ISV - Volunteer Projects in South Africa

On January 19 2013, I travelled with International Student Volunteers to South Africa for what was undoubtedly the most amazing, rewarding month of my life!

I chose to undertake a conservation project - I worked with 19 other students, 2 amazing ISV leaders and 3 incredible members of the host organisation WEI (Wildlife Ecological Investments) at Masebe Nature Reserve.
Here, we stayed at the local 'Telekishi' community in traditional huts. During the morning, we would wake up early to do bird counts out in the field (by the end of the two weeks we were all expert bird spotters, and could even mimic some of the native bird calls!). After the bird counts, we conducted transects - we essentially measured the vegetation to help WEI identify if the land is suitable for use as a game reserve again. Driving to each site we saw an array of animals including kudu, impala and giraffes! We went for hikes up the nearby cliffs for spectacular views of the area whilst learning about the history of the area by a member of the Telekishi community.
Additionally, we visited the local school – this was so much fun, and incredibly rewarding! The kids were so excited to see us, it was so hard leaving them. We taught the children about the water cycle, and the importance of keeping our waterways clean and unpolluted! Also, we were involved in meetings with adult community members that taught them the importance of caring for the environment.

After two weeks of volunteering, we had to say goodbye to Teleskishi :( - and hello to the adventure tour!
We started off in Jeffrey’s Bay, Port Elizabeth - here, we stayed in awesome beachfront accommodation! This place had a really cool vibe about it; here we had surfing lessons and explored the surf shops.
Then we headed to Tsitsikamma National park, where we went ziplining, hiked along the coast to a brilliant open waterfall, and those of us who were keen bungy jumped off Bloukrans Bridge (216m high - the worlds highest bungy jump – this was amazing!). 

Then we headed along the spectacular garden route to Cape Town. Here, we spent 5 days doing activities such as going up table mountain, visiting Langa township, visiting the local markets, going to a 25m long buffet with African entertainment and face-painting, visiting seal and penguin colonies, and on our free day some of us went shark cage diving!
Then we flew up to Johannesburg and drove to Blyde River Canyon; just after we unpacked, we walked outside our accommodation to find kudu walking around, and then sat and watched monkeys playing as the sun went down! Here we went canyoning in the worlds largest green canyon, went river tubing, and relaxed in the pool in our free time.
Our last stop was the amazing Kruger National Park – we went on a night drive and a full day game drive – on both occasions we saw animals such as giraffes, elephants, buffalo, jackals, lions and zebra, among others!
The worst part of the trip was coming home – I’ll definitely be visiting South Africa again!

ISV really opened up my eyes to the world outside of my own. In January 2012 I headed off to Africa with ISV. I got to really experience not only the culture of Africa but also really understand the hardship that the people there go through. It was so rewarding to give back to such an amazing community and see how appreciative the people were of our hard work. I now appreciate my home country and everything I have so much more.

Another positive that came out of ISV was that I was always too scared to travel to Africa by myself and none of my friends wanted to come with me. When I heard of ISV, I thought it would be an easy and safe way to travel. Turns out, I was 100% correct. In fact, so correct, that I extended my trip another 4 weeks and continued to travel around Africa by myself. If it weren't for ISV, I probably never would have ended up going to Africa. The ISV staff really looked after us and made me feel safe the whole time. There was not one moment in the 4 week ISV program that I felt unsafe or in trouble.

I would definitely do another trip with ISV and recommend ISV to everyone as you get to have the best adventures, make some awesome new friends from all over the world and also make a difference in the world, even if it may only be a small contribution - every little bit of help counts. ISV is the best thing I've ever done out of all of my travels.

A big thank you to ISV for giving me the opportunity of a life time. From two weeks of volunteer work, camping in Swaziland, immersing myself in the African bush, to an action packed, fun and fulfilling tour around South Africa, i cannot fault the program.
Making life long friends from around the world, Bungy jumping in Storms River and learning the local language Siswati, were definite stand outs of my trip however 4 weeks with the program and i would not change a thing.
I highly recommend this program and if you do decide to become a volunteer and travel with ISV i highly recommend the 2weeks volunteer work and 2 weeks tour including the optional activity package :)

My trip to South Africa was the most eye opening and heart warming thing I have ever done! The things I experienced and the things that I saw while I was there will live within my memory and my heart forever! I would highly recommend travelling to study, volunteer and adventure to anyone and everyone. Trust me if I can do it any one can! All you have to do is dream and believe! Hands down the best thing I have ever done and I will definitely be doing it again soon.

