Social Work Internships in Cape Town

I chose Cape Town because of its beautiful landscapes and diverse culture. During my internship with a community-based organisation supporting older adults, I was welcomed into an inclusive and compassionate environment. Over time, I realised that I had been placing too much pressure on myself and began to recognise my own strengths and capabilities.

Some of the most memorable moments were taking part in social activities with older community members and visiting different locations for advocacy training. I valued working with an organisation that prioritised dignity, care, and meaningful human connection. The experience helped me overcome self-doubt and strengthened my connection to the career I hope to pursue.

Outside of my internship, I loved Cape Town’s beaches, oceans, and cultural diversity, and I will especially miss the wonderful friends I made. I stayed for two months, but I would recommend staying longer to make the most of the experience. My advice to future interns is to remain open-minded while discovering the city. The VACorps staff were consistently welcoming, encouraging, and supportive, and the activities provided a great way to connect with other interns.

I completed my internship at an NGO that supports pregnant women and children, and my time in Cape Town has been truly unforgettable. What I loved most about being here was the warm and welcoming culture—both at my workplace and throughout the city. There is a genuine sense of community and kindness that made me feel comfortable, included, and at home wherever I went.

VACorps provided steady, reliable support throughout my stay, offering helpful guidance and ensuring I had what I needed to settle in and enjoy Cape Town.

I also appreciated the laid-back, relaxed atmosphere that defines life in Cape Town. People take time to connect, to talk, and to enjoy the moment. During my eight weeks here, I built close friendships and formed connections that I will genuinely miss. For anyone considering this experience, I would recommend staying six to eight weeks—you need that time to settle in, build relationships, and fully immerse yourself.

One of the most rewarding parts of my internship was conducting assessments, especially with women and families from different countries and regions of South Africa. This experience supported my personal goal of learning how to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. It was meaningful, eye-opening work that helped me grow both personally and professionally.

Looking back, I’m grateful for every moment—every conversation, every shared experience, and every opportunity to learn. Cape Town has given me memories and skills that I’ll carry with me long after I leave.

My experience with VAC was wonderful—the perfect balance between planned activities and the freedom to explore Cape Town independently. From the very beginning, the VAC team provided thoughtful support and organized a variety of engaging experiences. During my time in Cape Town, I truly feel that I grew personally and became more independent.

As a social work intern, I had the opportunity to renovate the therapy space for the children at my internship site, transforming it into a more colorful and welcoming environment for their sessions with social workers. I also conducted grief counseling sessions for the staff, which was an especially meaningful part of my placement.

One of the most memorable aspects of my experience was meeting the other interns, the VAC staff, and my co-workers. The picnic at Kirstenbosch Gardens stands out as a highlight among many wonderful memories. What I’ll miss most are the helpful and friendly people of South Africa.

I stayed for three months and recommend that future interns review immigration laws early on, in case they decide to extend their stay. Overall, my experience was remarkable, and I’m deeply grateful for the time, support, and guidance I received.

The reason I chose to do an internship abroad is because I had an inner feeling that was the next thing for me to do that would help me to grow professionally, emotionally and spiritually. I also had a feeling to choose Cape Town for my internship. My dad has been many times to South Africa and he told me “You’ll probably want to move there”. I saw VAC online and once reading the website, I knew straight away this was what I wanted to do.

What I loved most about interning in Cape Town specifically, was being able to experience the people and the culture. From the amazing diversity of languages and history, to the majestic nature and scenery all around you, it’s one of the best places i’ve visited and am already envisioning myself living in Cape Town. What I learnt about myself being in Cape Town is that I am even more adaptable than I previously believed. I am someone who people tend to get on well with very easily and being in Cape Town has only amplified and illuminated that trait even more. I also learnt a lot about myself professionally. I know my purpose is to help people, so this experience has only fuelled my passion more and motivates me to push myself further out of my comfort zone so I can learn as much as possible and develop my confidence.

