the people who want to get more involved you can assist in coaching, new exercises, organising the teams and playing the matches.
Project Orientation
Upon your arrival in Vilanculos you will be met by an African representative, who will escort you to your new 'home'. Once you have settled in, you will receive further information on the current status of our programme involvements in the local community. You will be given a detailed Welcome Pack, which will contain all the important information you may need.
You will be orientated to the area that you will be living in and also the local town as well as be shown the areas that you will be volunteering in. In the next few days, you will visit the project sites and be introduced to the relevant project and volunteer coordinators that you will be working closely with.
Project Support
Throughout your placement in Vilanculos, you will have the support and guidance of our experienced volunteer coordinators. They are part of our greater African support team who will provide you with competent 24-hour field support and assistance. In addition, we will provide you with a 24 hour emergency contact number before you depart, so that you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.
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