Camp in Africa
The very name Africa is enough to get your imagination going isn’t it? To us Europeans Africa means wild animals and wild country. Any gap-year should create unforgettable experiences and leave you with great memories that keep on coming back to you for the rest of your days. Africa volunteer work is guaranteed to do both.
Don’t underestimate Africa’s magic though, it will cast it’s spell on you and after you leave you’ll find yourself being drawn back there time and again. If you are prepared for that, then go for it there are some amazing projects you can get involved in as an Africa volunteer.
A gap year in Africa can offer you voluntary work in such things as conservation, construction and building, community development, tourism and of course wildlife. Africa has wildlife on a grand scale just as it has everything else including problems.
Voluntary work in your gap-year in Africa can take you to all sorts of locations. You could find yourself in any one of a number of countries such as the Republic of South Africa, Kenya or Botswana. Projects are under way in Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Namibia to name but a few.
These are not just exotic sounding names, they’re actual countries where real people live. They have real problems too, some universal but many that are specific to their way of life. So if you want to help there’s never any shortage of jobs that need doing.
There’s an elephant conservation project in the Namib Desert, one of the world’s last true wildernesses that can always use an Africa volunteer like you. Volunteers there work along with local communities tracking the desert elephants as part of their conservation efforts. Perhaps you’d like to play a part in that. You’d live with nature and sleep beneath the vast panoply of the African sky. How could you ever forget an experience like that?
Voluntary work in South Africa could take you into a game reserve where you might be helping to monitor animals such as lions and leopards, elephants and rhino. You’d be taught how South Africa tackles conservation issues. You’d be driving 4×4 vehicles in the bush. As an Africa volunteer there you’d be trained to manage a game reserve. Becoming qualified in First Aid is essential for anyone involved in Africa volunteer work.
You’d get the chance to learn some Afrikaans. In fact you’d probably have a job not to. Most people will learn some of the African tribal languages too as they live and work alongside the people. Best of all you’ll be making a very useful contribution at the same time.
Then there’s tourism, but tourism with a difference! In many countries in Africa there are people running safaris. There is never enough help around on jobs like. You’d be helping to look after the adventurous guests, keeping them safe, making sure they get to see as much as possible of the animals they’ve come to see and get the best photo opportunities without ending up as the animals’ dinner!. You’ll be helping to protect the animals from well meaning tourists as well.
Schools all over Africa need help in teaching the children in various subjects. Teachers there are always in short supply and how else but through education can the new generation ever hope to achieve a better future for themselves and their children? Not everyone can teach but maybe you could help in the building of a school to accommodate those who do have those skills and their students.
Clinics or medical centres and hospitals can all use all the help they can get. You don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse, though they’d love to have you there if you are, but there’s lots an Africa volunteer can do without medical skills and you’d be surprised at how fast you’ll learn! Help both skilled and unskilled is needed to build hospitals and clinics all over Africa.
Don’t worry that your skills don’t seem all that relevant to Africa volunteer work. All sorts of people can help, often in ways you never even thought of.
Whether you’re a teenager taking a gap-year between school and university or you’ve just graduated and want to do something to help others before settling down to work, taking a mid-career sabbatical or retiring from work but not yet ready for the pipe and slippers scenario, Africa can use you. Whatever your age and skill levels there’s something you can do that will benefit both Africa and you.
Africa will give as well as take from you. You’ll come back with skills you’ll never lose and all those incomparable memories. When Africa, starts calling you back, what then?
Built by The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1653, the Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world and is one the Seven Wonders of the World.
