Teaching Support at Primary School

Volunteer project Primary School Krugerpark

In the north of South Africa, in the province of Limpopo, the small town of Phalaborwa is situated, one of the immediate ‘gateways’ to the world-famous Kruger National Park. When you drive through this wonderful region as a tourist, you may possibly not be aware that within a radius of 15 kilometres around Phalaborwa another 150,000 people are living, mostly in traditional communities and townships. The local economy benefits greatly by the arrival of many tourists who come to admire the ‘Big Five’, but the local population hardly benefits by it. More than half of the people have never finished secondary education or even primary education, with the result that they have great difficulty in finding a job – let alone decent, paid work. Unemployment and poverty rates are very high in the communities around Phalaborwa. The region has an unemployment rate of almost 47% and the province of Limpopo is one of the poorest in South Africa.

Education is crucial to leave this poverty behind. Proper primary education with more personal tutoring of students may make an enormous difference and give them a better start in life. Through lack of resources schools are forced, however, to maintain very large classes: one teacher has up to 100 students under his or her care. Your help, therefore, is badly needed to give these children the support and attention they deserve!

As a foundation we have already been involved in the ‘laagveld’ of South Africa for some years. The wish to be able to make a greater positive impact in these impressive surroundings, with children who could use our help very well, already existed much longer. Therefore Teachers for Africa is very proud of this new project! We work closely together with local organizations that are also committed to the development of the local community, as a result of which we know very well what is going on and what is needed. We have been welcomed with open arms and the community are eagerly looking forward to your arrival!

The project is only a five minute drive from the Kruger National Park, it is close to the beautiful panorama route and in the weekends you can enjoy the wonderful environment.