Volunteering in Africa with humanitarian projects

Volunteering in Africa with humanitarian projects

Very often humanitarian work is limited to those with specific skills and tertiary education, or requires a certain religious belief to participate. However, the non profit "Campus California TG", together with the development aid organisation "Humana People to People" is running the "Development Instructor Programme" where everyone who is over 18 and is "qualified" is welcome. Qualified being in terms of having a thorough understanding of the program and its demands by getting well informed about it through phone meetings and preparatory weekends etc.

The programmes are 14 months long and involve a 6-month training at Campus California TG, 6-months of volunteer work at a humanitarian project in Africa (Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana) with Humana People to People and 2 months of informational activities and further education based back at Campus California TG.

The training is full-time. All participants live at the campus and are involved in activities in the evenings and weekends as well as during the week. Practical training such as learning the language of the country, African history, project studies and more is part of the 6 months, however the most substantial part is the development of personal skills such as the ability to not give up, to work together with all sorts of people, to create solutions when things seem impossible, and so on. The training places the participants in the driving seat of their own education with the responsibility and freedom that this entails.

The role of the volunteer in Africa is to be an extra energy input at the project, and to use this energy to bring the project and people forward. This may mean taking many extra-curricular activities and training teachers at a boarding school for street children, planning campaigns and educating local people in effective HIV and AIDS education, being a Project leaders "right hand", leading communities in techniques in sustainable agriculture, and much more - a specialist in doing what is needed to create positive change.

The final 2 months of the programme are to educate current teams in training at the Campus, to do informational activities, be involved in recruitment and generally educate many more people about development work.

The next team start at Campus California TG is Feb 2007, and teams start 4 times a year. If you are interested in these programmes send an email to africa@cctg.org and you can receive an "information pack" and also learn about the practical details such as costs and scholarships available. The web page is www.cctg.org

"Together we can be the change we want to see."

© Scoop Media