MVO Sport & Community Projects

Join this excellent programme and help to teach sport in schools on the shores of Lake Malawi. You will play a vital role in teaching children how to play different games and sports such as football, volleyball, netball and more. You will also be able to choose what you'd like to do in the mornings. The majority of our volunteers choose to get involved with one of the Nursery Schools in the Monkey Bay area - this is the 'Community' part of the 'Sports & Community' volunteering.

This programme is ideal if you are interested in a wide range of sports and you want to help the development and wellbeing of the young children of Malawi.
Location: Near Monkey Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi
Note: you must be at least 17 Years of Age to participate in these projects.

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Your Role as a Volunteer

You will start in the morning, about 8am, helping in one of the two Nursery Schools in the Monkey Bay area. You will help teach the pre-school children alphabet, numbers, and basic times tables and English.

Then, in the afternoon, starting at about 2pm and finishing around 5pm, you will be involved in teaching and playing the various sports that are offered at the schools with the children. Football is by far the most popular sport in Malawi, as in much of Africa and netball is also played by many of the girls; with the schools having teams for both sports.

In the morning, you'll be greatly assisting the teachers in the Nursery School with giving the lessons and helping to feed the children (usually porridge with sugar).

As a sports volunteer in the afternoon, your key role is to lighten the load on teachers in two of the local schools in the Monkey Bay area of Lake Malawi. You can perform a number of roles on this project, some of which include:

•   Teaching sports in schools
•   Organise after-school sporting events such as clubs, tournament and matches
•   Work with local sports teams to assist coaches and gain good coaching experience
•   Help with building projects at the schools

Due to the weather, most sports activities are in the afternoons and evenings when temperatures are cooler. Volunteers have the opportunity to help with various building projects at the schools. These building projects range from building sports facilities, storage rooms, kitchen, library and emergency class rooms etc.

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A Typical Day on this Project

Please note that your itineraries may differ from this, depending on your own experience and the number of other volunteers on the placement at the same time. Please use this itinerary as an example only. Here is how a typical day in the life of a Malawi Sports & Community Volunteer might take shape:

• 07:00   Breakfast
• 08:00   Help in one of the Nursery Schools
• 12:00   Lunch
• 13:00   Schools Finish
• 14:00   Sports Classes and after school sports clubs
• 18:00   Dinner
• 19:00   Free time for travel or extra coaching with local football teams and interacting with the children

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School Holidays

In Malawi there are three school terms each year, the dates of which vary each year and are often not confirmed until the last minute. As a general guideline the terms are as follows:

•  First term:         Mid-January to Mid-April
•  Second term:    Early May to the end of July.
•  Third term:       Late August to Mid-November

During the school vacations there is still a need for volunteers, as you may help out with organised holiday classes and activities for the children with the objective of keeping them off the streets and out of trouble. You may coach sports to local teams, teach art and music and spend your time interacting with the children. There is much less structure to these activities and you should expect to be more creative and motivated to implement your own ideas with the children each day and ensure that they come back each day to work with you.

There will always be a need to help in the Day Care Centres (Nursery Schools) in the morning, as school holidays do not apply to them.

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