Why did you decide to volunteer with African Impact in South Africa?
Jessica: Research, really is the only answer. I've always wanted to volunteer in Africa, and it was just a matter of finding a suitable organization. African Impact has such a wide variety of projects in many countries, making it easy to find something for you! They aim for sustainable development, which was a huge factor to me. African Impact seeks to aid in the development of African countries, but does so in a way that gives the people the tools to maintain and flourish their projects.
Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Jessica: On the St. Lucia Community and Orphan Care project, our mornings consisted of teaching, playing, feeding and cleaning at crèches (like a preschool or daycare). We would create lesson plans on weekly themes. Our repertoire would include ABC's, 123's, colors, shapes, etc, and the weekly theme, would could vary from transportation to animals. Some volunteers would also teach HIV education to primary school children, on a course created by African Impact, granting certificates to all children that passed!
Afternoon projects generally ended around 430, and we were free to do as we please until dinner at 550. Our volunteer house was situated right n the town of St. Lucia, and we were free to go into town to get a coffee, go on the Internet, shop, and so on. If we wanted, we could sign out of any meal and enjoy some of the restaurants in town. After supper many of us would go for a drink or dessert. St. Lucia was right on an estuary, so when we went out after dinner we needed to stay in a group and bring flashlights because the hippos come out of the estuary at night!
On the St. Lucia Community and Orphan Care project, our mornings consisted of teaching, playing, feeding and cleaning at crèches (like a preschool or daycare). We would create lesson plans on weekly themes. Our repertoire would include ABC's, 123's, colors, shapes, etc, and the weekly theme, would could vary from transportation to animals. Some volunteers would also teach HIV education to primary school children, on a course created by African Impact, granting certificates to all children that passed!
After coming back to our volunteer house and eating our prepared lunch, both the medical and community (the project I was on) volunteers would head out together. These projects were various, and could include building beds or tire courses for some of the crèches, gardening in some of the village gardens, teaching adult literacy club, children's reading club, adult HIV education or after school club. Most of these projects would run on certain days of the week, and the schedule rotated volunteers through on a weekly basis.
What made this experience unique and special?
Jessica: This experience was hands down the best experience of my life. I'd go back in a second. The experience of getting to know other volunteers was something unique to me in and of itself. There were volunteers from all over the world, and it was amazing to meet and share such connections with these people. African Impact also hires local people to aid us on the projects. These women, and man, were incredibly inspirational, hilarious and informative. It was very hard to say goodbye to them! I miss them each and every day. I think it is truly a testament to the all encompassing nature of African Impact to see them employ locals. I think it shows how deeply African Impact cares about the communities they work in.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Name: As clićhe as it sounds, I'm going to be yet another volunteer who says volunteering abroad has greatly impacted them. I'm actually already looking into volunteering with African Impact again. Being that my degree is in Political Science, I have taken in interest in African politics, and would love to further that education. I have been considering getting a teaching degree upon completion of my current bachelors, and while that is still on the table, my passion for teaching and working with children in Africa is greater.
Some days it still doesn't feel real that I'm back home, going to school and working. I miss my St. Lucia routine, I miss the children and people in the villages, I miss the culture. I've never felt as happy as I did in South Africa. My time there was rewarding to the utmost, and it was rejuvenating in a sense. You can see what your work does, and it gave me a sense of accomplishment, being able to say, 'Hey, I helped build that.' Or 'I helped teach that.' Yet there is so much more that needs to be done, and so much more that can be done. And I'd love to do more with African Impact.