The best part about my internship site was being able to work with such amazing and inspirational women. I have never felt so loved and accepted. Everything that my host organization stands for is meaningful to me and their fundamental values such as compassion, love, faith, transformation, are all in line with my core values. If I’ve even managed to help one woman whilst i’ve been at the project that would be enough, but I know that the site helps so many more. This internship is something I will now always hold close to my heart. I want to continue to volunteer and help in anyway possible from overseas. I was only here for six weeks. Yes, key word “only”. Definitely stay for longer if you can, I wish I had done the 3 month program now and believe me you will wish the same at the end of six weeks!

Lastly, I am most grateful for the VAC staff. They are all super friendly and lovely individuals. From first line contact, Oliver, who went through the application process with me at the very beginning, to Loyiso who continued the application with me and picked me up from the airport, to Kholi and Kus who are the life and soul of the group activities, always brining positive energy with them wherever we go!

Thank you so much for this experience!!!
P.S. See you again when I move to Cape Town!

I spent five weeks in Cape Town but I would recommend six weeks to take into account the first-week being orientation week. I would have enjoyed one more week at my internship site.

I found the staff to be very supportive and friendly and quick to respond to any question or worries.

I enjoyed living in Obz, as its only small I got familiar with it quickly and there was plenty of choice of breakfast places and cafes for coffee and a variety of places to eat in the evening.
I loved that I was able to meet people who wanted to explore and try different activities whether that be hiking or going to a yoga class and even the bungee jump.

In my five weeks, I did see a lot and I did cram quite a few activities in that time, so my tip would be budget wisely and take more than you think you will need even if it is for a shorter time than you go.

I loved how many different markets there were and people making and selling some really delicious food that catered for vegetarians and vegans so much good choice.

My internship was eye-opening listening to the stories of the girls I worked with, they showed so much strength and resilience to some of the challenges they face and I wish them well. I could see the benefit and necessity of the work my internship site was doing

Cape Town has been a city that I have wanted to visit for a very long time due to its natural beauty and the unlimited range of activities that it can offer. However what really encouraged me to choose Cape Town for my internship was VAC. I personally did not have much experience in travelling on my own and felt quite overwhelmed trying to find an internship for myself. However, the support that VAC provides from the initial application phase, all the way to your last day in Cape Town, was a huge deciding factor for me. In my first week alone I was able to meet so many new people from all around the world. Some highlights for me was the Garden Route where I conquered my fear of heights and bungee jumped off the world tallest bridge jump. This experience was so amazing that I went on to do a tandem skydive jump a couple of weeks after!
My internship has been a whole other experience in itself. I have loved working with my close knit family at TCOE. They have offered me so much both in terms of desk and field experience. Through them I was able to travel to the Eastern Cape multiple times for research that will prove beneficial for my university studies.
What I will miss the most about Cape Town is the nature, (having discovered a new found love for hiking), the coffee (Dolce Bakery serves the best coffee and bagels!), the food (Obs is just amazing for its range of restaurants) and all the amazing new people I have met in my 10 weeks here. I am very sad my time in Cape Town has come to an end, but it definitely is not a goodbye

I came to Cape Town to challenge myself, to learn about culture and politics outside of the US, gain new work experience, celebrate life, and adventure! I've been reconnected with my passion for women's right issues and with my risk taking and adventurous spirit. I've really enjoyed connecting with so many different kinds of people from all over the world and trying and seeing so many new things. I've really enjoyed hiking mostly on my own, paragliding, and sea kayaking -- and love taking in the stunning natural landscape of Cape Town, All the delicious food from all over the world, and South African wine tasting has also been delightful. Also a pleasure to meet and spend time with other VACorps interns, navigating their own adventures here.

