Tremendous Hearts is actively partnering with several new South African organizations to grow their organizational capacity and improve the standard of care they provide to the orphans and vulnerable children in their care. We are currently seeking volunteer professionals to support or manage these partnerships for 6-12 months:
• Abaphumeleli Place of Safety: This home for nearly 30 orphans and vulnerable children, some of whom are HIV positive, is seeking a volunteer professional with experience in bookkeeping or accounting who can assess their financial organizational needs, implement a more effective financial system, and identify a local pro bono partner to ensure sustainability. They are also seeking volunteers who can train its team of eight caregivers in supervisory skills and developmental play techniques, as well as establish standards for hygiene and daily routine.
• Home from Home: Home from Home provides and facilitates supported, supervised community-based foster care for children in need through a network of small, family homes throughout the Western Cape province. Home from Home also operates a crèche/nursery school in Khayelitsha. They are seeking two volunteer educators to assist with projects. The first would be to work with the educarers at the crèche to provide more stimulation and better prepare learners for school. The project would involve setting up new systems, classroom programs, sourcing and developing age-appropriate teaching material and coaching the educarers on effective teaching methods. The second project would be to serve as the coordinator of the after school program for the more than 30 foster children cared for by Home from Home in Khayelitsha.
• Nonceba Family Counseling Centre: This is the only center in Khayelitsha for children who have been sexually abused. It includes a safe house, counseling programs for the children and their families, and mitigation strategies within the larger community. They are looking to Tremendous Hearts to provide an experienced fundraiser to create a sustainable annual development plan and train a staff member to take on ongoing maintenance of that plan. They are also seeking a volunteer occupational therapist or early childhood educator to integrate developmental play into ongoing counseling and daily program for the children.
• Umtha Welenga: This organization offers the Khayelitsha community multiple programs to support children and families affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. These programs include community-based foster care, support for households headed by children, income generation, after-school programs and HIV education. They are seeking youth workers and educators for its after school program and a professional with marketing and fundraising experience who can develop an organizational newsletter, build a child sponsorship program, and create an ongoing and sustainable fundraising plan.
In addition, every one of our partners has repeatedly requested volunteers with counseling and therapy skills. In response, Tremendous Hearts is focused on recruiting psychologists, psychiatrists, life coaches or people with pastoral counseling experience to work with the adult caregivers for these organizations. Their lives are often as stressed and challenging as those of the vulnerable children they care for.
Of course, Tremendous Hearts welcomes volunteer professionals with other expertise as well. We have matched up volunteers with interests and experience in business, physical therapy, speech and language pathology, filmmaking, photography, athletics, family counseling, and more. In addition, all of our partners would welcome a volunteer who is handy with tools, or experienced in maintaining buildings, repairing furniture and/or fixing appliances.
If you would like to explore becoming a Tremendous Volunteer, please contact our office at info@tremendoushearts.org. Information and application materials are located on our website at www.tremendoushearts.org/content/volunteer-program.
