News from 2018

Are you 15 to 18 years old this summer? If so, you could stand a chance to win a 2 week High School Special Project, free of charge!

From January 2018, Projects Abroad will be focusing on community-based care for children, and will no longer send volunteers to work directly in orphanages.

Projects Abroad is celebrating its 25^th anniversary in 2017; in more than two decades, the company has helped connect over 100,000 dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers with communities around the world where they can make a difference. Over the years, volunteers have worked alongside local staff and communities in 38 countries to make a sustainable impact in fields ranging from conservation to medicine to childcare. 

The team in South Africa started a collection drive to tackle literacy in the local townships. Projects Abroad contributed R3 000 and, together, we donated over 400 books, stationery items, puzzles and games to four care centres in Vrygrond, Cape Town.

Projects Abroad recently launched our Global Impact Database, a monitoring and evaluation tool through which we can identify needs in local communities and create action plans that bring us closer to achieving the goals we set for our projects and volunteers. 

When the Salvation Centre Cambodia School 2 did not receive its regular funding, Projects Abroad High School Special Care & Community volunteers raised enough money to help keep the school doors open.

Projects Abroad marks a successful first year working with El Tortugario Conservation centre in Colima, Mexico.

The Teaching Project in Belize is growing rapidly, as a result of the expansion of our literacy programme. Since September 2016, Projects Abroad volunteers have worked closely with the children from Holy Cross Anglican School and based on the success of the programme, literacy classes will expand into a second placement - New Horizons Primary School - just in time for the new school year.

In July alone, 1,560 High School Special volunteers from all over the world are spending their school holiday volunteering with Projects Abroad. With such a large number of volunteers, we are making huge strides towards achieving our global goals and we are already seeing some exciting successes from the efforts of our High School Special groups. 

Over 1000 lionfish have been captured and killed by Projects Abroad Conservation volunteers and staff in Belize, during their dives in marine parks near Placencia, between November 2016 and July 2017. This unusual conservation method forms part of an ongoing, worldwide effort to tackle the lionfish invasion that poses a major threat to native fish numbers. 

In many rural Jamaican schools, children spend most of their day in overcrowded classrooms with no access to safe, outdoor play facilities. To address this issue, Projects Abroad volunteers began with the construction of a playground at Christiana Leased Primary School in Sedburgh, Jamaica. It will be the biggest playground in the area and the first to be fully equipped to cater for children with physical disabilities.