SAVE Volunteering Humanitarian Projects

Name: SAVE Volunteering Humanitarian Projects
Brand: SAVE Volunteering
SKU: 37718
Rating: 4.83 (116 reviews)

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4.83 Rating

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Location

Multiple Locations +4

South Africa
- Cape Town
Namibia
- Windhoek
Malawi
Tanzania
- Dar es Salaam

Length

2 to 6 weeks

Project Types

Agriculture Business Childcare Street Children Community Development Building Projects Family Sports Youth Wildlife Conservation Primate Conservation Education Teaching Health Education Health +5

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Program Details

Language

English

Age Min.

Age Max

Housing

Hostel

Groups

Small Group (1-15)

Pricing

Price Details

Includes: 3 meals a day, accommodation, transport, orientation, 24 hr support and donation to the NPO

What's Included

Accommodation Meals Transportation

What's Not Included

Activities Airfare Domestic Airfare Equipment SIM cards Travel Insurance Visa Wifi

Last Updated: Jan 25, 2022

Last Reviewed: Jan 05, 2023

Wish List

84 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

SAVE Volunteering is a Non-Profit Organisation. We are NOT a booking agent: we run, manage and fund all of our Humanitarian and Wildlife Projects with the help of volunteers.
We believe in transparent and sustainable programs that impact our local community and wildlife.

The volunteer fees go towards, food, accommodation, transport, orientation and the rest of the money gets donated to the NPO for running costs such as stationary or meals for the children and meals for the Wildlife.

Join one of our amazing projects and leave with a life-changing experience!

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Consider your impact: Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding experience for both volunteers and local communities, and at Go Overseas, we believe all volunteers should have the resources to make informed decisions about the type of volunteer project they want to partake in. However, despite best intentions, some organizations offering placements in orphanages may unknowingly place children in danger. You can read about the potential dangers of orphanage volunteering here.

Video and Photos

A happy group of children and volunteers in South Africa.

SAVE Volunteer working with children in South Africa.

Program Highlights

Help us better the lives of the children on our Humanitarian projects and the Animals on our Wildlife project.
Educate children to better their future on our Humanitarian projects and build structures and homes for our animals on our Wildlife projects.
Form a relationship with our children and see the world through their eyes on our Humanitarian projects. Protect Africas Wildlife on our Wildlife projects.
Learn about conservation and Africa’s wild animals on our Wildlife projects. Learn about patience and hard work on our Humanitarian projects.
Have a close animal encounter with some of the human tolerant animals on our Wildlife projects. Spend time with children in need of your affection and attention on our Humanitarian projects.

Popular Programs

Sport & Youth Development Project

Children living in impoverished communities have a huge need for youth development projects which serve to teach them valuable life skills such as teamwork, structure, discipline and which uplifts their self-esteem through the realization of talent.

Cape Town Community Development Project

The main objective is empowering the local community and supporting them with their basic needs. We regularly distribute food hampers to the underprivileged and clothes in the winter. We engage these communities in regular education, motivation, and social upliftment programs and exciting events such as fun at the beach, various sporting activities and movie outings that are hosted throughout the year.

School and Educare Project

Volunteers are placed in pre-schools in disadvantaged communities. No experience is necessary and volunteers can have the joy of watching a child learn and helping them through the process. You will be assigned to a class and will help the teacher in their daily tasks, be it teaching, marking or sports training. After school hours volunteers will be involved in after care or after school programs in the settlements.

Adventure Club Project

This project is a great way for volunteers to gain experience working with children and groups. Learning new outdoor activities such as swimming, boxing, spike ball surfing and skateboarding – volunteers receive lessons so they can help teach the children.

Namibia Medical Project

The Clinic is based in Epukiro provides free primary health care services to more than 3,500 patients every year – through both clinic-based healthcare and personal outreach around the region. More than 40% of the patients treated there are children and more than 90% are San Bushmen. A huge focus of the work at the Clinic is to tackle the tuberculosis burden within the San population. The clinic is quite literally a lifeline for thousands of San Bushman.

