Volunteer Testimonials | Masigcine Project Photos
Masigcine Children’s Home is situated in Mfuleni, not far from Cape Town.
Masigcine (which means 'let us cherish') is a registered Children’s Home caring for up to 28 children from 0 to 6 years old. These children are referred to Masigcine via social workers and court orders to ensure they can live in a place of safety.
The children come from a variety of backgrounds, having experienced neglect, abandonment or various types of abuse. Some of the children have no parents, and many are affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, HIV, and learning difficulties associated with these along with ADHD.
Masigcine's aim is to ensure that each child in their care receives love, affection, security, stimulating activities, prompt medical attention and healthy meals in a clean hygienic environment.
Masigcine's onsite Social Worker works hard to fulfil the ultimate aim of reuniting these children with their families, or finding foster or adoptive parents where this is not possible.
As a volunteer at Masigcine Children's Home you will be supervised by the Social Worker and be involved in assisting care workers (mamas) with a wide range of tasks including developmental play, creating fun activities, clinic visits, food preparation, feeding the children, walking the children to and from creche, and much more.
To join this project, you will need to be in good physical condition and aged 18 years or older by the time you arrive in Cape Town. Emotional maturity is an important asset for volunteers at Masigcine, and you must also have personal characteristics like commitment, flexibility, patience and the ability to use your initiative if you find yourself at a loose end. To ensure effective communication between all team members, a good understanding of the English language is also required.
| Arrival Airport | Cape Town (CPT) |
| Arrival Day | Friday recommended - you can arrive earlier or over the weekend |
| Join Project On | Monday |
| Duration | You can volunteer at Masigcine Children's Home for 4 weeks or more |
| Volunteering Hours | Variable hours from Monday to Friday each week |
| Main Activities | Assist with child care, developmental play, preparing food, feeding, creating fun activities and a wide range of other tasks |
| Fly Home On | Friday or later |
| Minimum Age | You must be aged 18 years or older when you arrive |
| Availability | Available dates for each duration are shown on the top-right of this page with the option to select from several currencies. |
| Pre-arrival Support | Our experienced team is on hand to ensure you are fully prepared for your trip to South Africa |
| Airport Welcome | One of our team will be at the airport to welcome you and escort you to Ashanti Lodge |
| Accommodation | On Friday, Saturday and Sunday night you will stay at Ashanti Lodge in central Cape Town with a pool, restaurant, bar and wonderful views of Table Mountain. During the week you will stay in the volunteer room at Masigcine Children's Home |
| Transport | All transfers are provided between Ashanti Lodge and Masigcine Children's Home |
| Orientation | On your first day with Masigcine Children's Home you will have a full orientation |
| Badge | We will provide you with a personalised Via Volunteers name badge to wear while you are at Masigcine Children's Home |
| Vodacom Sim Card | A free, pre-registered Sim card for your phone |
| Wi-Fi | Free Wi-Fi at Ashanti Lodge |
| In-country Support | Our volunteer coordinators are available 24/7 for emergencies, and are on hand to help you make the most of your stay |
| Transfer back to Cape Town Airport | We will pick you up from Masigcine in plenty of time to your check-in for your flight |
| Certificate | On completion of your placement we will send you a special thank you certificate to accompany your CV or resume. |
| Visas | Citizens from most countries can arrive in South Africa and stay for up to 90 days without a Visa. Please refer to our FAQ section for more details if you are unsure |
| Flights | Please refer to our FAQ section for recommendations about keeping your flight costs to a minimum |
| Insurance | We have partnered with World Nomads Insurance to give you access to great value insurance for volunteers. Please check out our Insurance page under the FAQ tab for more details. |
| Wi-Fi | No Wi-Fi at Masigcine Children's Home |
Volunteer Testimonials | Masigcine Project Photos
Your first visit to Masigcine Children's Home will be on the first Monday after you arrive in Cape Town.
One of the Via Volunteers team will collect you from Ashanti Lodge every Monday at 10:00 and take you to a local mall where you will have about an hour to do your grocery shopping. From there we will take you to Masigcine. We will introduce you to the team on your first afternoon there and help you settle into the volunteer room.
On Mondays you will help out from 3pm through to 6pm. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday you will be helping out from about 6am through to 6pm with a 2-hour lunch break from 1-3pm. On Friday you will be helping out from 6am through to about 12 noon or 6pm. Volunteering hours are variable, so please be prepared to be flexible to the needs of the children and the home. Some days will see you starting later than 6am, and other days will see you finishing later than 6pm.
Please remember that times and duties can vary at short notice as no day is exactly the same at Masigcine. You will need to be prepared to use your initiative if you find yourself at a loose end with no planned activities or duties. During your stay you can expect to be helping out with the following activities:
If you would like some inspiration of what to do with the children, we have prepared lots of boards for you on our Pinterest page with plenty of ideas for fun educational activities for children.
Every Friday, one of the Via Volunteers team will collect you from Masigcine at about 12 noon and take you back to Ashanti Lodge for your weekend off.
If you would like to book any activities or tours for your weekends off, please let Gary or Chantal know and they will be happy to arrange these for you.
Volunteer Testimonials | Masigcine Project Photos
Weekend accommodation (every Friday, Saturday & Sunday night):
Voted in 2019 as Cape Town’s best backpacker accommodation, Ashanti Lodge has excellent facilities and is perfectly positioned in central Cape Town as an ideal base for volunteers. This will be your home every weekend and is a great place to relax when you aren’t out exploring everything Cape Town has to offer.
Uber works very well in Cape Town, and Ashanti is just a couple of minutes away from the excellent MyCiti bus route which provides cheap, safe and reliable transport to Table Mountain, the V&A Waterfront, Camps Bay, Hout Bay and much more. Close by you will also find an incredible variety of restaurants and bars, plenty of great hangouts in Long Street, a well-equipped shopping mall, supermarkets, health shops, cafes…the list goes on.
While you’re at Ashanti you can enjoy all of the facilities below. Whether you’re having a dip in the pool or watching Table Mountain while you have breakfast, you will find that Ashanti have thought of everything:
On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday night:
You will stay in our dedicated volunteer room at Masigcine Children's Home. This basic but comfortable accommodation has the following facilities:
A microwave and kettle are provided in the flat for preparing quick snacks and drinks. Other meals can be prepared in the fully equipped kitchen downstairs.
Volunteer Testimonials | Masigcine Project Photos
Masigcine Children's Home is located in Mfuleni about a 25-minute drive from the centre of Cape Town.
Your arrival airport is Cape Town (CPT)