Have you ever wanted to volunteer in Africa?
With travel restrictions easing – including double vaccinated adults no longer having to quarantine on return from amber list countries, and the Department for Education confirming that schools can plan new overseas trips from September – now is the perfect time to do something amazing and start planning your African Adventure.
We’re sure you don’t need much persuading, but just in case, here are 10 reasons why you should volunteer in Africa, and what you could gain from the experience…
There’s a huge backlog of work at our partner schools
With volunteers unable to travel for the past 18 months, our partner schools have missed out on the financial and humanitarian support they would normally receive. As a result, there is a huge backlog of work that needs completing – from building new classrooms, toilets and kitchens, to renovating existing facilities that are urgently in need of repair.
If you choose to volunteer in Africa, you’ll make a real difference by helping with meaningful volunteering work that contributes to long-term, sustainable development.
You can help advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Did you know that African Adventures is a signatory to the United Nations’ Global Compact? This means that we’re committed to helping advance the Sustainable Development Goals – a set of 17 goals that aim to create a better and more sustainable future for all by the year 2030.
As a volunteer in Africa, you’ll be playing your part to advance these goals – which include Quality Education, Zero Hunger and No Poverty – by helping our partner schools improve their facilities and extend their outreach into their local communities.
Give yourself something to look forward to!
After an extremely tough 18 months, we think you deserve to take part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will broaden your horizons, change your perspective on the world and give you memories that will last far beyond your trip.
By embarking on a volunteering trip to Africa, you can experience a new and exciting destination, and immerse yourself into an unfamiliar culture, whilst simultaneously having a real impact at our partner schools. What more could you want!?
You can Book With Confidence
Our Book With Confidence promise is designed with you in mind, so that you can plan your next African Adventure with complete peace of mind.
Our promise includes:
- Flexible date changes: Change your trip dates for free (except for airline charges)
- Full cash refunds: If African Adventures has to cancel your trip, you’ll receive a full cash refund, with no deductions
- COVID-19 cover: Our insurance includes cover for confirmed or suspected cases of Coronavirus
- ATOL protected: All our trips are financially secured through the ATOL scheme
Go beyond the tourist trail
By volunteering, you can go far beyond the normal tourist trail and gain an understanding of a community that a tour simply wouldn’t be able to replicate.
Through spending time at our partner schools, you’ll get to know the local communities where we work and the people who live there. Our partner schools are all run by members of the local community, and even the staff who run our volunteer trips in-country are all local to the areas where we work.
In fact, our trips are as authentic as they come, because we’ve committed to only using local providers – from the accommodation you stay in, to the food you eat and the places you visit. This means that you’ll get a real insight into your destination, in a way that a conventional holiday could never give you.
Three unique destinations
Our host destinations of Ghana, Kenya and Zanzibar reflect the beauty and diversity of the African continent, and each offers a unique experience.
In Ghana, you can experience rural West African living as you volunteer in the coastal Volta region. In this part of Ghana, fishing and agriculture are the backbone of the economy, and children often work alongside their parents to bring in an income, instead of attending school. Our partner schools are working to encourage more children to start school earlier and stay in education longer.
In Kenya, you can experience a bustling urban centre as you volunteer in the city of Nakuru. Although rapid development is taking place in Nakuru’s Central Business District, this is not reflected in other areas of the city, where poverty is prevalent. For many children, the costs associated with attending a government-run school – such as uniforms, textbooks and exam fees – pose an insurmountable barrier to accessing education. Our partner schools aim to remove this barrier by providing free education to disadvantaged children.
Finally, in Zanzibar, you can experience island living as you soak up the idyllic scenery of this world-famous destination, located off the east coast of Tanzania. However, beyond the pristine beaches and crystal clear waters lies a different story, and daily life is extremely difficult for a large proportion of the population. Although the schools we work with are government-funded, they are severely overcrowded and underfunded. In fact, overcrowding is so severe that the school day is cut in two, with half of the students attending in the morning and the other half attending in the afternoon – thereby literally cutting access to education in half. Our partner schools are working to improve their facilities to reduce overcrowding and enable more children to receive a quality education.
Go beyond volunteering
Although our trips proudly focus on volunteering, we understand that you want to experience everything that your destination has to offer. That’s why we offer an exciting range of adventure activities which allow you to go beyond volunteering – and give you a well-deserved break!
So whether it’s breathtaking safari drives and waterfall hikes in Kenya, guided snorkelling sessions and island hopping in Zanzibar, or feeding monkeys by hand and exploring the history of Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, there’s something for everyone!
Travel safely
Since 2009, we’ve organised volunteering trips to Africa for thousands of volunteers of all ages. Our volunteers’ safety is our number one priority, and our comprehensive Safety Management System ensures the highest standards of safety during your trip.
From pre-departure support and in-country orientations, to in-depth knowledge of hospitals at our host destinations and 24-hour emergency support, we know how to deliver a safe experience. Our experienced team are experts at delivering our trips, and are the reason why we have a track record of providing safe, memorable trips.
We also proudly hold a number of accreditations that should give you confidence that you’re travelling with a safe and reputable provider.
Take learning outside the classroom
Our school and college volunteering trips give your students the chance to take their learning beyond the classroom and into the real world as they develop new skills, witness development in action and gain hands-on experience.
With our trips, your students will be taken out of their comfort zones as they experience an unfamiliar culture and a new destination. In the process, they’ll gain confidence, grow in maturity, and deepen their understanding of their place in the world and what it means to be a truly global citizen.
With no school or college trips able to take place over the previous 18 months, young people all over the UK have missed out on the chance to learn outside the classroom. Now is the perfect time to start planning an African Adventure for your students, giving them the opportunity to support their classroom learning with real-world experiences.
We make it as easy as possible
Our promise to you is that we make organising a volunteering trip to Africa as simple and hassle-free as possible.
Before you travel, our friendly UK team will work with you to design your ideal trip. We’ll organise your flights, accommodation, in-country transport, insurance and much more, and will be on hand to answer any questions you might have.
Then, once you arrive in Africa, our expert in-country staff will meet you at the airport, and will be with you throughout your volunteering experience. They’ll introduce you to the partner school where you’ll be volunteering, and make sure that your trip is memorable and exciting – for all the right reasons.
We understand that organising a group volunteering trip to Africa might feel like a big undertaking, but don’t worry – we’re here to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Find out more about planning a volunteering trip to Africa below, or feel free to get in touch with any questions!