Skills Development Project

This Project allows volunteers to transfer a skill they have to the local communities. Communities you will work in have low education levels and English comprehension. SAVE is always in need of volunteers with special skills that they can transfer to our communities and allow them to become self-sufficient and productive members of society. Examples are first aid, family planning, childcare, dance classes, drama workshops, business management, computer literacy, woodwork and craftsmanship.

Related Programs

Program Reviews

4.83 Rating

based on 116 reviews

Leave a Review

Rating Spread Volunteer

5 rating 87.93%
4 rating 9.48%
3 rating 0.86%
2 rating 0.86%
1 rating 0.86%

Impact 4.7
Support 4.75
Fun 4.65
Value 4.8
Safety 4.75

Good for Students, Solo Travelers, Adventure travelers

Showing 9 - 16 of 116 reviews

SAVE is an amazing company that really cares about their volunteers and the communities they help. I spent two weeks volunteering in Dunoon with SAVE and from the daily family dinners, car rides to placements and the placements themselves, it’s difficult to choose a favourite experience!
The other volunteers you meet will only enhance the experience, and I am still in contact with most today!
If you are looking to volunteer in South Africa, I highly recommend SAVE as you know you’ll be safe, enjoy your time and contribute meaningfully to the project.

I cannot describe the impact my experience at SAVE has had on my life. I was absolutely captivated by the school I worked at as well as by the SAVE staff and Cape Town as a whole. Ive lived in South Africa before but never in Cape Town and volunteering for SAVE was a truly special way to see the city and make an impact.

I highly recommend this program to anyone that’s ready to meaningfully contribute to a community in a new place and also see one of the most beautiful cities on the planet! It really is something that will change the way you see things- please please do it!!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?

My advice would be to embrace everything that’s thrown at you and to prepare for the best stay of your life!

The Surf and Adventure program consists of spending mornings at a township, spending the most amazing time helping the teachers run their little schools, helping shape the kids education and making bonds with the wonderful teachers. The afternoons are full of fun, doing sport activities (surfing, skating, swimming etc.) with teens from the same neighbourhood/township where you spend your mornings.

Having experience as a teacher or being good at surfing etc. is not a requirement (trust me, after three months on a surfing board I still could not do it), the only thing you need is a positive attitude and motivation to make something of your day, because you are there for the kids!

The organisation SAVE has staff that love their work and it shows, they put a lot of effort to shape the program (when the kids have holiday weeks they arranged for us to take them into capetown and see museums for example!) and are also there for you on a personal level (when missing family or feeling sick).

I would recommed SAVE because they offer a very rewarding program and I would go back any day if i could.

PS. on a more personal note, the way you spend a lot of the activities together with other volunteers and live together, you make the most amazing friendships that last a long time after everybody is back home!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?

Be prepared! Look up on facebook what are good educational games and activities for little kids with limited supplies, it feels good to propose something and it being received well!
And spend your weekends exploring the beautiful surroundings. South Africa has a lot to offer ( I know you might be tired but you will regret it if you go to the beach instead of climb table mountain :) )

The number one comment people made was 'I wish I would have booked more weeks...'

morning class, the kids have a great spirit

The teachers at morning school are wonderful women with great hearts

Dinner together every day with the volunteers!

Just two months ago I was a volunteer for SAVE and I had the best time of my life!

In the mornings we were helping the teachers at the pre schools, and in the afternoon we were playing sports with kids from a primary school. It is amazing to see the smile on the faces of these kids when you are playing with them. It really brightens my day!

What is so special about SAVE is that the staff and the volunteers are so passionate about the work they do. With the work they do, they can make small but also big changes in the lives of these kids. And how special is it, that with even little actions, you already can make a big difference in the lifes of these kids. All i want to say is Thank you to SAVE, for giving me an amazing time in Africa ❤️

To everyone who wants a life changing experience and wants to do something good for others, SAVE is the place for you!😊

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?

