Intern abroad at the Maranatha Social Work and Child Care Project in Port Elizabeth South Africa.

The centre is home to children who have endured abuse and trauma, many of whom have lived on the street as a result of their circumstances. The key focus is service delivery areas of therapeutic, developmental, recreational and caring. Organized activities include cricket lessons, scouts, swimming lessons, singing lessons and life dancing. All children receive counseling, internal educational, life skills, sports and devotions-based programs.

Maranatha can use assistance from interns in the following fields of studies:

• Social Work
• Child Care
• Pedagogic Studies
• Any other related social studies

Tasks and Activities

Activities per intern can differ in many ways. The variety of options within the program allows from some customization of your work and activities, focusing on your personal experience and interests.

Profile of potential student interns

Since you are participating in a program that works with highly traumatized children, we have set some requirements for completing your internship at Maranatha. We are looking for students with the following skills:

• You are proficient in English
• You have great people’s skills and are easy to talk to
• You are independent and can use your own initiative
• You have a heart for working with children
• You have a problem solving attitude
• You can work well in a team and can interact well with all staff
• We require our students to apply for a police clearance from their home country

Working days and hours

This is an internship for 40 hours a week. You will be working an 8-hour day, from 8h30 in the morning till 17h00 in the evening. On days where there are weekly meetings and training, students are expected to attend and therefore need to be flexible with regards to working hours.

Daily guidance

One of the Khaya coordinators will pick you up from the airport and show you around. They prepare you for your work activities at the project and will be assisting you during your stay. They will transport you to and from the project, make sure the house is clean and meals are ready and organize fun outings for the weekends.

At the project, you will be supervised by one of the Marantha staff members according to your study requirements.

Other volunteers

You most likely won’t be alone when volunteering in Port Elizabeth and you will meet both local and international volunteers. We get interns from the USA, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the UK and other countries.