Service Volontaire International - Tracing the roots of International Voluntary Service in East & Southern Africa

About the local hosting organizationIn the spirit of regional understanding and cooperation three sister voluntary inspired youth organisations namely UVIKUITA (Tanzania) South Africa Volunteer Workcamps Association (SAVWA-South Africa) and Zimbabwe Workcamps Association (ZWA) forged partnership for a regional camp which will last about 40 days starting at Dar es Salaam, moving to Zimbabwe ending in South Africa. The primary objectives of the projects are multiple faceted namely regional integration, south-south youth exchange as well as building prosperous and peaceful Africa through youth empowerment, volunteerism and pan Africa exchange as well as scaling up global, regional, and national actions to meet young people\'s needs, realize their rights and tap their possibilities as agents of change. The community services programme is targeted at young people working in the local community and other civil organizations implementing development/ workcamps activities in East and Southern Africa. UVIKUITA, SAVWA and ZWA has recognized a growing professionalism within the voluntary development sector in the region. It is with this mind that UVIKUITA, SAVWA and ZWA in Collaboration with Network of Africa Voluntary Organisations would like to accord their staff members and youth leaders an opportunity to benefit from a concerted regional workcamp focusing on climate justice, decolonization and south-south youth exchange and cooperation. The workcamp will provide participants with interdisciplinary learning situations within the development process that can be analyzed, critiqued, and reflected upon. A deliberate attempt has been made to integrate the relevant theory with experiential background of participants. The workcamp will have the capacity to build practical skills along theoretical training. The workcamp programme is a result of the need to enhance regional integration as envisioned by the Pan Africa ideology. The main objective of this regional project is to empower the young people from East and Southern Africa with contemporary new skills and knowledge in the broader section of international development. Upon completing this regional camp, the youths will return into their communities and disseminate information and practice their skills. The participants will also draw up some training programmes for their respective communities.

