The Project
Southern Africa Volunteer Explorer

Wildlife Research Expedition in South Africa - In South Africa’s spectacular Limpopo province, Global Vision International runs this fantastic wildlife research expedition on the Karongwe Game Reserve and Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve. Expedition members participate in wildlife monitoring projects, to assist research on predator/prey interactions by radio tracking, and spending one week in five in smaller satellite camps to help with conservation and biodiversity studies of mountain habitats in the vicinity of the conservation expedition base. Experiencing Africa’s famous animals like lions and elephants in a unique and simple way as they hunt and fight is an experience never to be forgotten.

Expedition Members collect vital behavioral data on reintroduced predators and larger herbivore on reserves where they do not have the manpower, time or resources to carry out intensive monitoring. GVI spends up to 12 hours a day following large predators such as lions, leopards, cheetah and wild dog to determine their feeding ecology spatial use, competition and behavior. The information gathered is used to give an accurate picture of the predators impact on prey populations, determine social structure, genetics, and spatial movement. This vital information helps maintain a healthy balance of these natural resources and ultimately conserve some of Africa’s natural heritage bioregions.

Volunteer in an Orphanage in Cape Town, South Africa - This volunteer project is in the heart of a township just outside Stellenbosh. The project involves volunteering with children from birth to 8 years old who have been orphaned. Volunteers will be involved in implementing an educational program which focuses on fun, interactive activities in an informal environment. These activities will enhance the children's development in basic English conversational skills, arts, music and drama as well as their gross and fine motor co-ordination. This project will ensure that these children will be able to develop to their full potential in a safe, creative and caring environment. When volunteering at the orphanage there are also many opportunities to explore this beautiful part of South Africa.

The children's home was formed by Mama Lumka as a refuge for orphaned and disabled children. In the early days Mama Lumka would walk the township looking for children who had been severely neglected or mistreated. Some of these children had been locked up in a dark room with only a bucket as a toilet facility and food left on the floor. She would rescue these children and take them into her home where she would feed them and give them the love and care they deserved. Using a wheelbarrow to transport the children who were often suffering from various disabilities and unable to walk, she soon became known in the township as the 'wheelbarrow lady'.

Volunteer Work with Desert Elephants in Namibia - This project takes you to Namibia, and the north-western regions of the Namib Desert, traditionally known as ‘Damaraland’. Here in this harsh tribal wilderness that runs parallel to the Skeleton Coast National Park, a small population of desert-adapted elephants have come into conflict with the local human population, and it is the aim of this volunteer project to manage the conflict and assist in its resolution. The majority of the volunteering will require you to help local farmers with community work, building protective walls around their water points and teaching them the skills they need to manage the conflict with the resident elephant populations. You will also assist the project staff with research by following and monitoring the movements of these elephants.

Desert elephants often damage unprotected windmills leaving communities without access to water. This angers locals and makes it easy for elephants to be labelled as a problem and then shot. Volunteers solve this problem through a simple solution – a wall is built around the windmill which protects it but still allows the elephants to drink. The patrol week is important as you will GPS herd movements which display which farms are visited and require protection. The research provides invaluable information for the government on Elephant numbers and identifications - all integral to the successful management of the Desert elephants.