HIV/AIDS Volunteering

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Volunteer interacting with kids

© Voluntours

HIV/AIDS volunteering can be tremendously uplifting and rewarding for you and the patient. But it is not for everyone. Volunteers need to be aware that sufferers are vulnerable on a number of levels, and that babies and children, traumatised by the loss of a parent/s to the disease, need special care. As a volunteer, you will assist caretakers and work in HIV/AIDS support groups. Working with people living with HIV/AIDS, volunteers will gain experience in a number of areas, and interact closely with the community.

Edge of Africa hosts medical and humanitarian volunteer work with HIV/AIDS patients in Knysna and Mossel Bay on the Garden Route. The Knysna HAART clinic cares for 900 HIV positive adults and children on antiretroviral therapy. Volunteers will gain experience working with hospital, counseling and HIV testing, and Hospice staff. Volunteers are not required to have a medical background, and could assist with administrative duties, business plans for fund generation, establishing community vegetable gardens and offering support to HIV positive pregnant women and children.

You may want to help families affected by HIV/AIDS, and children orphaned by the virus, through Sizanani Home-Base Care Givers in Soweto, Gauteng. Dwindling family and community support bases due to poverty and unemployment, means that without volunteer programmes like Sizanani these children literally have nowhere to go. Volunteers can assist with home-based care, and participate in after-school programmes, feeding schemes, community education and extra mural activities. No experience is necessary. All that is needed is compassion, resilience and a positive mental attitude.

Calabash Tours, based in Port Elizabeth runs a Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) certified HIV community-support programme through the Emmanuel Advice and Care Centre (EACC). The community-operated centre cares for up to 600 adults and 700 children, from 4 Port Elizabeth townships. AT EACC you’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the care-givers, most of whom are unpaid volunteers themselves. Volunteers with experience in nursing, nutrition, early childhood development, or big hearts and broad shoulders will find a rewarding experience here.

Because working in the HIV/AIDS environment can be physically and emotionally draining, make the most of your free time and recreational excursions so you stay refreshed and focused throughout your stay.