DISCOVER the wonder which is rural Africa

LEARN about African community, culture & rural life

EMPOWER people to be more resilient in a changing world  

Why join ASPECT AFRICA?

ASPECT AFRICA IS A VOLUNTEER COMPANY WHICH LIKES TO GO WAY OFF THE BEATEN PATH, THE MORE RURAL, THE BETTER AND WITH YOUR HELP, WE ESTABLISH ESSENTIAL PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABLE FUNDING FOR REGISTERED RURAL COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANISATION THROUGH THE  DEVELOPING, DESIGNING, IMPLEMENTING & MARKETING OF COMMUNITY OWNED VOLUNTOURISM SOLUTIONS. 

BY JOINING ASPECT AFRICA, YOU ENABLE THE HOST ORGANISATION TO RECIEVE SUSTAINABLE FUNDING FOR THEIR OVERHEADS, CREATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE HOST COMMUNITIES, PRESERVE CULTURE'S AND INSPIRE THE YOUTH.

BE PART OF A MOVEMENT ENABLING  RURAL COMMUNITIES BORDERING PROTECTED AREAS TO SHOWCASE WHAT THEY HAVE TO OFFER TO THOSE WITH  ADVENTURE AND SPIRIT.  

OUR PLACEMENTS

Volunteer placements are rural, very rural, Zimbabwe being even more rural, so you get to experience and feel the rhythms of authentic rural Africa up close and personal.

South Africa: Join World Parks, World Cup, a South African Non-Profit Organisation, on their sport for social development project and assist in primary schools across 6 villages in the Mutele Tribal Area & Makuleke Tribal Area - bordering the Kruger National Park and Makuya Nature Reserve, near to the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders. (between 800m to 30 km from the world-famous Kruger National Park)

Zimbabwe: Work with the Malipati Development Trust in primary and secondary schools as well as a sport for social development and education outside the classroom programme whilst staying in the  Malipati Communal Area - Bordering Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe’s second biggest reserve at 5,000 sq km and the Malipati Wilderness Area a buffer zone between Gonarezhou and the Malipati Community.

Volunteers can expect: an in-depth cultural experience, assisting teachers in local primary schools in South Africa and primary & secondary schools in Zimbabwe as well as working with the local WPWC’s coordinator in each country on the football for social impact programme as well as help WPWC and the MDT on improving and refining their community programmes. 

2019/20 Prices

South Africa: 4 weeks - £1,800 / $2,400 6 weeks - £2,400 / $3,200 8 weeks - £2,800 / $3,600

Zimbabwe: 5 weeks £2150 / $2,770 8 weeks £3000 / $3,860

All Activities included

To give you the best possible opportunity to integrate into the community and to have a fully immersive cultural experience we only have 12 volunteers maximum at any one time in South Africa, spread over 4 villages and 6 volunteers at any one time in Zimbabwe, spread over 3 villages.

We organise pickups from OR Tambo International Airport 

At a glance:

• Transport to and from - OR Tambo International Airport to your placement village

• Accommodation to and from your placement

• Accommodation for the duration of your placement

• Activities 

• Food while in host family accommodation and on organised activities

• Mosquito net

• Visa for Zimbabwe Placements

• 3 days RnR if you are on an 8-week Zimbabwean Placement

• 24-hour support

• Free online education course on Sport for Social Development

• Limited access to the internet (we encourage volunteers to purchase a local sim card)

South Africa

• Kruger National Park

• The Big Tree, one of Africa's biggest Baobabs and stone wall ruins

• Makuya Nature Reserve Park, overnight camping in BIG 5 Area

• Nwanedi Nature Reserve - Swim in waterfalls in a reserve

• African Ivory Route - Fundudzi and Mutale Falls Camps - Experience Venda the ‘Land of Legends’ and while away some time game viewing overlooking the Mutale river in Makuya Park)

• Thulamela Ruins - 13th Century ruins in the Kruger

Zimbabwe

• Camp out next to the Limpopo River with a braai

• Stay at the Bosman Camp for a real bush treat, watch out for elephants!

