If you’re tired of traditional travel: hotels, crowded tourist areas, and American meals no matter how much you try to find authentic cuisine – here’s your chance for a true cultural experience.
This week, tripatlas.com/new has decided to take you to Africa – the land typically known to travelers for its luxury safaris – but a land that is so diverse in so many ways and offers so much more than meets the eye. Read on to discover some amazing volunteer travel opportunities that you can be a part of and discover what Africa is all about for yourself.
Teach English and arts to Masai women or help build a children’s community centre in Tanzania. Help out at one of Africa‘s many wildlife research facilities in Zimbabwe and take care of lion cubs. Live in the slums of Kenya’s Nairobi and assist in hospitals and orphanages filled with children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
You’ll meet and experience real culture in Africa. You might be shocked or surprised at what you’ll see and experience. You will get dirty. But, you will leave with a humbled sense of common humanity, of appreciation for life and a renewed sense of purpose.
10 Amazing Volunteer Travel Opportunities and Projects in Africa
1) Build New Classrooms in Talamanzou, Morocco
“Taste of Morocco” Volunteer Project with Hands Up Holidays
Talamanzou, Marrakech, High Atlas Mountains, Essaouira in Morocco
9 Days, CAD $2,150
This trip takes you to the non-touristy town of Talamanzou where you will help build new classrooms while you sightsee and experience Moroccan culture at the same time. Hands Up Holidays offers alternative vacation options for those looking for a different kind of holiday, vacation or honeymoon.
2) Work in Hospitals and Slums in Kenya with HIV/AIDS Orphans
“HIV/AIDS Volunteer Work in Orphanages – Medical & Community” with African Impact
Nairobi and Limuru, Kenya
4-6 weeks, USD $2,390 to $2,990
Kenya is known to be one of the poorest countries in Africa. There are countless volunteer opportunities to impact the lives of those that are affected by HIV/AIDS related problems, such as in the Nairobi slums, surrounding orphanages, schools, and hospitals. Help in maternity wards, organize patients, teach children in orphanages or cook meals, paint murals on orphanage walls, volunteer in the Mukuru Slums Clinic and more.
3)Supporting Masai Women in Tanzania
“Women Project” with Global Crossroad
Arusha and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
1 week from USD $899 to 12 weeks for $2,469
The Women Project through Global Crossroad aims to help and support the poor women of Tanzania by teaching and training local Masai women to make beads, crafts and handicrafts which are sold in local markets to help generate income for widows and poor women to bring back to their families. Volunteers can help to make handicrafts, to teach English to women to help when selling to tourists, run English classes for Masai children, or help with business development and consulting. This opportunity offers a unique experience: volunteers stay with host families who provide food and board.
4) Teach at Soccer Sports Camp for Kids in Ghana
“Soccer in Ghana” Volunteer Sports Coaching with Projects Abroad
Various cities and towns in Ghana
2 weeks, USD $2,345
Volunteer in local communities around Ghana to teach soccer, rugby or basketball. You’ll receive professional training on coaching teams and will practice and train local soccer teams in Ghana. In the afternoons, you’ll work with a local youth team to help them develop their skills and game throughout the week to prepare them for Saturday – game day. 1-3 month durations also available.
5) Help Build Children’s Community Health Programs in Tabora, Tanzania
“HAPO Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programme in Tabora or Mwanza Regions” with Volunteer Africa
Tabora or Mwanza, Tanzania
11 or 12 weeks, CAD $4,150
Volunteer with the Health Action Promotions Organisation (HAPO) in Tanzania to help run children’s programs in the community of the Tabora Region. Started in July 2006, the program is still in its initial years and volunteers will work to build and equip the children’s centre, used for promoting group activities, developing confidence, arts and health messages. Programs are run for children who have been orphaned or are vulnerable due to the AIDS/HIV epidemic.
6) Work with Lions and Elephants doing Research at a Reserve in Zimbabwe
“African Lion Rehabilitation” with African Impact
Antelope Park and Dollar Block Reserve Zimbabwe Midlands, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
1 month to 6 weeks, USD $3590-4490
Get involved in research being done on lion cubs’ behaviour before they are released into the wild. You can also assist with orphaned elephants, reserve patrolling and wildlife management. You’ll help take care and feed lion cubs while exploring the savannah grasslands on horseback or on elephant. See Victoria Falls while you’re there!
7) Naphtali Empowerment Centre at Kakuma Refugee Camp School in Kenya
“Refugee Project Northern Kenya” with Inspire Volunteering Company
Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya
2 weeks for €1099 or 1 month €1399
This one is not for the faint hearted. Work alongside the UNHCR Refugee Agency and UN workers at this 86,000-person refugee camp in Northern Kenya near the Ethiopia / Sudan border. Its new Naphtali Empowerment Centre aims to empower young local community members so that they can empower their own villages. You’ll take part in teaching, child care, food distribution, counselling, feeding children, preparing food, organizing children’s programs and more. This volunteer opportunity will give you a real glimpse of what relief work is about, but also give you a sense of disparity. Even with NGOs and the UN on the premises, supplies and manpower are always short.
8) Teaching and Assisting in Health/Community in Cape Town, South Africa
“South Africa Volunteer Abroad Program” with Cross Cultural Solutions
Based in Cape Town, South Africa
3 to 12 weeks, USD $2,885 to $5,558
Volunteers going abroad with Cross Cultural Solutions will work with locally-run organizations in South Africa’s Cape Town. Opportunities include caring for infants and children, teaching children, teaching English, assisting teachers, working towards women’s empowerment, caring for the elderly, observing and assisting local health professionals and working with people affected by HIV/AIDS. CCS tours also offer cultural learning activities including language classes, history and origin lectures on apartheid and liberation, as well as current social challenges in South Africa.
9) Help Eradicate Poverty, Suffering and Environmental Damage in Madagascar through Sustainable Methods
“Volunteer Madagascar: Pioneer Madagascar” with Global Crossroad
Fort Dauphin and rural towns in Madagascar
5-10 weeks, £1500 to £2000
Global Crossroads’ partner in Madagascar aims to garner cooperation and participation of local communities in southeast Madagascar to work together to alleviate effects of poverty through a viable, environmentally-sensitive development project. Volunteers help in various ways: construction work, conservation research, education activities, health and sanitation, sustainable living, building wells, planting trees, and more!
10) Orphanage Work, Cyclone-Relief and Canoe in Vilanculos, Mozambique
“Project Mozambique” with GAP Adventures
Vilanculos, Rio Guvuru, Bartholomew Diaz, Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique
14 days, CAD $895 + USD $400 local payment
Volunteer for five days in the Vilanculos village in Mozambique where you have the opportunity to participate in a community development project that involves community work, volunteering in an orphanage, post cyclone-relief and soccer coaching. The trip includes a 5-day canoe trip through the Rio Guvuru and a tropical safari in the Bazaruto Archipelago.
This list was compiled in June 2008 from resources across the web. Please be sure to check the local organization’s website for accuracy, date departures, updated costs, trip offerings and etc.