Volunteer Africa - 32° South’s volunteer programme works with schools in the Cintsa area of the Eastern Cape. It facilitates computer literacy classes, playing a supporting role for teachers and complementing the existing curriculum, and it provides a vital resource for learners to gain hands-on computer skills that will prove invaluable as they progress through their education and eventually seek employment. The schools involved are all part of the “Ecoschools” project – initiated by Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to give children access to environmental education via computer applications. The programme’s next goal is to fund a mobile computer lab to be able to reach more learners in the area.

It is a known fact that volunteer tourism is an important growth sector, in line with the developing interest in responsible tourism experiences. In Southern Africa it can create positive opportunities that would otherwise not exist, and it is a catalyst for bringing economic development to communities that are not generally part of mainstream tourism.

Rapidly growing demand for volunteer tourism experiences has meant that many programmes are not planned and managed effectively, and that volunteers could in some cases be placed where no formal structure existed, with little in the way of supervision at the destination.