• Visit Majinji Pan Sanctuary for an afternoon of peace and quiet,  Enjoy a leisurely walk around this protected pan where you will find yourself surrounded by fever trees, lead-wood trees, jackal berry trees; a birders paradise followed with a braai and some quiet time in a hammock.

• Visit a chilli fence project and learn about chilli fences, camp out overnight to see it in action.

• Host Family payments for accommodation

• Volunteer coordinators -  Locally employed Female and Male.

• Community Coach Incentive programme - with a focus on female coach promotion and training

• WPWC sustainable funding - employing 4 local people in SA and Zim and impacting on 1000+ children across 20 primary schools in 2 countries

• Sustainable funding for the Malipati Development Trust in Zimbabwe benefiting 1000’s of community members

• In Zimbabwe, every volunteer on a 5-week placement allows 1 vulnerable child to attend primary school free for a year, and every volunteer on an 8-week stay pays for a secondary school student for a year

• All Activities - which promote sustainable tourism, creates cash revenue for cultural dance groups, donkey cart owners (only those which meet our high standard for animal welfare, see our Donkey Cart Policy, guides and other local activity providers.

• Cross border events such as the WPWC Pafuri Championship, the Shangaan Festival and the Great Limpopo Cultural Fair.

• Provides supplementary funds for a chillie fence project to stop elephants from raiding crops

Some of your fees have to go on getting you to and from your destination and covering certain overheads while in Southern Africa - fuel, tourism operator licences and training for local community co-ordinators. For every tourist which overnights in  Southern Africa, it is estimated that 10 permanent jobs are sustained in the tourism sector.

Socio-Economic and Community benefits

Community - Income Generation and Sustainable Funding

Host Family accommodation is utilized where possible thus creating much-needed income for households

Volunteer coordinators will be established & employed - 2 positions 1 male and 1 female

Sustainable funding for the Host Organisation through a percentage of the fee each volunteer pays, currently between 30 to 40%

Sustainable funding for a WPWC co-ordinator and project in Zimbabwe through a percentage of the fee each volunteer pays

Income generation through the hiring of scotch carts (donkey carts) for local transport of volunteers (good animal welfare of donkeys is vital)

Exposure to tourist, tourism and the wider benefits it can bring

As much food and local produce is bought locally to benefit as many subsistence farmers and small shopkeepers

School - Improve overall education, help Orphans & Vulnerable Children (OVCs), provide sanitary pads and schools materials.

School teaching materials will be donated - chalks, exercise books, markers, manila paper, sports equipment etc

For each volunteer, placed funds will be made to help a vulnerable child pay for a year's school fees.

Volunteers assist current teachers in schools with English, Math, Geography, Life  Skills Orientation, or where the school feels they are best suited.  

The support and assistance of homework clubs if they are established at local schools

Holiday clubs/school for extra learning 

Donation of sanitary pads for female students

Help students prepare for interviews and confidently complete applications and bursary forms for university or other higher education academies

Tourism products - So the community can feel the benefits of preserving the environment and of creating sustainable tourism products in the areas.

Activities established for the volunteers to enjoy on the weekend 

Benefits from this include but are not limited to:

Revenue for Cultural dancers, guides

Community members understanding the needs and wants of tourists - this is vital as it can help the youth gain experience and thus a foothold in the tour guide sector

Selling of arts and crafts

In-depth Cultural experiences through volunteers seeing how traditional houses are built and painted, the foraging of food - greens, mopane worms, grasshoppers etc

Donkey/Scotch Carts to transport volunteers to there activity destinations (good animal welfare is vital)

Development and use of proposed tourism products

ASPECT AFRICA's partnerships allow you to gain insight and understanding into:

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• Sport for Social Development

• Community-Based Organisations

• Community-Based Natural Resource Management

• Community Development Issues

• Climate Change and the issues it poses to rural communities 

• Human-Wildlife Conflict

• The impact of education outside the classroom

• The need for more focus on community conservation

• Gender Equality & Equity

• HIV/AIDs education, and prevention

Through our partnerships with Community-Based Organisation in southern Africa and Friends of Mutale in the UK, ASPECT AFRICA  is continually supporting work towards the following goals.