SAVE Volunteering Humanitarian Projects

Name: SAVE Volunteering Humanitarian Projects
Brand: SAVE Volunteering
SKU: 37718
Rating: 4.83 (116 reviews)

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4.83 Rating

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Location

Multiple Locations +3

South Africa
- Cape Town
Namibia
- Windhoek
Tanzania
- Dar es Salaam

Length

2 to 6 weeks

Project Types

Agriculture Childcare Street Children Community Development Building Projects Family Service Learning Sports Youth Wildlife Conservation Primate Conservation Education Teaching Health Education Health +5

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Program Details

Language

English

Age Min.

Age Max

Housing

Apartment Hostel

Groups

Small Group (1-15) Medium Group (16-30)

Travel Type

Family Solo Women

Pricing

Price Details

Includes: 3 meals a day, accommodation, transport, orientation, 24 hr support and donation to the NPO

What's Included

Accommodation Airport Transfers Equipment Meals Transportation Wifi

What's Not Included

Activities Airfare Domestic Airfare Equipment SIM cards Travel Insurance Visa Wifi

Last Updated: Jan 25, 2022

Last Reviewed: Jan 05, 2023

Wish List

85 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

SAVE Volunteering is a Non-Profit Organisation. We are NOT a booking agent: we run, manage and fund all of our Humanitarian and Wildlife Projects with the help of volunteers.
We believe in transparent and sustainable programs that impact our local community and wildlife.

The volunteer fees go towards, food, accommodation, transport, orientation and the rest of the money gets donated to the NPO for running costs such as stationary or meals for the children and meals for the Wildlife.

Join one of our amazing projects and leave with a life-changing experience!

Request Info

Consider your impact: Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding experience for both volunteers and local communities, and at Go Overseas, we believe all volunteers should have the resources to make informed decisions about the type of volunteer project they want to partake in. However, despite best intentions, some organizations offering placements in orphanages may unknowingly place children in danger. You can read about the potential dangers of orphanage volunteering here.

Video and Photos

A happy group of children and volunteers in South Africa.

SAVE Volunteer working with children in South Africa.

Program Highlights

Help us better the lives of the children on our Humanitarian projects and the Animals on our Wildlife project.
Educate children to better their future on our Humanitarian projects and build structures and homes for our animals on our Wildlife projects.
Form a relationship with our children and see the world through their eyes on our Humanitarian projects. Protect Africas Wildlife on our Wildlife projects.
Learn about conservation and Africa’s wild animals on our Wildlife projects. Learn about patience and hard work on our Humanitarian projects.
Have a close animal encounter with some of the human tolerant animals on our Wildlife projects. Spend time with children in need of your affection and attention on our Humanitarian projects.

Popular Programs

Sport & Youth Development Project

Children living in impoverished communities have a huge need for youth development projects which serve to teach them valuable life skills such as teamwork, structure, discipline and which uplifts their self-esteem through the realization of talent.

Cape Town Community Development Project

The main objective is empowering the local community and supporting them with their basic needs. We regularly distribute food hampers to the underprivileged and clothes in the winter. We engage these communities in regular education, motivation, and social upliftment programs and exciting events such as fun at the beach, various sporting activities and movie outings that are hosted throughout the year.

School and Educare Project

Volunteers are placed in pre-schools in disadvantaged communities. No experience is necessary and volunteers can have the joy of watching a child learn and helping them through the process. You will be assigned to a class and will help the teacher in their daily tasks, be it teaching, marking or sports training. After school hours volunteers will be involved in after care or after school programs in the settlements.

Adventure Club Project

This project is a great way for volunteers to gain experience working with children and groups. Learning new outdoor activities such as swimming, boxing, spike ball surfing and skateboarding – volunteers receive lessons so they can help teach the children.

Namibia Medical Project

The Clinic is based in Epukiro provides free primary health care services to more than 3,500 patients every year – through both clinic-based healthcare and personal outreach around the region. More than 40% of the patients treated there are children and more than 90% are San Bushmen. A huge focus of the work at the Clinic is to tackle the tuberculosis burden within the San population. The clinic is quite literally a lifeline for thousands of San Bushman.

Skills Development Project

This Project allows volunteers to transfer a skill they have to the local communities. Communities you will work in have low education levels and English comprehension. SAVE is always in need of volunteers with special skills that they can transfer to our communities and allow them to become self-sufficient and productive members of society. Examples are first aid, family planning, childcare, dance classes, drama workshops, business management, computer literacy, woodwork and craftsmanship.

Related Programs

Program Reviews

4.83 Rating

based on 116 reviews

Leave a Review

Rating Spread Volunteer

5 rating 87.93%
4 rating 9.48%
3 rating 0.86%
2 rating 0.86%
1 rating 0.86%

Impact 4.7
Support 4.75
Fun 4.65
Value 4.8
Safety 4.75

Good for Students, Solo Travelers, Adventure travelers

Showing 105 - 112 of 116 reviews

I think there's some trouble sometimes within the group of volontueers, it would have been nice to have all volounteers into coming upp with ideas for activities with the kids and also better teamwork

What would you improve about this program?