Presentation of the programmeObjectives ✔ To promote and enhance South-South, Cooperation against the background of t ✔ To decolonize the International Voluntary Services from an African perspective ✔ To promote resilience and diversify International Voluntary Services in Africa ✔ To complement the Africa Union Volunteer Linkage platform diversifying ivs movements in Africa Brief Description of the Project The Regional Community Services projects aims at improving the quality of volunteer\'s exchange within the African Continent, in order to reinforce the concepts of Pan Africa voluntarism, active participation and solidarity. The concepts intend to build capacity for voluntary local inspire organisation from the African continent to develop a functional, shared framework for voluntary work and volunteers exchange with a strong bias on south-south cooperation. The partners of the projects are local inspired organisation who implement long-term and short-term voluntary projects involving local activists, international volunteers and local communities. The consortium shares the same needs and values such as ⮚ the need to find solutions on the tremendous decrease on the volume of volunteers in workcamps; (south-south, North South and South -North Exchange) ⮚ the need to harmonize the exchange procedures for short-term and long-term volunteers developed by the different networks. ⮚ the need proposes clear and unify promotional strategy for international voluntarism, in order to reinforce the involvement and active participation of young people, including those with fewer opportunities. ⮚ the demand to map all the existing best practices on volunteer exchange and to share them within the networks, in order to increase the quality standards of projects and the capacity on the assessment of their impact. In order to improve the quality of the voluntary services in Africa, it is vital to involve as many networks as possible especially the African Union Volunteer Linkage platform which is the custodiam of voluntary services at continental level, hence the dire need for your support as we embark on this new trajectory in the voluntary services The final outcome of the project will be the creation of new guidelines for voluntary exchange, more updated and comprehensive that the ones already existing. 5.0 Activities The programme will be conducted as from the 1st of July 2024 to the 4th of August 2024. The regional community services project will be divided into three phrases. The first phrase will be in Dar es Salaam as from 1st of July to 10th of July 2023. The green travel from 11 -14 July 2024. The second phrase in Zimbabwe as from 14- 24 July 2024. Then green travel from Harare to Pretoria on 24 to 25 July. The third phrase from 26 July to 04 August 2024. The curtain will finally come down in Pretoria on the 5th of August 2024. Mid-term evaluations will be done in Tanzania and Zimbabwe but the final evaluation will be done in Pretoria South Africa on the 4th of July 2024 5.1 Tanzania: The project is focusing on the big question; can we design sustainable communities for our future? For ten days in Tanzania volunteers will live and work together on the beautiful proposed eco village area and have an opportunity to explore the social, economic, and ecological issues and skills needed to develop sustainable practices. Project activities: a) Hands-on activities: Development and maintenance of demonstration plot for organic farming/Permaculture and urban farming. b) Workshops: On four key dimension of eco village (Community Living, ecological, cultural and spirituality) c) Community engagement: Various events through photo exhibitions, media talk, sports, arts and Music to engage the larger communities around the issue of sustainable living. 5.2 Zimbabwe The program in Zimbabwe will both in theoretical and practical, the first three days volunteers will undergo a training on transformational leadership decolonisation with a strong bias on climate, nature colonisation and conflict transformation The volunteer project seeks to mitigate the harmful impacts of climate change. The work will involve varying activities which shall be spread across. This will include but limited to, climate colonisation and environmental work around, making tsotso stove, water harvesting dams, Bio fertiliser (Bokashi), reafforestation programs as well as working with people in their respective communities around Gutsa village The program requires a willing workforce of volunteers, to facilitate wonderful experience camp. This is a highly participatory project, which will empower volunteers and communities in a remarkable manner. The project will valorise the importance of grassroots awareness programs climate change mitigation strategies and climate colonisation. In a nutshell the project will accord the young men and women a very rare opportunity to gain skills in, permaculture, and agroecology, which are critical and essential in improving their livelihoods in their respective communities. The community may ask volunteers to perform other necessary specific tasks outside the scope of our agreement. This is seen as a way of promoting community driven system change development initiatives. 5.3 South Africa A transformative week volunteer work camp and training event in Soshanguve, Gauteng. Focused on food security and empowering youth, women, and vulnerable populations, we merge Permaculture, Peace-building, social cohesion, and participatory methods. Over the weeks, participants will cultivate a 23m x 8m garden which provides food for children from our community center. This project provides essential skills in sustainable agriculture, imparting knowledge on growing food and understanding climate change challenges. By fostering empathy, unity, and self-sufficiency, we aspire to create lasting change and promote a brighter, more sustainable future for all involved. The volunteer based workcamp with a training where participants gain valuable skills and experience related to food growing, peace building and social cohesion. The programme will include local community members (Including women and children) will gain valuable tools related to permaculture and food growing to assist participants to contribute towards community and individual food security. This will also help develop and improve the existing food garden at SAVWA Permaculture center. It will offer opportunities for local youth including women to participate in an engaging, positive, community based project that promotes peace and social cohesion We will conclude with a visit to the local botanical gardens to foster a connection to nature for youth, women and volunteers and conclude with final evaluation of the caravan workcamp.

Local accommodationThe coordination of this programme will be by the consortium of three organizations namely SAVWA, UVIKIUTA and ZWA. The projects will be in all the three participating countries namely South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Accommodation will be in shared spaces, in the venue of activities in the workcamps. Participants will be required to bring their own sleeping bags. The accommodation has a simple bathroom with shower and water available. The accommodation and workplace. Food will be provided according to local areas the volunteers will be in. Please any dietery dishes let the organising team know in advance so that everyone is catered for early in time.

About the project locationThe programme will be conducted as from the 1st of July 2024 to the 4th of August 2024. The regional community services project will be divided into three phrases. The first phrase will be in Dar es Salaam as from 1st of July to 10th of July 2023. The green travel from 11 -14 July 2024. The second phrase in Zimbabwe as from 14- 24 July 2024. Then green travel from Harare to Pretoria on 24 to 25 July. The third phrase from 26 July to 04 August 2024. The curtain will finally come down in Pretoria on the 5th of August 2024. Mid-term evaluations will be done in Tanzania and Zimbabwe but the final evaluation will be done in Pretoria South Africa on the 4th of July 2024

RequirementsThe work camp participation fee is strictly Euro 250 x 3 countries (€750) total for all participants, and this covers simple accommodation, food and project expenses office running/administrative expenses, certificate of participation after the camp, communication prior to, during and after the camp. Please note that this does not include travel expenses to and from the camp, pick up from airport so participants are asked to reserve a small amount of money for transport to the camp and in between travel from Tanzania to Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe to South Africa by road. We advise all volunteers to ask for advice from us when they are planning to book their tickets to Tanzania and departure from South Africa.