Activities

1.    Assist in preparations and early childhood development (ECD)  lessons

2.    Assist with marking and assessing children’s progress and making teaching aids

3.    Assisting in sports days with the children

4.    Help the teachers with arts and crafts, games, storytelling, drama and singing

5.    Experiencing the way of life in a third world country, immersed in the culture and visit areas on interest with children.

6.    Seeing the beauty of Zimbabwe with many new experiences.

 

What to Expect

1.    Through the academic support you will give to local teachers, you have a chance to address the issues of oversubscribed classes and poor teacher-student ratios.

2.    Classes are overcrowded and text books and teaching aids are also grossly inadequate. Here you have the chance to make teaching aids that can assist the teaching and learning process. The teachers also find themselves overwhelmed at times and welcome fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

3.    These children are desperate for extra ‘homely’ attention assisting them with their studies and social skills, but also caring for and making them feel special and important. Your presence on this project can make a meaningful difference to the lives of the children you come into contact with.

4.    You will also have the opportunity to assist the teachers at pre-Schools which offers the aid in the development of younger children before they enter Primary School and you will be able to play a vital role in that.

5.    Teach in a preschool that is quite small and very basic, but makes you feel part of the family immediately! The schools have approximately 57 boys and 68 girls between the ages of 3 and 9 and the schools themselves are quite small and very basic.

6.    You'll assist the local teachers to start classes, but, depending on your ability, you may be given complete control of a particular class or group.

7.    You can teach English or any other subjects, as well as assisting with sports during games periods.

8.    You will receive a lot of help and support from the local teachers and staff at the preschools to help you prepare for your lessons and settle you into your role.

9.     Most of the children are very shy to speak English and it’s in this area that the help of our volunteers is needed – to give the children to confidence to speak the language. They will ask for your support to help push the children’s’ education forward, and to help improve teaching techniques for the existing teachers, where possible.

10.     If you enjoy sports, that, too, is a very popular subject for the children and the schools would love for you to help out with the game periods.

11.    The schools also sometimes need help with administration (e.g. marking books). As this is part of a Teachers role, you may also be asked to help with this at some point.

 

Teaching

If you have some know-how, some initiative and lots of enthusiasm, you can also get involved with teaching drama, music, dance or arts and crafts lessons. If you enjoy being creative, then you can share your talents and enthusiasm at the various schools we work with. 

1.    Subjects are an excellent way of engaging children’s imaginations and encourage them to communicate with few constraints. What’s more, it is very satisfying to watch their confidence grow as they learn and develop new skills.

2.    At some of our schools in our other destinations, volunteers and pupils together are expected to produce plays and concerts, and performances have to be put on in the evenings for parents, students and visitors. Because the schools are poor, the volunteers had to be innovative and creative in putting together costumes and sets

3.    Volunteers are expected to produce short plays written by the children that address local social issues that should educate on issues such as AIDS awareness, cultural relationships, peer pressures, and bullying. It gives the children an informal forum and a means of sharing their concerns and learning to deal with issues.

 

Whether you are new to volunteering, or a relatively experienced volunteer, we believe that everyone has a part to play, as long as you have the desire to help. Our Musha Child Care Support and a Preschool Centre is project in Sakubva Township of Mutare in Zimbabwe. We support about 20 orphans at the centre and 50 less privileged children living in Sakubva with foster care support program, counseling sessions and education.