I loved getting to meet and support the women at the domestic violence shelter where I was interning - and find differences and connections to their stories of women i've worked with in the US. The shelter has been faced with financial difficulties in my time there, and I was able to learn quit a bit about South Africa's social service funding structure. I was also interested in the organization's management and response to this challenge, which gave me additional perspective on social services work in different social and historical contexts.

My stay in Capetown will be 10 weeks, which feels about the perfect amount of time for an experience like this. I was able to see and explore many things inside and outside of Capetown, foster beautiful friendships, and get a taste of social service work in an international context. Honestly, I wish there had been more coordination with my internship site around what skills I had to offer them so we could have initiated a project for me earlier on in the experience. Similarly, my site could use some support identifying their organizational needs from interns, and committing institutional support of the intern projects. All told it took about 3 weeks for me to get a sense of how the organization functioned and discuss with the staff what I had to offer - and even still my work 1:1 counseling and group session work was not able to be offered on a regular basis due to a lack of organization of the women's time on the part of the shelter. Every day I arrived - I had no idea what I would be doing. While this is an experience in and of itself - and I'm able to take initiative and be flexible in many environments - I found this at least emotionally taxing and at most re-traumatizing, for both interns and women, who were operating in an environment that lacked transparent communication, whose daily schedule is unpredictable and reactionary, which created an atmosphere of suspicion and hyper individualism (ie. every woman for herself). While this in many ways can be seen as reflection of the post-colonial context, I had the opportunity to visit another domestic violence shelter, and conversed with other interns about their sites - narratives which did not reflect the above experience - but one of collaboration and appreciation. I offer caution placing interns at this site without a good deal more work prepping both with the site and the particular intern around the needs and capacities of both parties.

I appreciated the VACorps orientation week and Friday excursions the most as some lightly structured activities in which to connect with others and explore what this area has to offer. I'm grateful for VACs support especially in the beginning of the experience - having people to connect with and support getting information on the logistics of living life here - paying for electricity at the grocery store, the difference between data and airtime, different forms of public transport etc. I've also appreciated the accessibility of program staff to answer questions and support connecting with an opportunity to visit another domestic violence shelter while I am here - which offered a meaningful dimension to my internship experience.

If I could go back in time I would tell myself to bring mainly "athleisure" clothes - both for hiking etc, but also exploring all over the city and beyond - you really just need to be comfortable. I did bring my hiking shoes and was really glad i did - hiking trails here are pretty rugged, and sneakers alone do not feel sufficient.

Interning in Cape Town has been one of the most interesting and eye-opening experiences I have had. Cape Town and South Africa, have always interested me, the way in which various cultures come together and live among each other, the environmental challenges that are almost unique to this part of the world and the beautiful landscape make Cape Town one of the most worthwhile internship destinations globally.

I stayed in CT for 12 weeks doing an environmental consulting internship. During this time I worked at a variety of locations from petrol stations to ammunition factories. All of these experiences were priceless in helping me understand what i wish to do after graduating and in understanding how my studies help to shape policy through the world. Alongside the internship, living in Cape Town, at first was a large culture shock, to see such a disparity of wealth in such close proximity to each other was something I had not experienced before. However looking past that, the people you meet and the conversations you have are very revealing to peoples motivations and ambitions. Whilst someone may live in a township and not have a lot to their name, they're simultaneously studying for an undergraduate degree. I suppose CT forces you to look past the material and to see what truly drives people. If CT if one of your first travel experiences, the one thing to remember is to have an open mind and to understand those around you the best you can.

VAC itself has been very useful for me as they are always on hand to give advice or even if you just need to talk about your day there will always be someone nearby. The weekly activities were an excellent way of meeting people upon first arrival and they gave me a chance to experience areas of CT I may not have done otherwise. The program is also very flexible and the staff very accommodating so they will do their absolute best to help you as much as they can and to make the transition to CT the smoothest it can be.

Personally, I think 10-12 weeks is plenty of time to fully experience CT, if you're coming for anything less I don't think you have the time to acclimatize to your surroundings and fully appreciate the city.