Volunteer with Children and Stay in a Big 5 Game Reserve

This experience was unique as everyday was different, from what we did in the morning with different projects around the creches (arts and crafts with the children, sports, painting furniture...) to the afternoons working and playing with the babies and young children at the Butterfly centre.
Living on the farm was great and I especially liked being able to walk around and picking oranges with the children for their afternoon snack which they enjoyed a lot too!
My favorite part of this experience was being able to interact with so many children and, at the Butterfly centre, children ranging from a few months old to almost four years old. It was very interesting learning each of their various likes and dislikes and being able to anticipate their reactions to different situations.

I stayed for 3 weeks with the butterfly change for children and can only describe it as one of the best experiences of my life. The children are the lucky ones who have been saved and who are looking for their forever homes but while they wait their child hood is second to none. The mamas who are with the children look after them as if they are their own, they are brought up with respect, knowledge, dignity and in a great child friendly environment. Not only are the children taught in 3 languages they have several acres in which to run around and play in complete safety where they encounter different experiences everyday. Through the help, love, determination and courage from lize, her family, volunteers and people like Lorraine who advertise, fund raise and look after butterfly these children and many more after them have the best start in life.

I find it humbling that children who have had some really rough starts to their very short lives experience such happiness and joy and when volunteers are there they are treated like one of the family.

The work while at butterfly can be demanding and at times hard but the rewards of seeing children run to you in the morning and want to cuddle and play more than make up for it.

I keep up with Lorraine on a regular basis continue to strive to do what I can not only for butterfly but also for the surrounding community. Lorraine and lize have hearts the size of the sun and the moon and these kids couldn't be in better hands during their early years and crucial developmental stages - I know for a fact that next time I'm back in SA I'll be heading to butterfly to see the kids and lize and see what I've missed!!

Finally I realized my old dream ....care for children in África. Thank you so much for help me in this dream Lorraine ( Heros Hollidays) and Lize ( Babies in the Bush and Butterfly change for children). Babies are in a healthy enviroment, quiet, beautifull and familiar...so nice!!!Together have unforgettable moments as were my days as a volunteer...giving the best of me and receiving beautiful smiles!!!Wonderful!!!

I was on this project in july 2016, and I stayed there for three weeks, but you can stay there for longer or shorter. The children are absoloutely lovely, and I think the best part about this project is how personal you get to be with them. When I was there they had six children in the babyhouse (and later on five, one was adopted), so you really get to know every single one of them. The place is beautiful, there are chickens, dogs, a vegetable garden, jungle gyms, but there are always ways to improve and there's always something you can help with. The farm is surrounded with fence, because there are wild animals in the bush around. If you're like me and you are used to being able to go anywhere you like whenever you like, this can be a bit weird. If we left the farm, we had to be in a car. We went to town every now and then; to run some errands, we also drove around the game reserve and saw some wild animals. You also get to do good for the schools in the nearby township. We made some blankets to give to the children, we painted one kindergarden and cleaned it up (it was not looking very nice before), and distribute nutricious porridge to the schools.

I was on another project in Johannesburg (which was also an amazing project with Hero Holidays) before i came to this one, and those two projects are very different! When I was in Johannesburg i got used to meeting a lot of new people every day. On this project you spend most of your days with the people who live and work on the farm, and ofcourse the children you take care of.

Overall it was a good experience, I learned a lot and I made memories that I will always keep in my heart!