Volunteer with Children in South Africa

Justine was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. She is passionate about environmental conservation and has an Honours in Environmental and Geographic Science, and a Master of Philosophy in Environmental Law. Justine has been with Projects Abroad since January 2014. She started out as a volunteer advisor and work her way up to head of administrative services, operations manager and now country director for South Africa. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors, scuba diving, meeting new people and travelling. Justine has travelled extensively through Europe, and most recently visited Bolivia, Argentina, Fiji and Cyprus.

Kayla was born and raised in Cape Town and loves living in the Mother City. She is currently studying Business Management at False Bay FET college. She supervisors the Teaching project and loves working with the children at the schools. She joined Projects Abroad in 2013 and enjoys working with volunteers from all over the world.

Maria moved to South Africa from Kenya in 2003. She graduated from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth with an LLB law degree. Maria is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa and is qualified to practise in the Magistrate’s Court, High Court and the Labour Court. Before joining Projects Abroad in March 2011, Maria specialised in civil litigation.

Sherwin was born and raised in Cape Town. He completed his LLB law degree at the University of the Western Cape. Whilst at university, he did an international human rights course with Howard University (USA) which is where his passion for human rights commenced. In his free time, Sherwin likes socialising and meeting new people. He also enjoys playing squash, sand-boarding and going to the gym.

Judy-Rose was born and raised in Cape Town. She enjoys the outdoor life and regularly goes to the West Coast to break away from the hectic city life. She has been working in the hospitality industry for more than 4 years, but her passion has always been to make a difference in people’s lives. In high school she was part of her school’s community outreach programme and she has done volunteer work for the Art of Living Foundation.

Shuan is from Vrygrond in the Cape Flats and his passion to work with and help people stemmed from having witnessed the hardship faced by those in his community. He joined Projects Abroad in 2010. After working as the Social Justice Coordinator in the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office, he was appointed the role of Surfing Project Manager. This role has given him the opportunity to be creative and come up with different ways to teach life skills to young people from communities like his own.

Michael was born and raised in Cape Town. He is extremely passionate about working with at risk youths because of how he grew up. Before joining Projects Abroad, Michael worked with youth development programmes in various communities around Cape Town for four years. His major focus was on diversion for juveniles and rehabilitation for inmates at Pollsmoor Prison. He is a decent soccer player and thoroughly enjoys physical activity and new challenges.

Ashwin was born and raised in Cape Town, his very outgoing and loves meeting new people from different cultures. He is a part time dancer and worked with children for eight years, before joining Projects Abroad. His goal in life is to help others suffering from poverty and create positive change in the world.

Rebecca graduated from university in Norwich with a BA Hons in Literature and Film Studies. Since then, she worked in a range of publishing houses in the UK and moved to Cape Town with her family in 2008. She joined Projects Abroad in 2010 to start up Cape Chameleon magazine. The project offers a journalism internship to volunteers from all over the world.

Fahima has lived in Cape Town for most of her life and she loves living and working in this beautiful city. She is a registered dietitian, having studied at both Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town. She’s worked at various hospitals around the Eastern Cape and Western Cape in South Africa. Through this work, she gained the experience to help communities that need extra nutritional support. She enjoys the outdoors, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Danielle was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. She received her law degree from the University of the Western Cape and later attended the School for Legal Practice at the University of Cape Town. After completing her articles and being admitted as an attorney in 2013, she practised on her own for a while before joining a predominantly civil law firm. Danielle joined our Projects Abroad Human Rights Office in March 2018. She says the best part about her job is the satisfaction she gets from helping people. In her free time, she loves hiking, being outdoors and spending time with family and friends.

Samantha, 20, grew up in Cape Town and lives in Capricorn. She graduated from Immaculata High School in 2011. She is a dedicated, honest, free spirited and outspoken person. She likes hiking and meeting new people. She is involved in a Youth group at her church in her area. She likes challenges and adapts easily. She would like to travel across South Africa and experience different cultures within the African continent. She would also like to get a degree qualification in Tourism, which is her short term goal.

Meschak is from Burundi and moved to Cape Town in 2001. After studying Tourism, Meschak joined Projects Abroad in 2010 as a Volunteer Coordinator. Since then he has loved working with volunteers from different backgrounds, arranging volunteer socials and making sure their time is worthwhile. He also speaks French and enjoys playing soccer.

Helena has spent over 30 years on and off in the wilderness. She is an expert tracker, has crossed the Kalahari Desert on her own and lived with Bushmen for a year. She is also a pilot, a biologist specialising in animal behaviour (for which she obtained her PhD), and she single-handedly navigated her way through the vast Okavango Delta in a leaking boat and survived! For 10 years she was the Operations Director of The Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) in Durban, South Africa.

Judi spent her corporate life as a software developer and business owner in South Africa but volunteered all her spare time to helping rescue wildlife, including raising two lions. Together with her business partner, Helena Fitchat, they purchased a large tract of land in the Tuli Block in Botswana and have dedicated it to wildlife. Judi relocated and now lives there permanently. As a trustee of one of the biggest wildlife rehabilitation centres in South Africa, Judi realised that the only way to make a difference was to preserve the habitat. This is what Projects Abroad and their volunteers make possible on a daily basis.

Jo is from the village of Mathathane, Botswana and has been working in the bush all his life. He is an expert tracker, loves the bush, and is passionate about sharing his knowledge with the volunteers. He is also very handy in the camp and often assists Jens with maintenance issues.

Jane is from the village of Mathathane, Botswana and is considered the ’heart’ of Motswiri Camp. She manages the kitchen and the menus, and does all the cooking. Her meals are legendary, and it is amazing to see the food that she can produce in the middle of nowhere. Jane ensures that no one goes hungry, and our volunteers frequently tell us that they have to go home to lose weight!

Patrick is from the village of Mathathane, Botswana and joined Motswiri Camp as a camp attendant. He previously worked in the Okavango Delta but moved home as he wanted to be closer to his family. Patrick turned the non-existent garden into a beautiful area in the camp, which he now maintains. He looks after the camp and ensures that it is kept clean and tidy. He also makes sure that everyone has hot water for showers, and often helps Jens with general maintenance.

Precious is from the village of Mathathane, Botswana and originally started helping at Motswiri with her mother, who worked at the camp for many years. When her mother retired, she took over the position of camp attendant. It is her job to ensure that everyone is comfortable in their accommodation. Precious also helps Jane with the cooking when the camp is busy.

Gabriela was born in Guadalajara, she has a degree in Foreign Languages. She has worked as an English teacher and translator for several years and she joined the Projects Abroad team in 2016. She loves spending time with her family and friends, reading, going to concerts and cultural events. Gabriela has had the opportunity to travel through South America and Western Europe.

Stacey grew up and currently lives in Cape Town. She is a very creative person who is always finding new projects to amuse herself with in her spare time, from ceramic sculpture and baking to trawling second hand stores looking for old vinyl records to add to her ever growing collection! From a young age, Stacey has always yearned to work with a purpose and make a change and feels that with Projects Abroad this can be achieved. Stacey is the Volunteer Advisor for Ghana and Tanzania.