Missionvale Care Centre Project
Overview
Day to day activities
Working at the school, afternoon programme for 200 children, soup kitchen, clothing distribution, helping at the sewing project, the garden project.
What’s included
Airport pickup, accommodation, coordination, donation to the project.
What’s excluded
Flights, visas, insurance, personal luxury items, transport and meals.
Accommodation
Volunteer house close to the beach.
Requirements
Love for people and children.
Working Hours
Flexible
Nearest town
Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape)
Guaranteed
Working with a community in need, getting insights in the daily life of people with issues as poverty and HIV/AIDS, being able to make a small difference.
About
The Missionvale Care Centre operates in the extremely poor informal shack land township of Missionvale in Port Elizabeth, South Africa - part of the wider Nelson Mandela Metropole. It was founded by Sister Ethel Normoyle, from humble beginnings, under a tree donated by a resident of Missionvale. It has grown into a Centre which provides love and care for the poor and destitute, with particular emphasis on those living with HIV/AIDS.
Missionvale Care Centre is an interdenominational, non-profit organization committed to providing quality care and support to improve the life of the people of Missionvale through love, consultation, participation and self-development. The center really looks at the circumstances of the people to determine what they need.
The help of volunteers is highly appreciated as there is a variety of projects that could use some support. Especially nursing volunteers are much needed. Missionvale offers the following programs where volunteers can help out and support:
Primary School; approx. 140 kids in the ages of 5-12 years attend school here and need support with reading, writing, social skills, sports. What they need as well is some individual attention.
Nutrition unit; helps the people of Missionvale each day by providing them with a half loaf of bread and a scoop of nutritious soup powder making it possible for them to go home and provide a meal for their family. This service is available to anyone in need. The Nutrition Unit also distributes food parcels weekly to those families on the Care Centre adopted list.
Medical support and Clinic: A volunteer optometrist visits the Care Centre once a week providing optical examinations and glasses when necessary. The Centre is always looking for old eye glasses that can be recycled for use here. Giving a person the ability to see again is an amazing gift.
The clinic offers a one step facility where people can get a check up and additional care, which is mainly aimed at people with TB or HIV/AIDS related illnesses. The caregivers need help from nurses to offer proper care during the daily home visits to the townships. There are qualified nurses working at Missionvale but not enough can be done and we call out to anybody with a medical or nursing background to come and make a difference.
Crafter Unit: The ladies of the Crafters Unit work very hard every day on a variety of projects including curtains, place-mats, hand bags, aprons, pillows and more. These items are then sold at the Missionvale Care Centre as well as at Art in the Park the first Sunday of each month. As the women are taught the basics of sewing and become more adept at these skills they have an increased chance of becoming employed by businesses throughout the Port Elizabeth area.
Child Support and Development; Both for children who attend the school and for those who do not, a program of activities is offered each day to make sure that they stay off the streets, being able to play safely. The children can get a meal, computer lessons, listen to stories, learn to play the drum or cultural dancing, play outside and play sports.
Clothing warehouse; all donations of clothing are cleaned and sorted so anyone in need can get a parcel with fitting and clean clothes.
Community gardens; residents of the area can plant and grow their own vegetables and fruits and donate part of the harvest to the soup kitchen.
Needs
The project is run by a non-profit organization and is therefore very dependent on volunteers and extra help.
Guidance and Supervision
Daily guidance will be given by the coordinators of the different units.
Tasks
Because it is possible to combine several programs, you as a volunteer can help out in different ways. You can help with the distribution of food, the children in the school, do sports activities, go on home visits in the township, help in the gardens and much more.
Prerequisites
- Respect the vision and mission of the project.
- Have an independent attitude.
- Be flexible in the tasks and activities.
- Arrange your own transport to get to an from the project.
- To be open minded and have the will to make a difference.
Why?
This project is very diverse and challenging, in which you’ll often be dealing with the local community. You will get acquainted with the circumstances in which 70% of South Africans live today, and experience their culture and situation. Be prepared to face misery and poverty. For this reason it is of absolute importance that volunteers are independent and mature individuals. You will be singing and dancing with these children, you will make them laugh, help them with schoolwork and teach them there’s a whole world waiting for them. This way you can contribute to a better future. Supervision and guidance are always available throughout the voluntary term.
Accommodation
You will be accommodated in one of the volunteer houses of Khaya where you will spend your time with other international volunteers. You will be responsible for your own transport and costs for food and drinks, but the accommodation is included in the price. Depending on availability you will either have a private room or you will have to share with a maximum of two other volunteers.. Transport is often something you can share with other volunteers to reduce the costs. A rental car will start from about 250 euro / 270 USD / 230 Sterling per month for an older car for local usage.
The benefit of having a car is of course that you can travel in the weekends and visit places after working at the project. The volunteer houses usually accommodate both local as well as international volunteers and students. They often have a swimming pool, cleaning services and are close to facilities such as the beach, bars, restaurants and shops.
We do keep in mind that older and younger volunteers don’t always mix and have alternative options for more private accommodation.
Fees and Dates
1 week R 3000
2 weeks R 4400
3 weeks R 6000
4 weeks R 7600
All extra weeks will be charged R 1400 per week.
An extra booking fee of R500 is required if you need Khaya to arrange transfers, accommodation and bus tickets as well as external travel arrangements. This fee lets Khaya handle your travel arrangements completely.
Currency Converter
The money will be used for the maintenance of buildings in the area, food for children, the organization of activities and of course a 15% direct donation to the project will be made of your full fee!
The fee includes the following:
- Information and support before arrival
- Personal pickup and transport to accommodation
- Information guide with free SIM card upon arrival
- Short tour through the city
- Accommodation
- 15% Donation to the project
- Support during stay
- Arrangement of activities and weekend trips
The costs exclude:
- Daily transport
- Food and drinks
- Any travel expenses to Port Elizabeth
- Insurance
- Costs for outings and activities
Volunteers can start at any given time.
Cost Breakdown| Accommodation costs | 40 % |
| Coordinating and pick up costs | 15 % |
| Direct donation to project | 15 % |
| Admin and Marketing costs | 20 % |
| Staff costs | 10 % |
Testimonials
Geertje and Elly - The Netherlands
"It was an incredible experience to feel so at home so far from what we know. We helped with the handing out of food and parcels, wrapped hundreds of presents for the Christmas party and really felt we helped out, even if it was for 2 weeks."
Eleonora - Switzerland
"Helping in the kitchen, joking with the mamas and seeing how organized things are being run were the best things for me when I was at Missionvale in October 2010. I would love to come back and see all the staff and people of Missionvale again. I can only recommend this as it has changed me and how I look at life in general."
Patricia - France
"Wow, what a great place and so many smiles even without food and waiting for hours to have a meal. I love Missionvale and enjoyed to helping in the school and with the food giving. I don't want to leave."
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Rosanne (Netherlands)
Volunteering in South Africa was a life changing experience for me...
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