Your volunteer work at SASA office 

As a non-profit organization volunteer workers are what keeps us alive. In fact, SASA itself started with unpaid Somalis who voluntarily offered their help to other members of their community. Time went by and our organization grew. To make a long story short - we are always happy to find motivated volunteers willing to support our team.

Your input

You can choose to work in any program you like. However, we especially need volunteers who enjoy teaching children, as education is one of our key issues. Preparing the students for public schools in South Africa is crucial and additional help is always very welcome. Nevertheless, your own interests and abilities will determine where you can help most. Please inform us in your application which program you want to support. 

SASA Western Cape provides

• Adult Education (English classes)
  
• Children’s Education
• Sewing classes
• Computer classes
• After school program
• Youth sports (soccer)
• Self-reliance workshops
• Women’s workshops
• Business skills sharing
• Community dialogue
• Para-legal services (advocacy)

Education

The children's class is held by our teacher Mr Gibson who helps his students closing the gap between their current education and the level of knowledge expected from them at South African schools. The lessons involve all subjects ranging from Mathematics and Geography to History and English.                                                            You will particularly help by taking care of the youngest students (6-10 years old), so the class can continue peacefully. You will be requested to teach the sounds of the English language, since they are now starting to learn reading and writing. Also, our youngest children need support in their maths lessons, as Mr Gibson has to focus on the older students.

Volunteers with a teaching background are preferred here, because working with so many children at different levels of knowledge is not an easy task for the inexperienced. However, if you do not have a teaching background, you will still be able to help in the classes, as long as you are motivated and show a positive attitude.

Adult education focuses on teaching English. Many Somalis have a basic knowledge of the language that is sufficient for their everyday life but they would like to improve their language skills. However, there are also students who are neither able to write nor to introduce themselves. A placement test puts every student into a course that fits his/her level. The courses are designed for six months, but there is no strict concept of the content. After a short period of assisting the teacher Sadaam you will get to teach your own group from five to fifteen students. As a result, you prepare a 60 minute long lesson and put it into practice from Monday to Thursday. You can also benefit from exercise books that are already at the office. Anyway, there is enough space to realize your own ideas on teaching.

Workshops

Every Thursday we provide women's and self-reliance workshops in our office that revolve around the topics of health, security, parenting, housing, refugee rights and many more. The workshops are facilitated by our staff members or experts from our partner organizations. Most of the time the facilitators are speaking English during the workshops. In this case there is always someone translating to Somali. Supporting this program means identifying important issues that should be a topic of another session, to find partners to realize this idea and to take care of the event itself. That includes doing the shopping for the catering, reporting the attendance and taking notes on the workshop to write a report afterwards. Please note that there is just one workshop a week. Therefore, you have to choose another program to use your time at SASA effectively. 

Sewing

Our sewing classes enable students to develop skills they can earn money with in their community. If you have any knowledge of sewing you can help here by assisting the teacher Speciose with her students, taking care of faults in the sewing machines, checking students attendance and progress as well as communicating with Scalabrini, our partner in sewing. Innovations, creativity and your own ideas are welcome here.

Advocacy

Following up cases, participating in meetings and helping with submissions are some of the tasks that will wait for you if you decide to volunteer with SASA. No legal background is required to volunteer here, but please note that the advocacy takes place once every two weeks. It is a very good insight in the refugee's experience and the South African law indeed, but you will have to combine advocacy with other programs, e.g. teaching.

Computer classes

Knowing how to handle a computer opens up a world of possibilities: finding a job, searching for an accommodation or renting a car - the internet is a tool you need all the time. Whatever your previous is, background you can help here by showing students how to write a CV, how to use a 10-finger typing program or how to work with Microsoft Office. It is not a full-time occupation, so you will have to combine this with another program SASA offers.

Youth Wing

Working with the youth is one of SASA's most important tasks. Abdulhakim, our facilitator, offers an After-school-program as well as Youth sports. If you are motivated to join the soccer training or get involved in the planning of further projects, this is the right program for you. It is important that you are prepared to spend some of your evenings and weekends on the project, as this is the time most of it takes place.

Transport

There are different ways to get to our office:

• Minibus: The office is just 300 m from the Bellville central bus station                 where you  can take a minibus to many destinations in CT and surrounding areas. (~12 ZAR one way)
  
• Golden Arrow: The Golden Arrow (similar to buses in Europe or USA) arrives at and departs from the Bellville central bus station as well. (~14 ZAR one way)
  
• Uber: Uber is commonly used to get around in CT and is a great option if you live near the office. However, it is a rather expensive option if you do not live in Bellville.
• Car: There are guarded parking lots available near by the office. (24 ZAR+ car rental)