So, I only could stay at this project for 3 weeks, so if i could do this all over again, I would stay much longer! I had such an amazing time and i feel like you can mean so much more for the kids when you stay longer. I also can't wait to return to South-Africa and to SAVE to experience it all over again!

These were the kids at the pre school I was going to: Zusahke

Taking part in the SAVE project is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Everyone at SAVE were very kind and welcoming. I took part in the surf and adventure program in Cape Town and it was so much fun. Helping out in pre-schools in the mornings and then doing sports with the older kids in the afternoon. I myself learnt a lot in my time with SAVE about different cultures and working with children. It was so uplifting and inspiring to work with these amazing kids, teachers and other volunteers and everyone had the most positive attitude. This program allowed me to make friends for life from all over the world and for that I am so thankful!!
This was a one of a kind experience and I am lucky to have had the opportunity to take part in this program and have the time of my life!

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?

I only stayed for 3 weeks at the program this time, if I got to do it again I would stay for at least 6 weeks!

I was in the Surf Adventure program where we volunteered in the schools of the townships in the morning, and then in the afternoon with older kids in sporting activities, including swim, surf, dance and boxing.

SAVE is an organization run by a lot of amazing people with a great heart that really try to make things better, they work hard and with love not only for the communities, but also for the volunteers, they make you feel at home.

These children live in a township where homes are often built from scrap metal and second hand materials, without running water, and violence is common in this neighborhood. So their work is essential to make these children’s lives better.

Volunteering with them was a life changing experience where I met amazing people, have a lot of fun and make unforgettable memories so I highly recommend them and I hope to go back some day! ❤️

Volunteering with SAVE was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. SAVE is a wonderful organization that cares a lot about the community. The people that run it are dedicated and have their heart in the right place. These people were kind, helpful, hardworking. And most importantly they made you feel welcome. The other volunteers I worked with became good friends of me. We were a very intimate group of people who loved working together as a team, trying to educate and entertain the kids. The 4 weeks I spend in South Africa were some of the best weeks of my life. I will honestly never forget what this program has done for me and what it has taught me. The kids and teachers were incredibly nice and helpful and I still miss them every day. I hope I can come back someday and see them all again.

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?

When I first arrived in Cape Town.
There I was at the other side of the world, by myself, being in unfamiliar territory. I was afraid of many things, I thought I wasn't going to make friends, or even find my driver that would pick me up. But I realized how big this opportunity was and how much I wanted it, so I forgot about the nerves and concentrated on the things that were to come. It's normal to be nervous and perhaps a little scared but there is no reason to be!

A group picture with the children, some of the volunteers and the teachers

Picture of some of the volunteers with some of the children.

It was one of the best experiences I ever had ! I got to be with the children in the morning and help them read and study, you feel their love and see how much you are important to them ! In the afternoon in the sport activities I think I have fun like the children, I learn with them how to skate or to surf and just fell like I’m the person that they need to talk and just share with things ! All the programs were amazing and I felt that if I need help the staff will always be there ! It is the most beautiful place in the world, it is fun to be with the volunteers, with the kids and just to get to know more places in our amazing world ! I know that I will come back, and I think that most of the volunteers fell like me !

Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with SAVE in South Africa?

I was getting quite tired of studying law at home in Norway, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue.

I decided to take a break from my studies and do something I had wanted to do for a long time--travel!

I’m working at a youth center run by the Norwegian Red Cross in Oslo, and I wanted to bring my experiences from that into a completely different place. And SAVE was perfect.

What made this volunteer abroad experience unique and special?

Everything! It’s not an underestimation when I say that I had the time of my life! I made friends from all over the world, and the friendship we developed was something really special.

We worked together, ate together, partied together, spent our free time together, we really did everything together! And of course, seeing the kids react so thankfully for the work we do.

It is a wakeup call for all of us coming from rich countries where people are taking all the material goods for granted!

