Children’s Day Care

Volunteers assist local caregivers at crèches and day care centres to provide care for the children of local farming families. Activities that volunteers may be involved in include:

• Reading to the children
• Supervising and interacting during play time
• Playing games
• Helping with music and art activities
• Providing one-to-one attention
• Helping with feeding and clearing up during lunchtime
• Supervising nap time
• Helping with sports coaching
• Assisting with adult education for the women in the community

Working days and hours

Volunteers normally work 4 days per week, Monday to Thursday with long weekends off. generally volunteers start at 8am and finish at 2pm. Volunteers are them free to explore the local area in the afternoons.

Other volunteers

There are usually 1-4 volunteers at the crèche at any one time with a maximum of 6.

Closure dates

Project closed 15 Dec 2017 to 1 Jan 2018.

Child protection

Pod is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults - please see our Child and Vulnerable Adults Protection Policy.

All volunteers are required to have a criminal records check, which we will arrange with you.

Volunteer reviews

Read about volunteer experiences and challenges in our South Africa Children’s Day Care volunteer reviews.

As the day care centres are often short-staffed, volunteers are able to provide the one-to-one attention that the children would otherwise not receive. Volunteers also offer an extra pair of hands to the organisation’s staff by assisting with feeding, clothing and playing with the children.

Caring for children who are at-risk or have limited resources can have a lasting impact on a child’s development.

The Children’s Day Care project is located on a working wine farm, in a region that has been plagued by high levels of unemployment. There is a history of alcohol abuse in the area, as historically farm labourers were not paid with cash wages but instead were paid in wine. The long term effects of this have meant that alcohol abuse is a major problem in many families; this has resulted in poverty, foetal alcohol syndrome and neglect among local children.

The project’s goal is to empower the community, with a specific emphasis on providing child care and developing the role that women play in the community. The project aims to teach and equip mothers who come to the centre with academic training and practical skills.

The centres provide an environment where the children are safe, supported, well cared for, given nutritious meals and learning opportunities as well as providing positive role models for many children who may not have this at home.

The project is located in beautiful town of Somerset West which is nestled between the Cape winelands and is on one of the Western Cape’s longest stretches of beach. It is just 40 minutes from Cape Town.

Volunteers stay in apartments located very close to the beach in Strand which is approximately 15km from the project. The apartments are fully furnished and have all modern conveniences. You may be expected to share a room with 1 or 2 other volunteers. There are internet cafes available within walking distance of the apartments.

You can use your long weekends to explore the Western Cape including the beautiful city of Cape Town and take advantage of the sights and activities it has to offer such as Table Mountain, Robben Island, wine tasting and whale watching.

Before you go:

• Carefully selected and vetted volunteer project
• Support from our friendly and highly experienced Pod UK team
• Single point of contact - Ellie is your dedicated placement manager
• In-depth Volunteering Guide on your volunteering placement
• Travel information - visa, health and safety advice
• Help arranging criminal record checks
• Access to specialist travel insurance at exclusive rates
• Recommended travel agency for flights and tours
• Access to special deals and resources
• Fundraising guide and support
• Financial protection for monies paid to Pod

On your placement:

• Child care volunteering placement
• Airport pick up (Cape Town) and return transfers
• Accommodation - a shared room
• Food - breakfast
• Daily travel to the project site
• Induction
• Tour of Cape Town
• Support from local team
• Support from Pod UK office by phone and email
• 24/7 emergency back up
• Incident Management and Emergency Response Plans

On your return:

• Contact from your placement manager
• Feedback scheme
• Volunteering certificate (on request)
• References (on request)
• Member of the Pod community

Not included: Flights, travel insurance, visa (if required), criminal records check, food (lunch and dinner). Budgeting guidance is provided in our Volunteering Guide which we will email you when you apply.

Pod Volunteer is run as a non-profit organisation. Fee levels are set to match costs and any surplus monies are distributed to the projects we work with via the Pod Charity.