Volunteering

Interested in volunteering? We’d be thrilled to hear from you! We’ve had quite a few volunteers and many a helping hand from the community throughout the years and it’s been a great experience both for us and the people involved. Whether you have an hour to spare every week, would love to come over from abroad and spend three weeks with us, or want to be involved in the day-to-day operations we are interested in hearing from you.

In fact, we’ve built a global community which we are incredibly proud of. People from all over the world have come together to help us and become part of our extended family.

We are happy to accept you as a volunteer or helping hand, whether you want to come teach the children, run programs for youth and adults, just help out at the crèche, do fund-raising, or work on our future plans to turn the crèche into a more sustainable community center. Not every volunteer is a fit for our organization, but many are and we are happy to share testimonials from previous volunteers about their experiences at Little Angels.

If you choose to volunteer for us there may be certain requirements, such as showing a valid criminal records report, or submitting references, and if you are coming from abroad there are visa requirements. We are happy to help you with the process of obtaining a visa, and provide you with information regarding what it means to volunteer, but if you require specific assistance, as well as help with housing, and getting around in Cape Town we suggest you go through one of the organizations supplying us with volunteers, such as All Out Africa, whom we can put you in touch with.

When helping volunteers from abroad we try not to charge anything for our services unless we say have to pay for a ride to go to the police office to have official papers stamped, which will be a nominal fee. Because we do not charge for our services we require that you find your own housing and take responsibility for your own journey, as well as your life in Cape Town. As an individual, you will be aware of the risks involved in such a trip and also for getting the right insurance and medical cover. You will also have to take responsibility for your own health, any vaccines you may wish to get, and ensuring you are medically fit for whatever work you choose to do. Please be aware that there is HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis present in Hangberg.

We will be here for you to help you as much as we can in return for you helping us and we have formed great relationships with many people from all over the world, we just want to point out that as a volunteer you are responsible for your actions and the consequences of those. We are however convinced that you are likely to have a very good time working with us! We have a lot of fun together, we work long hours for no pay, but we form solid friendships and we have the joy of seeing how our work help the children in Hangberg. It’s a beautiful thing to make a difference and the kids will thank you with many, many hugs!

Working with underprivileged children can be difficult if you see the scars they carry from what goes on around them outside the crèche, but when you see the love you get in return for the work you are doing it lightens the burden of knowing what these children go through. We work closely with Social Development and the police, meaning we have their support, so if children suffer abuse at home, it will immediately be reported. In a sense underprivileged children give you the most in return for working with them as they will be thankful for every minute they get to spend with you. Most volunteers find that they enjoy volunteering for us so much they want to come back again and keep in touch to get news about the children.

We truly appreciate your interest in working with Little Angels and are happy to answer your queries should you have any. We believe working with children can be a life-changing experience (and we mean one for the better!) and if you are new to Cape Town you are in for a treat seeing one of the most beautiful cities in the world!