All Out Africa - Volunteer Programs in South Africa

I absolutely loved my eight weeks with All Out Africa in South Africa. The program is based in Hout Bay, about 20 minutes outside of Cape Town. I did a teaching placement at the primary and intermediate school, working with all the different classes of the school in the computer classroom to work on literacy, numeracy and computer skills. I felt like my presence helped reduce large class sizes for the teachers there. School was on holiday for the first half of my time there because of the World Cup, but All Out Africa's program coordinator had put together an amazing holiday program for the children of Hout Bay. During school, I attended the staff meeting every morning and felt welcomed by all the teachers and staff. It was definitely a lot to do, but the kids are amazing and the work was rewarding. Despite my short stay, I felt like I was actually making some kind of small contribution to helping the school and the community. Hout Bay has a township, a fishing community, and a more affluent community. It is pretty safe, but you definitely have to be smart about your whereabouts and the time of day. The amenities of the volunteer house are much nicer than I was expecting, and I made amazing friendships with some of the other volunteers and local South Africans. Hout Bay is breathtakingly beautiful (as is really all of Cape Town) and you are definitely close enough to Cape Town to go in on the weekends, if you don't mind paying for transportation. It offers an opportunity to engage with the community in a rewarding way during the week and also explore and enjoy Cape Town on the weekends. South Africa has a fascinating history, and there are a lot of things to do in Cape Town.

I cannot stress how amazing the program coordinator is! And I miss Hout Bay every single day.