Orphan Care And Teaching Project, Victoria Falls Detail

Book your Volunteer Placement to arrive on the project in March 2012, and receive a 10% Discount on your Volunteer Fee!

The majestic Victoria Falls, Southern Africa's tourist mecca and one of the seven natural Wonders of the World, will be the backdrop to your volunteer placement. In this impressive setting, we offer you the opportunity to gain a unique insight into local Zimbabwean culture and lifestyle, and to make a positive impact in the local community through our specially structured Teaching Assistance and Orphan Care Programme.

You will share a volunteer project base with our lion conservation volunteers and will also have the chance to visit this ground-breaking project and meet the lions themselves. There are also opportunities to enjoy the wide range of adventure activities available around the Victoria Falls, including flying over the Falls and white water rafting or visiting near by Chobe National Park in Botswana - home to Africa's largest population of elephants!

Volunteers have the chance to make a huge impact at our local Orphanage where children are in desperate need of love, attention and stimulation. Volunteer assistance is also hugely valued in over-populated classrooms that are full to the brim with children eager to learn and Teachers who are hardworking and dedicated but are under-resourced and overstretched.

You can expect to get involved in the following Orphan Care and Teaching initiatives, on this exciting and diverse programme! 

This will be the main focus of your volunteer placement in Victoria Falls. The Orphanage was founded in 2007 by a local woman looking to make a positive impact in her community after the turmoil of recent years. 

The Orphanage focuses on protecting, caring for, and supporting children of the Victoria Falls community. People of all backgrounds are welcomed, especially those who require economic and psychosocial support due to homelessness, disease, physical disabilities, sexual abuse, parental mortality, and poverty. HIV-positive children in particular, educated and treated at the Orphanage, are encouraged to integrate into the community of local children to remove the stigma of the disease. 

The mission is to improve the quality of life of the children, families, and caregivers living in the broader communities of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The orphanage aims  to sustain this improvement by emphasizing the importance of education. By showing these children the doors that education can open, we encourage them to continue to work hard to achieve their potential.

Children at orphanage vary in age from very small babies to around 16 years old. You will visit the orphans on a daily basis to interact with the children, provide extra lessons, play games with the babies and give the children that one on one love and attention they so deserve. You will also have a chance to go out with them and introduce activities such as soccer and netball, and organise other fun games to improve their quality of life. 

Volunteer assistance on this project is greatly appreciated, and we hope you can join us in making a difference in these Children’s lives. In addition, you will also have the opportunity to get involved with general maintenance of the orphanage, with regards to infrastructure, and the day to day running of the facility.

This is a school run by a very dedicated group of local staff members who do their best to provide for the children but are sadly lacking staff, resources, and funding. Volunteers will  assist in the classrooms with teachers and provide one on one attention to the eager learners.

Help teachers in their classes and contribute fresh new ideas, added support as well as much needed love and care with a view to improving the lives of the future generation of Zimbabwe.

You will also have the opportunity to introduce fun sporting activities to the local students, and spend time playing games with them.

In partnership with the ALERT Communities Trust (www.lionalert.org) African Impact has established a variety of development programs within the communities in and around Victoria Falls. These programs form part of a holistic approach to wildlife conservation whereby local people receive benefits through development programs which form part of this project and thus build support for conservation in the area.

As part of your experience whilst at the project you will have a chance to learn more about the broader work that ALERT conducts within the region including visits to the African Lion Rehabilitation & Release into the Wild Program where you will have the opportunity to walk with lions as they undertake their pre-release training.