With all meals, accommodation and activities included, this wonderful project offers volunteers a deeply rewarding, unique and varied cultural experience deep in the heart of rural South Africa. Here you will join the dedicated Amapondo Project team and contribute your time to a wide ranging community program, which incorporates an Educational Enrichment project and a Sustainable Village Development project.

Depending on the length of your stay and the needs at the time, you will normally be involved in both projects during your stay. You will be based in beautiful Port St Johns, a vibrant African town set on South Africa’s Wild Coast, with the Indian Ocean just a few metres away. The area is rich with local traditions, culture, flora and fauna, prolific bird life, whale & dolphin spotting from the shore, incredible scenery, pristine natural environments, and some of the warmest and most welcoming people you will ever meet.

During your stay you will be able to take advantage of many free activities which are provided for your days off. These include kayaking down the Umzimvubu river, day trips to the magnificent Magwa Falls and many more.

Educational Enrichment Project
Schools in the rural Transkei are desperately underfunded with poor facilities and a shortage of adequately trained teachers when compared to schools in the majority of towns and cities in South Africa. Whilst the children are bright and eager to learn, opportunities for them to do so are hindered by the many social challenges that rural life and South Africa’s turbulent political history have created.

As a volunteer, you will be assisting the energetic volunteer coordinators, to supplement day to day learning of youngsters by providing a safe learning environment conducive to having fun, engaging creative capacities and catering to the needs of the individual. We provide an atmosphere conducive to a rewarding volunteer experience whilst simultaneously offering much needed academic assistance and extracurricular activities to local school children. The benefits are many; cultural exchange, linguistic immersion and the provision of a supplemental education outside the classroom-both academically and socially.

Sicambeni Village – Sustainable Development Project
The world's peoples have by and large become disconnected from the awareness of how we are inter-linked with nature and how we rely on the earth and natural forces for our primary needs - water, food, and shelter. And we are all increasingly losing our sense of community. In the Amapondo Project, we work to instil a new sense of
community awareness and reconnection with the earth and its natural resources in a sustainable way. To help people take ownership of their own lives and situations and become accountable for their futures. Through this process we recreate a sense of community identity which becomes manifest in tangible results like a village, a sustainable business or a clean water supply.

As a volunteer you will be assisting the project team with their long term goal of empowering local people to create self-sustaining, holistic centres within each village, to the benefit of the whole community. During your stay you could find yourself helping to erect fencing, helping local people to make bricks, assisting with planting in the permaculture gardens, assisting with repairs to poorly built traditional huts, establishing energy efficient systems for electricity and water purification amongst others.

Please be warned – many visitors to Port St Johns find it very hard to leave, with many volunteers extending their stay far beyond their anticipated duration – for this reason we would recommend that you book for as long a stay as you can to ensure there will be a placement for you...

What's Included?

• Cape Town Airport collection and drop-off.
• A welcome brief from a member of the AVIVA team.
• Advice and support from our experienced team during your stay.
• A Welcome Pack complete with many useful items that will help you settle in, and an opportunity to let your family or friends know you have arrived safely.
• An embroidered AVIVA Fleece.
• Accommodation at one of our AVIVA Houses in Cape Town before and after your project, with self-service breakfasts (2 nights before joining your project, and 1 night on your return).
• Return coach transfers between Cape Town and Port St John.
• Project fee.
• A welcome brief from a member of the on-site Amapondo project team.
• Accommodation for the duration of your project with all bedding provided.
• All your meals at the project.
• All project related transfers between your accommodation, the school aftercare centre, rural villages and Port St John
• A range of free activities (download the Amapondo info sheet for details!)
• An attractive certificate recognising your contribution to the Amapondo project.

If you are adding the optional Cape Town Week, the following will also be included:

• An extra 7 nights’ accommodation at one of our AVIVA Houses in Cape Town with self-service breakfasts.
• A full-day Peninsula tour which includes lunch, visits to Hout Bay, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Cape Point, Simon's Town, Boulders Beach Penguin Colony and much more. An incredible day rich with history and some of theworld’s most beautiful scenery.
• A half-day Cultural tour, a fascinating introduction to South Africa’s recent political history before and after
  Apartheid, includes highlights of Khayelitsha, South Africa’s second largest township after Soweto.
• A full-day tour to the Cape Winelands including the Paarl, Franschoek and Stellenbosch regions. Wine tastings and lunch included.
• Our booking service for attractions, events and tours.
• If required, extra nights can be added to your stay to meet your flight dates for only R120 per night. This may help you to take advantage of any cheaper flights that arrive in Cape Town before your planned arrival date.