Live in Durban, a vibrant and modern city and volunteer in Inanda, a rural township focusing on informal educational and community work. Understand the financial and social gaps in the country and do everything in your power to narrow them down together with the Jewish community of Durban.
The Project TEN Center in Durban, South Africa, opened in November 2016. Durban is a coastal town known for its ethnic and cultural diversity, which blends various religions, lifestyles and traditions. The project’s activity is focused in the Inanda District; a mountainous region located about 25 km from the city where the Zulu tribe lives.
The center works in collaboration with the Jewish community in the city, we volunteer together in the field at special events and celebrate some Saturdays and holidays together.
During the school hours, the volunteers activities take place in enrichment rooms inside the schools campus. During those hours are volunteers run hour long lessons focusing on a different age group each time. The students enjoy working in small groups and enjoying the different atmosphere these classrooms.
After school our volunteers create a space that is opened to all community children. The activities in the afternoons provide experiential, multidisciplinary learning, which is adapted to the various learning capabilities of the children and youth. The activities revolve around the fields of art, social games, thinking games, sports and music in order to develop personal skills and abilities among the children of today that will serve them as adults. Twice a week our volunteers meet high school students and help them develop love for learning and exciting after school activities using chess and other thinking games.
Our volunteers also try to volunteer with various local initiatives in the city of Durban. Life in Durban can be confusing, great wealth and very modern infrastructure together with poverty and high crime rates. The volunteers try to help with the local community and volunteer at The Dennis Harley center, The Jewish old age home Beth Shalom and the Jewish special need center Masada.
TEN volunteers undergo training before and after arrival at the Center. The training is designed to prepare participants for group life, the volunteering experience, and it enables a connection to the wider global context in which the Project TEN operates. The delegation opens with a week of orientation of in-depth familiarity with the Center. During this week, the volunteers meet the local staff, get to deeply know the work, visit volunteering locations and are exposed to the local culture and lifestyle.
During the three months of volunteering, there are regular weekly meetings led by the Center’s Directors and Coordinators and in collaboration with local professionals. The meetings cover various topics such as international development, education and community, Sabbath and holiday activities, language and group time. The purpose of the meetings is to process the volunteering and group life experiences, to provide tools for the professional implementation of Project TEN’s educational and ethical model, to expose the volunteers to the culture and lifestyle of the community in which they live alongside their own identity as Jews, Israelis and citizens of the world.
Residence: Volunteers share a communal house (4-6 volunteers per room) in the city of Durban in the best and safest neighborhood. The quarters have clean water and are equipped with a vegetarian kitchen and fully-equipped dining room, toilets, showers, washing machine and a pleasant living room.
Saturdays and Holidays: Every second weekend, participants are free to go and travel around the country. The program welcomes religious and secular participants. All activities on Saturdays and Jewish holidays are suitable for traditional observers. However, every participant is free to keep the Sabbath as they see fit.
Hiking and Travel Recommendations: Two hours from the center are the beautiful and magnificent Hluhluwe and Phezulu safaris in South Africa, Little Lesotho, Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve, the Drakensberg Mountains, and more.
The 3 month cohort cost $3000. The cost includes accommodation, three nutritious meals a day, clean water, transportation to volunteer sites, professional staff in the field, basic Wi-Fi and security. The cost does not include flights, health insurance, vaccines, visas and free weekends.