I would like to have more structure, like plans and goals for the activities with the children. For example: teach the kids how to handle different types of colors(watercolour, acrylic paint etc) so it's easier for new volunteers to get the idea of how to handle the days with the kids. I think it would be good also cause then the kids get some more consistency even though the volunteers changes.

Read my full story

Before arriving at Save I didn't have a clue what to expect. But since being here I can 100% say that it has been such a good experience. The projects are well organised keeping you busy, the social side is great meeting lots of people from all around the world sharing day to day life with them and Save really do look after their volunteers with great Volunteers houses and cool socials.

I would definitely recommend volunteering with SAVE, wish I could stay for longer.

Advice: Don't come for less than 4 weeks!

*It has been an amazing experience for me to volunteer with disabled kids.
*I brought my speaker to put music to the kids for dancing.
*Some kids were extremely difficult to handle: they would punch other kids and me, hold me and never leave.

What would you improve about this program?

Maybe it would have been helpful to get explanation about the disabilities and how to handle them before the start of the program. And maybe learn some principles of education (to enhance discipline for example).

The highlight of SAVE are the great kids and the amazing staff that helps them achieve their goals.
Great to see that even children with disabilities get a chance to go to school. The teachers have a lot of patience and without them those children wouldn't interact the way they do now!

Surfing and swimming with the kids is also awesome because it's so much fun to see them laugh and enjoying themselves.

One thing that makes this experience perfect are the other volunteers and all the things you can do in and around Cape Town. The activities organized by the SAVE staff and all the fun things you can do just by yourself are great.

So don't hesitate, just go!

What would you improve about this program?

The food isn't that great, except the Braai ofcourse!
But there are enough options to cook yourself or go out for dinner.

I had such a amazing time, especially with the kids.
They really mean a lot for me.
We really helped the children to keep them of the street and learns them stuff what helps them during there life.
Also the swimming lessons where great, its really helping the kids and they will have profit for they rest of there life.
Its really a family and every helps each other, it was amazing.

What would you improve about this program?

More programme for the volunteers to do with the kids

Time: 5 weeks

#teaching #freetime activities

Highlight:
THE PEOPLE and the kids

e.g.: the lessons- when they've been able to solve a difficult math exercises by singing the numbers and when they noticed there's no point to be scared of that pushes them and they exceed through exercised which they didn't expect to solve

the love- South Africa shows you, the kids do and the people do without a reason there's just love and good vibe and all this positivity pushes you over all your limits

Difficulties:
Using one and the same transparency again and again
the hygienic condition of their school toilets (sad)

I've made many experiences in my life,
I've met many people in my life,
I've visited many different countries in my life,
but there have been nothing which is special enough comparing to the SAVE project. This experience changed my life and since then it gave me this magic click and there's nothing which I am more thankful for...

Thank you Save Project and Salty Crax
for this beautiful time
Nevina from Kapstadtmagazin

Last year I spent 4 weeks at Elundini project in Dunoon with my daughter. From the picking up from the airport until we left we felt very welcome and experienced a lot of support from the staff. Working at the project is one of the best things I ever did in my life. The women are so warm and the children are so pure. Even with little things you really make a difference for them.
The reason we've chosen SAVE is that the money that's left over goes to the projects. So you help with your time and with some money. While we were there SAVE introduced a townshiptour. You can see how life is in one of the poorest parts of Dunoon, visit the church, learn some Xhosa, cook at a home. It's very impressive and by doing it you are supporting the people.
The social events with the volunteers were Always great, so were the braais verytime new volunteers arrived. Since I'm 55 I didn't join the others in the nightlife, but I never felt standing outside the group.
We liked it so much we'll be going this year again and I can't wait!!

What would you improve about this program?

We didn't have a swimmingpool, but now there is one

Read my full story

Early mornings during the week spent meeting up with leaders and heading to programs. A bus ride that always turned into fun with singing and jokes took us to do the most rewarding work I've ever done. The people we encountered were amazing (the kids AND the volunteers)! Nights were spent making friends, enjoying the nightlife, and exploring. Never felt unsafe and there was always someone to spend time with!

Highlights: backpacker's pets, braai nights (like a cookout), and the amazing friends I made that are still my friends to this day.

I LOVE SAVE!!!

What would you improve about this program?

Leaving... you'll never want too.

Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with SAVE in South Africa?

I was getting quite tired of studying law at home in Norway, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue.

I decided to take a break from my studies and do something I had wanted to do for a long time--travel!

I’m working at a youth center run by the Norwegian Red Cross in Oslo, and I wanted to bring my experiences from that into a completely different place. And SAVE was perfect.

What made this volunteer abroad experience unique and special?

Everything! It’s not an underestimation when I say that I had the time of my life! I made friends from all over the world, and the friendship we developed was something really special.