ISV’s motto is ‘Impact you world’ and they offer students the chance to make difference in developing countries. The truth is though, if one participates in any of the ISV programs then chances are the culture that you immerse yourself in will have a greater impact on your personality than you could ever imagine. I participated in their 2013 summer season on a 4 week program in South Africa focussing on projects based on community development and it was genuinely a life changing experience.
A group of 14 volunteers worked in the township of Dunoon, approximately half an hour out of Cape Town, where our goal was to build a shade roof outside the community centre. The community centre runs a crèche for the young children as well as a communal gathering area and so the shade cloth was to give them a place to shelter whenever the sun if it got too hot.
Priscilla, a local woman took it upon herself to run her own crèche about 10 minutes away from the town centre and here we worked putting up a new fence to keep the kids safe instead of the patchwork of rotting wood palings, torn tarpaulin that was being held together by a countless amount of bent, rusty nails. The work was gruelling at times but we encouraged each other to keep at it and whenever you put the tools down there would always be kids that would throw themselves at you to be carried, take photos with or just to kick a ball around. By the end of our 2 weeks we had achieved all we set out to do and had a little party with the kids. Seeing their joy and knowing this was the last time you’d rub thumbs and say ‘sharp! Sharp!’ was bittersweet to appreciate the simple joys of life was one of the greatest lessons that the people of Dunoon could have taught me.
The next 2 weeks consisted of a tour of South Africa which saw us travel from Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and finishing in Kruger national Park. It was a whirlwind tour that saw friendships develop whilst doing a variety of activities such as kloofing (canyoning), abseiling, learning how to surf in Jeffrey’s Bay and encouraging others to face their fear of heights at Bloukrans Bridge Bungy; the world’s Highest bridge bungy.
Now to truly make this a South African tour we were taken on safari drives one in the evening and a full day drive in Kruger National park where we saw zebras, lions, rhinos and elephants however the leopard stayed true to its character and remained elusive as ever, which really isn’t a bad thing as it gives me more incentive to go back to such a wonderfully diverse country.
From the leaders they have on project and tour to the way they shape the program what ISV ultimately does is reward students who participate with irreplaceable memories and new friendships and return home with a greater perspective on life and their impact on their world.

For more information check out the website http://www.isvolunteers.org/

Volunteering for ISV in South Africa has impacted my life forever. I participated in a wildlife conservation project in the Kingdom of Swaziland which included tortoise tracking and setting up camera traps to monitor baboon activity in nearby game parks. We camped for 2 weeks in a game reserve. It was like a 2 week long, 24 hour a day safari! Meeting the beautiful people of Swaziland and South Africa was a most wonderful experience that I will never forget.

For the first two weeks of my trip, I volunteered in the remote north-eastern corner of South Africa where we gathered data to determine how well the nature reserve was coping with the number of its animal inhabitants. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of the wildlife, the unique beauty of the landscape, hospitality of the local people and explored the landscape surrounding us.
The highlights include the unparalleled natural beauty from the top of mountainous landmarks and, of course, the company of your volunteering peers.
The following two weeks were comprised of adventures that took us all over this beautiful country in high excitement and safety. From Kruger to Cape Town and everywhere in between. Highlights included kloofing, bungee-jumping, shark diving, surfing and many more.

When I began to tell others that I was going to South Africa for volunteer work, the typical reaction was, ‘Be careful. It is a very dangerous place’. This led me to have some misgivings about my choice of OE. Yet, now I can safely say these fears were completely unfounded. My journey to South Africa was unforgettable with experiences that will be hard to match.

The journey was organised by International Student Volunteers (ISV), a company that arranges trips, combing a period of volunteer work, followed by an adventure tours for students from all over the world. It offers a variety of choices for both parts of the journey, and for the part of the world. For me, the country, obviously, was South Africa and my area of interest was wildlife conservation. I took part in two weeks of volunteer work, at the Ann Van Dyke Cheetah Centre in Pretoria, followed by two weeks of travelling around South Africa.

This journey interested me as I have always wanted to visit South Africa and because I love working with animals. I also felt it was a good opportunity to assess my career path as I am currently studying a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology.

During my volunteer work I took part, along with a group of other students, from around the world, in feeding and interacting with the Cheetahs and the many other endangered animals that the Ann Van Dyke Centre cares for. These include cheetahs, African wild dogs, vultures and hyenas. The work was not demanding and we got to hang out with the Cheetahs up close. The workers were kind and made you feel right at home. It was amazing to feel calm sitting down next to a potential killer. We assisted in preparing some cubs for Miami and Canberra Zoo and clearing enclosures for new Cheetahs. Overall the experience was surreal. To be able to feed and be so close to so many animals, reinforced my choice of career path and stimulated a special interest for large animals.

Following the volunteer work, my group and the other conservation groups with ISV came together for our South Africa Tour. On tour, we such a full schedule and went to so many places that we only had one free day to do as we pleased. We started at Kruger National Park, then to Port Elizabeth and finally Cape Town, travelling mainly by bus. It was so much fun travelling with all of these new people and seeing/doing so much; kloofing (hiking, caving and cliff-jumping), tubing, safaris, zip-lining, bungy jumping and surfing. It was wonderful.

Throughout the month everything I did was a unique and memorable experience, but there were a few things that stood out. Firstly, having lunch in the enclosure with the two Canberra cubs, that sat and purred while we ate. Another moment would have to be bungy jumping from 216m (the worlds highest bridge bungy). Then lastly, seeing all of the incredible animals; from a cute spider monkey to the massive endangered Black Rhino. I took nearly 2000 photos and I am struggling to decide which ones to select for my album. The sky there everyday was blue and full of sunshine and I’ve made friends I will never forget.

My journey to South Africa has left me far more knowledgeable about the country and its struggles. Africa has got under my skin and I want to return to work with more of our endangered animals.

Thank you ISV and I will return!