Volunteer for a minimum of 1 week at a Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage close to the town of Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa. South Africa’s large under-privileged population results in overcrowding of schools, where individual classes sometimes exceed 160 children per class. This results in many children not even being able to understand the basics of education. The Bush School’s mission is to inspire, motivate, develop, and educate underprivileged children to care for the environment. They use a wildlife orphanage as a medium because, sadly enough, many rural schoolchildren have never seen indigenous wildlife, even though it is an influential part of their heritage. The initiative is also self-sustained with the help of paying volunteers and corporate/private donations.

Your role as a volunteer
Because children truly benefit from a hands-on educational experience, only a certain number of local students (age 10-14) are selected to participate each week. Every Monday, the project welcomes a new group of 8 local children for one week. As a volunteer at the Bush School, you will be teaching the kids (basic) English, mathematics, sciences, geography, life skills, educational games and social issues. Another task is to give the children the opportunity to discover and learn more about the nature and conservation. Personal attention is something that they are not used to. That is why they really get the chance to blossom at the Bush School. If you would like to, there is the possibility that the project leaders will take you on drives or walks through the camp.

Project Information
The mission of the Bush School is to educate and inspire underprivileged children to care for their environment through the medium of a wildlife orphanage. That means that you help with the education of children and take care of wild animals. Each week we invite children from the local underprivileged school or local HIV+/AIDS Orphanage to stay at Bush School. The goal is that children develop skills and passion for the environment and improve their future employment perspectives. The project also creates wildlife clubs for the children at their schools and mentor these children and support them in protecting the environment. By working with children in the village every week, we extend Bush School’s impact to a wider population, and empower the children to be role models in their community. This is creating a positive impact in the villages and the country.

Orientation
There will be a comprehensive introduction on the first day where you meet the project coordinators and learn more about what is  the project and where it is executed.

Accommodation and Transfer
Volunteers share a Rondavel (round chalet with thatch roof) or have a room in the main house. The chalets are rustic but comfortable with toilets and a shower (hot and cold water). There is no electricity on the farm but light is provided with solar lamps and power with a generator to charge batteries, cameras and computers. There is access to internet at a minimal fee.

All arrivals and departures at Bush School are on a Saturday. We pick you up at Hoedspruit airport or in town if it is more convenient for you. If you want to arrive on a Friday or a Sunday, Bush School can arrange a private transfer for you (This will cost around R 600).

Guidance and Supervision
On your first day you will get a comprehensive introduction of the Bush School and about your tasks. You will have a daily meeting with the supervisor and if you encounter any questions or problems you can always contact the supervisor or the Share Africa Travel team.

A typical week at the Bush school…
07:00 – Volunteers and children meet at 7 o’clock for coffee
07:30 – Volunteers and children do a bush walk with the dogs. After that feed the animals and clean camps
09:00 – breakfast
09:30 till 12:00 – Lessons
12:00 till 14:00 – lunch + break
14:00 till 16:30 – Lessons
16:30 – Volunteers and children feed animals again and after that there is a game to play
19:00 – Dinner

Work hours are from Monday till Thursday from 07:00 till 19:00 (dinner time). You will have time off on Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. On every Saturday a trip to town is organized and volunteers will enjoy meeting up with the locals.

Costs & Inclusive / Exclusive

• 1 week R 5,550.-
• 2 weeks R 7,850.-
• 3 weeks R 11,190.-
• 1 month R 19,700.-
• 2 months R 26,800.-
• 3 months R 39,500.-

Contact one of our travel specialists now for the costs of additional weeks.

Inclusive

• Transfers from and to Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport (only for arrival on Saturdays)
• Three meals per day, tea, coffee, juice
• Accommodation including bedding and towels
• Laundry
• One trip to town per week
• A donation to the project
• Training and supervision

Exclusive

• Flights, internal and international
• Travel insurance
• Personal toiletries such as shampoo, sun-block, mosquito cream
• Internet and telephone charges
• Drinks
• Visas
• Any excursions over and above your planned itinerary
• Personal expenses such as internet, souvenirs, etc.

NOTE: Where possible, Share Africa Travel can assist volunteers to arrange extra/optional activities/trips during leisure time on their projects and expeditions. Please remember that on such occasions, you should decide to take accommodation other than what is provided at the project/expedition site, you will be responsible for the costs thereby incurred.

Arrival Dates
The standard arrival dates are always on Saturdays every week.

Volunteering at this project starts from a minimum of 1 week.

Please read our terms and conditions to inform yourself about our booking procedures.

Kindly note that the prices and accommodation are subject to change based on date, availability and special requests.

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