Stay up to date with the latest information on the COVID-19 outbreak available on the WHO website and through your national and local public health authority. Important to note that Older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19 illness.
Life as we know it has come to a complete halt and many of us are concerned about the future of the travel and tourism industry. Covid-19 has had a significant, dramatic, and unexpected impact on the world and many of us are looking for answers. Covid-19 has escalated from a single health issue to a full-blown pandemic and as I write this, cases are rapidly rising with 210 countries affected and 2 million cases reported worldwide.
Hola hola, Its Tati!
Voluntouring? No, I didn’t make that word up and it’s not a typo. This is a concept that has become very popular over the last few years. This is when people volunteer overseas while they travel. I’m not gonna lie and say I wanted to be Mother Teresa and was looking for this directly, I just happened to stumble upon it. I had made up my mind about wanting to visit Africa, specifically to go on a safari.
Opening my curtains from my bed and seeing the most beautiful sunrise you can see. Last February, I traveled 24 hours to what proved to be the most welcoming and wonderfully interesting country I have ever been – South Africa.
So you just booked your volunteer travel trip abroad? Great stuff! Let us fill you in and give you some pointers so you can come here reassured and stress free, as we like it in South Africa!
“Door of Hope” is a home for children who are abandoned, without parents or where the parents simply can’t provide for the children financially and/or psychologically. This project gave me the privilege to meet mama Gladys, the woman who started this project. She prefers the term of “children’s home”, instead of orphanage, while it has a more positive tone to it. Also, there are many children there who do still have parents, but whose parents aren’t in the right mind space to take care of them either at the moment or ever again.
I think it’s everyone’s goal to travel and see as much of this world as possible. For me, this wasn’t any different. I’d have to say that in my 22 years of existence I’ve been lucky enough to see many places and experience different life styles. 4 years ago, I had my first long term abroad experience when I did a gap year in Mexico. I missed this life changing experience so much, that I decided it was time for a new challenge. Exploring new cultures, meeting new people, realising different perspectives and discovering magical places is something I live for. It’s definitely a healthy addiction!
Most of the volunteers at Khaya work at Izizwe Projects, they leave home at 8:30 am and finish at 3:30 pm. I accompanied them several times to understand their involvement in the community as well as how the project operates. Celia is the manager and works closely with Lloyd, Leesah and Zweli. Everyone has a speciality, for Lloyd it is sport, Leesa deals with the education of children and Zweli is the dance master. This project offers many activities for the children of Walmer Township. These activities include basketball, tooth brushing, adult literacy, English lessons and dancing.
I've been working with Rushin for a month now. My job is to create content for sites like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. We work well together, he is my writer and I'm in charge of the design. We have put a lot in place to move in the right direction. The aim is to create brand awareness for Khaya as the ideal intern and travel volunteer organisation, to give insight into the experiences of volunteers and what we do. It is an exciting experience to be able to work as a marketing intern as well as a volunteer and to share this amazing opportunity with you.
It's about time I told you about life in South Africa and especially in Port Elizabeth! All the volunteers live together in the Khaya Beach House. It is a large house with multiple bedrooms, we have two functional kitchens, four bathrooms and two living rooms. The house can accommodate up to 25 people or more.
