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Swaziland Orphan Care
This project provides you with the opportunity to really get involved and make a difference by supporting a worthwhile Orphan Care social development project.
HIV and AIDS affect over 40% of the population in Swaziland. As a result, Swaziland is an area that has huge challenges facing it with regard to the orphans and vulnerable children that make up 15% of the overall population. If you are wanting to gain hands-on care and social development experience, or you just want to improve the quality of life and future prospects for young children in need of support then this is the perfect project for you.
Project Age
Limit: Minimum 18 years, maximum decided on potential participants health.
The Volunteer Project
As a result of the repercussions of severe drought along with the effects of unemployment and HIV/AIDS, 60% of the children in Swaziland cannot afford to attend school. Swaziland is unfortunate in that it suffers from a high rate of unemployment – amazingly around 50% of Swazi nationals are currently out of work. Back in 2005, 40% of Swaziland’s population were said to be HIV positive and it is estimated that by 2010 there will be close to 200,000 orphaned children in the Kingdom, with an average life expectancy of 27 years of age!
The projects are based in the Ezulwini Valley in two small towns – Ezulwini and Lobamba. At Lobamba the projects are based in the heart of the traditional capital of Swaziland surrounded by symbolic and interesting national monuments, whilst some of the programme areas are in the heart of the beautiful Ezulwini Valley, known affectionately as the valley of heaven. Ezulwini is a semi-urban township in the central region of Swaziland and is halfway between the Capital Mbabane and the hub of Manzini.
Your Role as a Volunteer
The Orphan Care project will involve you taking part in rewarding work assisting orphans and vulnerable children at a number of small care centres and non-profit organisations in Swaziland. These day care centres have been introduced to try and keep children out of permanent orphanages, providing them a safe haven during the day where they can receive education and care whilst their extended families or foster families are out at work.
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, but they also require your help! 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.
The aim of this project is to assist these children who are at risk in a variety of different beneficial ways. Just 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 helping to arrange and take them on educational outings, such as a game reserve
• 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. You may also get involved in investigating and researching the areas of need and raising community awareness of the children and their needs
• Being part of feeding programmes involving activities such as developing gardens, sourcing food donations and helping to feed the children. These are supported by UNICEF and the World Food Programme
• Constructing basic shelters and helping to improve existing shelter structures
• Developing gardens, water systems and structures needed at the centres and child-headed households
• Getting involved in fundraising activities and organising events with the aim to raise awareness and funds, which will in turn benefit the vulnerable children. The activities that you will be taking part in will depend on the needs of the project at the time you are there.
Project Support
Throughout your stay in Swaziland you will have the support and guidance of your local project coordinator and team. You will be provided with competent assistance and help with any questions or advice you may need during your stay. In addition you will have access to a 24 hour emergency contact number so you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.
Project Orientation
Following your arrival, you will receive a detailed orientation to introduce you to Swaziland and the project that you will be taking part in. The orientation will include a presentation that will introduce you to the country, the project, health and safety and the extra activities available to you. You will then be sent on an orientation of the area that you will be living and working in. The orientation will take you on the public transport into the capital to visit important places, such as Internet café’s, banks and restaurants.
Accommodation and Meals
Your accommodation while on the project will be at a backpacker lodge in the Ezulwini valley, which is within 5km of most of the Orphan Care project placements and with stunning views. The lodge has a number of large dorm rooms that you will share with 3 of your fellow volunteers. You will be sleeping in bunk beds, with access to your own veranda where you can spend your evenings relaxing. There are communal bathrooms and a kitchen where meals are prepared. The lodge also benefits from a TV lounge with board games, a pool table and dartboard.
There is a spacious garden surrounding the lodge, which has a barbecue (braai) area where some of your evening meals might be cooked. The lodge is conveniently located just 2km from Ezulwini’s main facilities including a shopping centre, restaurants and craft markets. A shuttle service from the lodge is available to you and there are also ‘humba’ bikes available so you can ride down to visit the craft market.
There is also the opportunity available to you to spend some of your time at the project staying with a Swazi family. We can help arrange this prior to your departure, or you can decide to take up this option once you are there and it can be arranged for you for a period of a week or so. This will be an eye opening experience with some of the houses being just basic mud and tin structures with no running water, and others being fairly modern homes. Please let your travel advisor know if you would like to stay with a host family during your project. You may also go on community outreach excursions into rural areas (depending on the needs of your placement), which may on occasion include an overnight stay in a rural homestead.
All meals will be provided throughout the project and participants will share the cooking duties on a relaxed rotational basis. Cooking facilities will be communal and quite basic in a fully operational kitchen, with food being purchased during a weekly food shop. Generally breakfast will consist of cereals and toast, for lunch you will have sandwiches and for dinner you will have a large cooked meal.
For further information or to secure your place on this project, please call the Africa team today on 01892 516164 or email us at Africa@realgap.co.uk
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