We worked together, ate together, partied together, spent our free time together, we really did everything together! And of course, seeing the kids react so thankfully for the work we do.

It is a wakeup call for all of us coming from rich countries where people are taking all the material goods for granted!

View Entire Interview

Tell me about one person you met. [It could be a local, a fellow program participant or a member of the SAVE staff]

It’s pretty hard to choose one from all of the amazing people I met. My best friends down there – Mike, Frederik, Marc, Sofie and Kristina – made my stay ten times better than I ever expected, and I’m so happy that I have kept in contact with them.

But I think the one that made the greatest impression on me was Nikki. She runs the project in Skandaalkamp. Even though I wasn't in her group, she made me realize what a true hero she is.

She was always concerned about getting enough food for her babies in Skandaal, but she always found a way to figure it out! She made t-shirts with the handprints of the kids and sold them to the volunteers.

She also made bracelets and did everything she could think of. She is a person that thinks more about the kids than herself, and thanks to her, the kids in skandaalkamp can get food and education!

What was the best moment of the entire trip?

This is not an easy question either, haha! My entire trip was awesome, and it’s difficult to pick one moment. But one day we had swimming lessons with the kids where we were trying to teach them how to float.

One of the girls was holding onto me really hard, begging me not to let go of her. I asked her to relax, and said I would be right there. I held her back under the water while she laid flat, and after a while, I removed my hands from her.

She was floating on her own, and I have never ever seen a smile that big! She was hugging me, saying thank you, and wanted to float around in the pool all day!

The christmas party afterwards at Elundini was also perfect! All of the kids got a gift, and they were running around with big smiles the whole day!

How has this experience impacted your future? (Personally, professionally, etc)

Well… I decided to continue with my law studies when I got back to Oslo. But, I was more motivated than before I left.

Now I’m sure that I want to use my law degree to work for human rights and children’s welfare! Personally, the trip made me a lot stronger.

Traveling alone to a completely unfamiliar country was a good experience.

Even though I was terrified when I left Oslo, I came home with hundreds of impressions, and felt like I could never ever complain about my life in Oslo again.

I still think about all the kids I got to know in Cape Town, and I miss them more and more.

Before I left to South Africa, all the poverty was just something I had seen on television. Now, I relate the poverty to faces. The faces of the kids that I was so lucky to work with every day…

Amanda Lind

2013 Alum

Marc Eversdijk

Marijke Fleury

Nick van de Klundert

Tom Visser

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

What is your favorite travel memory?

Wellington has many good memories of traveling across Africa. One of his favourite memories was traveling to Paternoster with all the volunteers and staff for a weekend away. When they got there, there wasn't enough room in the tents, so he slept on the bus with his sleeping bag.

It was a really fun experience for him.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I feel welcome here, it's like being at home, all the people are so friendly.

I have been able to take a lot of initiative through this work and it has made me believe in myself and make me more confident and have more self-belief. Working here has opened my eyes to different cultures and walks of life.

View Entire Interview

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

There was a volunteer that always said she liked my driving and the African music I play in the car when I drive them to project and back. When she left, she also said she missed the way people drive in the township we work in. She sent a message to me that she is definitely going to come back to see me, drive around listening to music together.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

There are so many to choose from it's very difficult to decide. If I had to choose just one, I think I would go to Sunshine.

I like Sunshine because the school is so big and the space for the children to play is also big. They can play freely, and there is also a clinic for the community in case there are any emergencies

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

When you work with Shannon, she is always there for you. Occasionally things don't go according to the plan, but even when they do, Shannon is understanding and we work together to fix the problem.

I always feel like an important part of the team and that my ideas are valued. As a team, we are able to overcome things together with Shannon leading the way.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

If you want to make a successful company, it is important to listen to your employees. They are a part of the family and make the company run properly, without them being happy the company will not run properly. Things will start to fall apart and go wrong.

I love children; I have 7 of my own. It's important to remember why we do this - for the children. "Better to build children than repair men".

About SAVE Volunteering

SAVE Foundation is a registered non-profit organization (NPO) that assists communities in Africa. We are NOT a booking agent, all of our community projects are run and funded by our local NPO/ Foundations on the ground. Our work involves setting up and facilitating sustainable community and conservation development projects in South Africa, Ghana...

Program Details

Pricing

Program Highlights

Sport & Youth Development Project 

Cape Town Community Development Project 

School and Educare Project 

Adventure Club Project 

Namibia Medical Project 

Skills Development Project 

Alumni Interviews

Martine Haugen

Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with SAVE in South Africa?

What made this volunteer abroad experience unique and special?

Tell me about one person you met. [It could be a local, a fellow program participant or a member of the SAVE staff]

What was the best moment of the entire trip?

How has this experience impacted your future? (Personally, professionally, etc)

Staff Interviews

Wellington Kalonga

What is your favorite travel memory?

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Sport & Youth Development Project

Cape Town Community Development Project

School and Educare Project

Adventure Club Project

Namibia Medical Project

Skills Development Project