Internships in Africa with African Impact

Volunteering with African Impact was the best traveling experience I ever had. I have been traveling for years but this was the first time as a volunteer. I always wanted to come to Africa as a photographer. The experience changed me. I had tears leaving the place. From the moment Jack one of our guides picked me up, I felt comfortable with the organization. I did not know what to expect. The full staff at the lodge for African Impact are amazing. Such good people! The kitchen staff are really good cooks. The lodge was always cleaned and ready to repair anything that needed maintenance. The lodge structure is well organized and maintained. I was impressed. The staff was very friendly and amazing. I had a great time with the guides on a daily basis and was impressed by their knowledge of animals. The accommodations were great. The food was great. It was different everyday and well cooked. We even got dessert on some occasions. I visited friends who had private outdoor tents as an accommodation and it was very well organized and set up for the guests. We were lucky to have a nice cleaned pool. I liked the set up as well of the outdoor fire area with logs we could sit on and enjoy the night with a cool drink and sometimes dinner. I liked the fact that we had a cozy area to relax, read and watch movies as well as sit for presentations. The lodge program structure was well organized. We knew exactly where to go and talked to if any issues occurred. The program was busy and well structured for a photography beginner’s course. Even being a professional photographer I enjoyed the program as a refresher and certainly enjoyed the daily safari drives. At night at the lodge we could hear predators calling each other. That was amazing and scary at the same time! I loved this place! I would recommend this program to anyone who loves photography and research. I will return to this program in the near future.

This has been a dream come true volunteering in this wildlife hot spot ! The staff is extremely knowledgable and always available to answer every single question. The lodge is also very cosy with amazing surroundings. We go on drives every day searching for animals and let me tell you, you will find them ! The advantage to be in a smaller reserve and not directly in the kruger park is to be able to go off road, approach the animals closer and avoid majority of the tourists. You can still visit the Kruger park on the weekends as the lodge organise excursions every weekend. Personnaly I have done the Kruger park visit and the kloofing which was amazing for those of you in need of a little adrenaline ! In conclusion it was the best decision of my life and I don’t regret it whatsoever...

In April 2019, I volunteered with the Girl Empowerment Programme in Zambia.

During the few weeks I was there, we focused on working with girls to teach them about the importance of self-confidence and how to deal with toxic people; teaching the women about methods of earning income independently; and talking to boys about the importance of consent among other areas. It was incredible to see how keen everyone we worked with were to learn, and how grateful they were to us for spending time sharing our experience with them. Working within the community was very rewarding and it was difficult to leave, even after such a short amount of time.

Getting involved with Girl Empowerment was a truly awesome experience; a steep learning curve, an opportunity to meet and support some incredible people, and hopefully a positive impact left on at least a few young Zambians!
Livingstone was an amazing place to spend three weeks and the amazing accommodation and staff made me feel at home as soon as I arrived. I made some great friends in Zambia, many of whom I've seen since being back in the UK. I had a brilliant time and can't wait to go back!

This whole experience will be something I will remember for the rest of my life. It felt like I was home with a beautiful family. I learned so much as a photographer but also as a person. The staff was so kind and so nice and they always put our safety first. I was so happy there, that I will be returning as soon as I can. The opportunities I received to grow as a photographer were way more amazing then I could've ever imagined and it always made me so happy! We always had something to do and the schedules were always filled with interesting things to do. The cooking was amazing!! Not only did they thought about allergies, but they always had something for everyone to eat. This was so nice and I appreciated it so much. The sleeping accommodations were very comfortable and my roommates were always the sweetest!

Future Social Work Interns,
There will be good days and hard days (but I promise you there won't be any bad days). I had the moment a fantastic opportunity to work alongside South African Child and Youth Workers who spend their days looking after children in a foster care home. Although you've most likely read the Social Work and Youth Development package and expect to be doing what you have a go through at home, that honestly may not be the case. However, I will share with you what my case is...

I came here as a part of my studies for school to get my College credits for placement. This became the greatest thing that I am so glad that I am a part of! The children you work with on a daily basis and the Mama's, Drivers, Managers and people who are full-time staff on the project have become family. You learn wonders and experience what it means to be outside of your comfort zone. This program helps you gain a much greater perspective than the one you've arrived with.

So if you are ready for an experience that leaves you on fire to become a world changer than AI waiting for you... so step outside your comfort zone and live the best life you can live.

I spent two months on the Girl Impact Internship in Livingstone, Zambia, and I loved it so much that I'm already back adding another month to my internship! I fell in love with the local community of Livingstone and at the house, everyone is so welcoming, inclusive and ready to help. The organized activities such as movie night, games night and Sundowners are encouraged but not mandatory, so if you need a night to yourself to unwind you can do so, while also enjoying bonding time. I liked that I could make the internship into what I wanted it to be, such as even though social media work isn't necessarily in the internship description, I asked if I could work on it and they were more than happy to let me do so. I also like how they are very open to new ideas on how to improve or how to make the experience for the volunteer and the students as best as it can be. I was able to use my own skills to improve their programs while also learning new skills that I can carry with me for future job opportunities.

Truly inspiring, life changing & challenging experience. Incredibly grateful to have worked with wonderful staff & volunteers. Met loving, enthusiastic & joyful students which made classes so much fun & rewarding. Living in Moshi was by far the best cultural experience I've had yet. The people, animals, music, energy, food, gratitude, strength, adventure & love. Had the pleasure to teach English to the Masai tribal men & local primary school kids (who were the cutest!) . As well as teach business skills to the tailors in town. Thankyou African impact for an incredible trip, I didn’t want to leave x .

Can’t wait to come back next year!

If you want to get some great work experience, meet some awesome volunteers and see a beautiful city, then I'd definitely recommend the social media and marketing internship in Cape Town!

What does the internship involve?

During the first few days of the internship you'll spend some time reading about what African Impact does, who their competitors are, and what volunteers have to say about them - this is a great way to learn what African Impact is all about.

After the first few days you'll get involved in everything! You'll help to:
- Design social media posts and marketing materials in Photoshop (Don't worry if you know nothing about Photoshop, you'll become a pro in no time!)
- Research themes/events that you can post about on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
- Contact past/present volunteers and project managers to write blogs about some of the cool things they're up to
- Learn about Google analytics and SEO to promote the website and SM posts better
- Visit projects to see how our Cape Town volunteers help local communities

When you first get there Natalie (the marketing manager) will ask you what you want to get out of the internship and she'll really go the extra mile to make you feel like part of the team and get you involved in as many things as possible :)

Where will you be staying?

During your 3 months in Cape Town you'll be staying in the Volunteer House with volunteers from the childcare and veterinary projects. The house can get quite busy (with between 5 and 25 volunteers) but this makes it a lot of fun! During the week you can also get involved in the Tuesday pub quiz and the Thursday night social event, as well as watching movies and having BBQs! At the weekends the project managers are happy to organise lots of activities, like sky diving, safaris, shark cage diving, surfing, sand boarding, wine tasting...anything you want to get involved in! Cape Town really is an amazing place with beaches, mountains, shopping, restaurants etc so there's always loads to do :-)

Top tip!
- Check the weather in Cape Town before you go. It can get pretty windy there so bring some warm clothes!