Volunteer Role
You will be working with children aged from 2 to 16 years old, who have been identified by this project as the most vulnerable within their local communities. Most of these children do not have any parents and rely on their extended families and foster carers to provide them with a stable upbringing! All of the centres and organisations are in a great need of your support and are run by volunteers who are willing to give their time and effort to helping young children.
Some of the centres are just basic structures located in rural communities whereas others are notably more organised and developed. Occasionally you may even be teaching outside with a simple set up and will therefore need to be creative in your approach with the children. You will find that the specific aims of the centres vary but generally the objective is to provide orphaned and vulnerable children with basic care, food, education and love.
Some of the activities that you may be getting involved in as a volunteer include:
- Providing care, support and love to the children
- Organising activities and games for the children and educational outings
- Helping to teach the children simple English, maths and basic life skills
- Taking part in outreach and needs-identification initiatives, which visit homes to find vulnerable children and then identifying their needs to develop profiles for them
- Being part of feeding programmes involving activities such as developing gardens, sourcing food donations and helping to feed the children
- Constructing basic shelters and helping to improve existing shelters
- Developing gardens, water systems and structures at the centres
- Getting involved in fundraising activities and organising events
What’s Included in the Programme
- All accommodation for the duration of the programme
- All meals for the duration of the programme
- Airport transfer
- Orientation on arrival
- Orphan Care project work
- 24-hour support number and contact
What’s Not Included in the Programme
- Personal travel insurance for the duration of your placement, which should include cover for repatriation
- All flights
- Transport to and from the projects each day
- All items of a personal nature, such as curios, gifts, clothing (work and other)
- E-mail/Internet and telephone calls
- Soft drinks, wines and spirits
- Any excursions over and above your planned itinerary
Prices and Durations
Swaziland Orphan Care - 4 weeks £1,469
Swaziland Orphan Care - 8 weeks £2,089
Swaziland Orphan Care - 12 weeks £2,549