View Entire Interview

Tell me about one person you met. [It could be a local, a fellow program participant or a member of the SAVE staff]

It’s pretty hard to choose one from all of the amazing people I met. My best friends down there – Mike, Frederik, Marc, Sofie and Kristina – made my stay ten times better than I ever expected, and I’m so happy that I have kept in contact with them.

But I think the one that made the greatest impression on me was Nikki. She runs the project in Skandaalkamp. Even though I wasn't in her group, she made me realize what a true hero she is.

She was always concerned about getting enough food for her babies in Skandaal, but she always found a way to figure it out! She made t-shirts with the handprints of the kids and sold them to the volunteers.

She also made bracelets and did everything she could think of. She is a person that thinks more about the kids than herself, and thanks to her, the kids in skandaalkamp can get food and education!

What was the best moment of the entire trip?

This is not an easy question either, haha! My entire trip was awesome, and it’s difficult to pick one moment. But one day we had swimming lessons with the kids where we were trying to teach them how to float.

One of the girls was holding onto me really hard, begging me not to let go of her. I asked her to relax, and said I would be right there. I held her back under the water while she laid flat, and after a while, I removed my hands from her.

She was floating on her own, and I have never ever seen a smile that big! She was hugging me, saying thank you, and wanted to float around in the pool all day!

The christmas party afterwards at Elundini was also perfect! All of the kids got a gift, and they were running around with big smiles the whole day!

How has this experience impacted your future? (Personally, professionally, etc)

Well… I decided to continue with my law studies when I got back to Oslo. But, I was more motivated than before I left.

Now I’m sure that I want to use my law degree to work for human rights and children’s welfare! Personally, the trip made me a lot stronger.

Traveling alone to a completely unfamiliar country was a good experience.

Even though I was terrified when I left Oslo, I came home with hundreds of impressions, and felt like I could never ever complain about my life in Oslo again.

I still think about all the kids I got to know in Cape Town, and I miss them more and more.

Before I left to South Africa, all the poverty was just something I had seen on television. Now, I relate the poverty to faces. The faces of the kids that I was so lucky to work with every day…

Amanda Lind

2013 Alum

Marc Eversdijk

Marijke Fleury

Nick van de Klundert

Tom Visser

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

What is your favorite travel memory?

Wellington has many good memories of traveling across Africa. One of his favourite memories was traveling to Paternoster with all the volunteers and staff for a weekend away. When they got there, there wasn't enough room in the tents, so he slept on the bus with his sleeping bag.

It was a really fun experience for him.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I feel welcome here, it's like being at home, all the people are so friendly.

I have been able to take a lot of initiative through this work and it has made me believe in myself and make me more confident and have more self-belief. Working here has opened my eyes to different cultures and walks of life.

View Entire Interview

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

There was a volunteer that always said she liked my driving and the African music I play in the car when I drive them to project and back. When she left, she also said she missed the way people drive in the township we work in. She sent a message to me that she is definitely going to come back to see me, drive around listening to music together.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

There are so many to choose from it's very difficult to decide. If I had to choose just one, I think I would go to Sunshine.

I like Sunshine because the school is so big and the space for the children to play is also big. They can play freely, and there is also a clinic for the community in case there are any emergencies

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

When you work with Shannon, she is always there for you. Occasionally things don't go according to the plan, but even when they do, Shannon is understanding and we work together to fix the problem.

I always feel like an important part of the team and that my ideas are valued. As a team, we are able to overcome things together with Shannon leading the way.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

If you want to make a successful company, it is important to listen to your employees. They are a part of the family and make the company run properly, without them being happy the company will not run properly. Things will start to fall apart and go wrong.

I love children; I have 7 of my own. It's important to remember why we do this - for the children. "Better to build children than repair men".

About SAVE Volunteering

SAVE Foundation is a registered non-profit organization (NPO) that assists communities in Africa. We are NOT a booking agent, all of our community projects are run and funded by our local NPO/ Foundations on the ground. Our work involves setting up and facilitating sustainable community and conservation development projects in South Africa, Ghana...