Volunteering in Muizenberg, South Africa

I volunteered with Dreams to Reality, IVHQ's local partner in Muizenberg, South Africa.

Accommodation: I stayed in one of the volunteer houses, my room had bunk beds to accommodate up to 5 people. It was in a residential area 15-min walk from where the shops and restaurants are. There was no wi-fi. The house had security gates and procedures to protect from break-ins (luckily, there were no break-ins during my stay), however due to constant power outages, the electronic security door didn't work all times, and once I was locked out of the house at night (fortunately nothing happened).

Food: lunch and dinner was brought to the house during weekdays and they could be much better. Menu was mostly carbs. Manny volunteers chose to eat out.

Transportation to/from placement: due to safety concerns, transportation in a van was provided.

Safety: South Africa has safety issues. We heard from staff mugging and break-ins in the volunteer house happened, but fortunately no major issues happened during my stay. I recommend volunteers to avoid using their credit cards, since many volunteers had been victims of credit card frauds, including me. Also, I recommend having a local mobile number to take Uber to travel around the city.

Volunteering: my placement was at a day care center with other volunteers (we stayed there in the morning). We helped the teachers feeding the children, playing with them. The children were lovely.