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Gap Year Teaching - Gap-Year-South-Africa - Africa and Asia Venture

Gap Year Teaching

Where?

In 5 primary and secondary schools in Philippolis, a 2-hour drive due south of Bloemfontein. This poor, small, agricultural town of 4000 people is a leftover from days gone by with a white community in the town and a coloured and black community just outside -all happily living and working together in a very integrated way nowadays, but with few folk having yet bothered to move out of their old communities. Laurens van der Post, the writer, was born here and there is an unusual Memorial to him on the edge of town. Philippolis has also produced 2 Presidents of South Africa. It has a few shops, a bank, a couple of restaurants and a police station. Farming provides what little employment there is but 70% remain without work and the government has declared the town a poverty pocket.

Outline Experience

Who will I be teaching?

Children from the coloured and black communities in 4 pre-primary, primary and secondary schools. For the first 4 years, the language of instruction is "Mother-Tongue" (one of the 5 languages spoken here). After that, most children change to English. Teaching in Philipplis High School is in both English and Afrikaans. Teaching in the primary schools will take place in the mornings and all breaks are opportunities to play sport and games. Afternoons provide the chance to run proper sports programmes (soccer, netball, cricket or rugby) or many of the other extra-mural activities. For example, Philippolis has a wonderful children's choir of which the town is immensely proud. Late afternoons and evenings will see you focus your attention on the secondary students, especially the "Matrics" working towards their Matriculation exams (A Level equivalents).

What about living conditions?

You will live in 2 typical flat-roofed Karoo cottages, next door to each other, in the main town, within 15 minutes of all the schools where you will be teaching - don't worry...we provide you with a bike! In each cottage you will find bedrooms, communal living areas, kitchens with cookers, fridges (nowhere else in Africa do AVs have fridges!), water you can drink from the tap and the world-famous South African Braai (B-B-Q) area in the garden. This will be your home for 3 months - a place to relax after a hard day's teaching, to prepare for tomorrow's lessons and a place to breathe and give yourself time to reflect on all you have experienced during the day.

Is there any support close by?

Kate Groch, who lives in the town and is a driving force in all its schools, is the AV representative with responsibility for your support and safety. Kate is there to help you with anything and everything.

What about weekends?                                                                 

Your weekends will usually be free and can be spent exploring the surrounding areas. Obviously, we will expect you to be involved in anything that the schools might be doing (sports days, competitions, etc) but otherwise the time is your own. There are some small towns close by, beautiful farms to be explored, a Tiger Breeding experiment (yes, "Tigers"), at which you will spend some time, the Orange/Xhariep River, and any number of nature reserves - before you even begin to think of South Africa's beautiful coastline and all that it offers.

There's a Safari, isn't there?

Oh yes! At the end of your teaching, you will bid a (very) sad farewell to the friends you will have made in your schools and begin your safari. You and the rest of the group will spend 6 days canoeing and rafting the Orange/Xhariep River, camping overnight on its banks, and visiting the very impressive Kariega Game Reserve to see some of Africa's extraordinary wildlife. Here you will experience the tough and the luxurious extremes of the great outdoors. The canoeing/rafting takes place on one of the world's more famous rivers but the game viewing will be somewhat more comfortable - we even throw in 2 nights in a luxury lodge, just to illustrate the stark contrasts of life in the "Rainbow Nation".

Where can we travel independently?

We will aim to finish your safari near Port Elizabeth and the start of the stunning Garden Route. From here you can choose more easily the options you want to take on your free travel - west towards Cape Town or east along Transkei's Wild Coast, some of the most beautiful coastline on the planet. This is the bit where you can be totally selfish with your time and do things just for you - whatever you want - and head off to discover even more of South Africa. By now, of course, you will be ‘old Africa hands' and, perhaps, even have some Afrikaans and indigenous languages under your belt. You will have nearly 3 weeks to travel together, or in small groups, wherever you wish. Table Mountain, The Drakensburg, the Garden Route, Kruger National Park or Ellis Park (home of Springbok rugby) - do these names sound familiar? Go and see them and experience the vastness of this amazing country. What about some surfing lessons on the Wild Coast? Or, perhaps, just lie on a beach somewhere, from where you might take part in a little whale watching and sunbathing! Whatever, you won't be stuck for things to do and, if you want to continue your travels after the AV scheme ends, the rest of Africa awaits. Naturally, AV will always be there for you if you have any problems, even after the scheme has formally ended.

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