The real South African Volunteer Experience

Volunteering isn’t new to me. I’ve taught kids English in Peru, built schools, coached a disabled children's soccer team, and trained veteran service dogs in the States. So working with adults on a business skills development project in Cape Town for five weeks seemed like a great next feat. Well three months later, the only thing that got me to leave South Africa was the expiration date on my visa. Just like several of my fellow volunteers, I was hooked.

The reason is simple, SAVE is so much more than a South African Volunteer Experience.

Every individual arrives at a volunteer programme with entirely unique attitudes and expectations, not to mention diverse backgrounds, cultures, opinions and pasts. And so what you gain is far beyond just the inevitable perspective shift and humbling awareness you get from living and working in an impoverished area. It's about learning to live with these people from all over the world, learning to cook with them, converse with them, supporting those who are vulnerable, sharing your views and in turn, being accepting of theirs, all while making a tangible difference in peoples' lives together.

Every morning we got up for breakfast together, and when I say ‘together’, I mean the 30+ volunteers from all programmes, project leaders, staff, managers and even local kids—everyone around the table just enjoying each other’s company, laughing, and getting ready for another day of challenging yet incredibly rewarding work. After breakfast we all went to our respective projects; I worked on building a web site for the locals to sell their authentic handmade products on, while my friends set out to teach at the township preschool, or work with the kids in the local disabled educare centre, while others headed to the beach to give some surf lessons. At the end of the day we would come back together to relax by the pool and share stories from the day, or those who still had some energy would head into the city, hike Lion's Head or Table Mountain. SAVE fosters an environment with the perfect combination of 'work hard, play hard' while simultaneously emulating and instilling in every team member the fact that we all have a common core mission and ultimate purpose for being there: to make a difference. So quite simply, SAVE is so much more than a volunteer experience because it's also a family.

In addition to being a part of this family, we got to see and experience the beautiful country of South Africa. We were always encouraged to spend our weekends exploring, whether it be on a two day safari with the world’s highest bungee jump, a wine tour through the Western Cape’s beautiful vineyards, or a surf outing to Muisenberg. It's this holistic aspect to the experience that makes it great--and any person from any age group on any project they choose, is bound to return home with lifelong friends, feeling more confident, less stressed, well-traveled, truly purposeful, and sharply aware of the world we live in.