South Africa
Placement options: Gap Year Teams (5.5 and 4.5 months), Focus teams (2 weeks) April and July 2011, (4 weeks) August 2011
April 2011 (Johannesburg and Gateway)
Dates: early April - end August 2011
Training dates: 23rd - 26th March 2011
Minimum age: 18+
Cost: £4300 - new cost for April 2011
Application deadline: 31st Dec 2010
September 2011 (Johannesburg only)
Dates: early October 2011 - mid March 2012
Training dates: 14th - 17th September 2011
Minimum age: 18+
Cost: £4500 - new cost for Sept 2011
Application deadline: 31st July 2011
Focus Teams April, July and August 2011
Dates: 2nd - 16th April 2011 - Johannesburg
Training dates: 18th February 2011
Minimum age: 18+
Cost: £1800 - 2 week team
Application deadline: 31st January 2011
Dates: 2nd - 16th July 2011 - Johannesburg
Training dates: 27th May 2011
Minimum age: 18+
Cost: £1800 - 2 week team
Application deadline: 31st May 2011
Dates: 1st - 28th August 2011 - Gateway
Training dates: 21st - 23rd July 2011
Minimum age: 18+
Cost: £2200 - 4 week team
Application deadline: 31st May 2011
More details
We send teams to two locations in South Africa - Pietermaritzburg (Project Gateway) and Johannesburg (Oasis South Africa). Gap year Teams to Pietermaritzburg only go in March.
Read more about Oasis South Africa and Project Gateway
Pietermaritzburg teams at Project Gateway live on-site in dormitory-style accomodation, and serve in different aspects of the community projects. This could be helping in the primary school, assisting in HIV/AIDS education in the local area, serving homeless people at the overnight shelter, or spending time with the ladies and children at the women's refuge. There is limited public transport, so a driving licence is very helpful if you are going on this Gap year team.
Johannesburg teams help at the various projects set up by Oasis South Africa. These include mentoring of school leavers, teaching community health workers, running after-school clubs for children and visiting a hospice for people with AIDS. This team live in a secure house and have a car to get to their projects, so it is important to have a driving licence if you are going on this Gap year team. Focus Teams to Johannesburg will help to run holiday club activities for children during the SA school holidays.
What is it like?
Past Johannesburg Gap Year team members describe their time away:
"Our projects ranged from leading sessions in a pre-school in Diepsloot, a huge informal settlement to the north of Johannesburg, to visiting an HIV/AIDS hospice in the inner-city.
There is so much potential for South Africa as a new, united nation. As inner-city Jo'burg is slowly being renovated, there is much hope for a renovation of people's hearts and minds towards those that are less fortunate in their city. As for us, we learned that it isn't always about changing and helping those you go to serve, but more about them changing and helping you."
"Oasis South Africa have asked us to befriend the young people in the Bridge The Gap programme - this includes sitting in on their Life Skills lessons, helping with IT, and joining the young people in the work they do in the community. This community work takes up most of our time, amd includes running after-school clubs and Life Skill lessons in schools. We all are really enjoying getting to know the Bridge The Gap students, both while working and chilling in front of the soccer at weekends!"