 Volunteer in a Children’s Recovery Hospital situated in Cape Town providing much needed post care and support in a monitored situation.
For some families living in a township it is difficult to monitor the child’s recovery effectively, difficult to keep wounds clean, keep medicine refrigerated so this Recovery Hospital meets a vital need amongst Cape Town’s low income and poor families. Just like any other child, these children need post recovery support and care, love, attention and stimulation which the staff are not always able to do due to high work load, so volunteers play an important role in this respect
As a volunteer at Hope Journey you will have a wonderfully varied experience, and be involved with all the different aspects of running a charity recovery hospital. As with any home, assistance is needed with laundry and storage of all the baby clothes and linen, simple food preparation, managing of donations of toys (given out at children’s birthdays, and when they go home) and play areas.
The bursting-at-the-seams classroom welcomes two volunteers to assist the teacher with running the activities peacefully.
Volunteers with bright fundraising ideas will be given scope to implement them, and then there’s the sorting and selling of second hand clothes donations (to raise funds), and admin such as writing to sponsors thanking them for their donations etc.
There is also the opportunity for volunteers to run a simple computer literacy course for the local staff nurses who haven’t had access to computers - there are computers available at the hospital but none of the nurses benefit from this as they do not have the basic grounding. So a volunteer’s time is divided between all these vital tasks, as well as spending time with the children and babies.
The children love playing games and singing, and need mental stimulation such as learning the words for parts of their body, and having stories read to them.
Some of children are HIV positive, so common sense caution is employed. Volunteers work side by side with paid nursing staff, who will attend to any medical conditions the children might have
Volunteers, by law, will not be allowed to participate in any medical care of the children at the recovery hospital.
 
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PROJECT OUTLINE
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Project
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Children’s Recovery Hospital Volunteering
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Location
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Cape Town
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Province
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Western Cape
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Country
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South Africa
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Closest City
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Cape Town
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Closest airport
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Cape town International Airport
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Malaria-free area
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Yes
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Vaccinations / Advisory
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Consult your local travel clinic for advice.
Generally, HIV/AIDS is extremely prevalent in the South Africa so it is your personal responsibility to take care with regards to health and safety, as well as sexual relationships |
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Duration
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Minimum: 4 weeks
Maximum: 12 weeks |
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Combination
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This project can be combined with any other project
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Requirements
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- Minimum age of 18 years
- Police clearance
- Subject to availability on the project
- Resume / CV acceptance
- Telephonic interview may be required
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Skills needed
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- A love for children
- An understanding of basic child healthcare and physical motor co-ordination needs, to strengthen their muscles is an advantage.
- Basic English. A volunteer needs to be able to communicate with both the staff and children.
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Dates
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Open all year round
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Hours
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Hours may vary, flexibility required
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Costs*
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R13,800 for 4 weeks
Additional week at R2, 900 per week |
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Inclusions
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- Airport Transfers
- Cape Town: 3 nights accommodation, orientation that covers everything the volunteers need to know about staying in South Africa (from social skills to transport and safety), two meals per day, bus trip into town, lunch (on the Friday), walking tour of the city, a train ride back to there accommodation and day trip (on the Saturday)
- Community Impact Voluntour
- All paperwork, placement and liaising with Volunteer Program
- Appointed Supervisor for duration of program
- Accommodation
- Two meals a day - Breakfast and Dinner
- Donation per month to the Volunteer Project, to assist in their funding
- A South African SIM card that works on a pay-as-you-go top up system
- Monthly socials for volunteers to get together and meet other volunteers (cost depends on social)
- Certificate & Report on Volunteer’s Program should this be required for studies or other purposes
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Exclusions
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- Flights
- General visa costs and cost of visa in the case of your volunteering being longer than 90 days
- Travel & Medical Insurance (must cover volunteer work)
- In-country local transport
- Costs and items of a personal nature
- Weekend excursions
- Lunches (not provided by host/host family)
- Use of phone (landline and mobile)
- Towel and toiletries
- Accommodation if Volunteer arrives before start date
- Transport to Accommodation if Volunteer arrives before start date
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Accommodation
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- Volunteer House with shared rooms. Between 2 – 3 per room, communal lounge and kitchen
- OR, South African Host Family in local community - own room or shared with another volunteer
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Daily Transport on project
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For volunteer’s own account:
- Pay R200/week for You2Africa shuttle (door to door from host family/volunteer house direct to project) or
- Hire own car
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Meals
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Breakfast is self service and provided by the volunteer house host/host family
Lunch is to volunteers own account
Supper is a cooked meal provided by the volunteer house host/host family.
Please note that the accommodation and food can be basic. If you have special dietary needs you should provide this for yourself. |
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Possible Tasks
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Babies / Children’s Ward
- Teach and encourage development through play
- Work at the development stage that the child is and help the child develop to the proper stage where the child should be. Refer to the volunteer file folder in the volunteer room.
- Collect toys from around the ward and sterilize toys daily, at the end of day each child should have one toy and one numbered soft toy in their cot
- Assist with feeding, show nurse how much child ate when finished
- Make sure that each child has a large sign above their cot that states their first name, gender, and date of birth
Nursery School
- Assist teacher and teacher’s assistant with daily tasks
- Assist with edu-care tasks and activities
- Assist with art projects, teaching-sums, letters, time, English, computer
- Assist with keeping room tidy and organized
- Organize children with puzzles and game
- Remember, the adults are always in charge, not the children
Housekeeping
- Assist with organizing the linen room and keeping it tidy
- Assist with preparation of meals in the kitchen
- Assist with keeping storage rooms organized i.e. labelled and tidy
Project highlights
- Playing a part in the recovery of sick children
- Encouraging a child’s development through fun games and activities
- Contributing to a child’s overall recovery
- Forming a bond with children that need a lot of care and love
- Working with amazing staff
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Host Resources
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Orientation provided
Training provided |
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Included Tour
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Community Impact `Voluntour`
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* Prices subject to change without prior notice
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