About the Project
The Rainbow Dreamers Volunteer Project is a community outreach project started by Aaliya Bulbulia and her students in November 2013. It has grown to serve, on average, 80 to 150 children each week. Every Thursday after 15h00, three facilitators and a group of student volunteers set out to Kalkfontein for an afternoon of fun and learning with the local children. Everyone is encou
raged to join as a volunteer, but, if you can’t attend, donations of clothes and funds are welcome! The aims of the project are:
• To build bridges by promoting cross-cultural exchange, understanding and awareness between volunteers (usually from foreign countries) and the children of Kalkfontein.
• To teach and encourage life skills such as respect, friendship, co-operation, health and hygiene, team-work and environmental awareness.
• To encourage skills and expression through play, sport, arts and crafts, music, drama and role-play, literacy and other activities.
• To inspire and educate the children of Kalkfontein in any way we can and to the best of our abilities. About Kalkfontein
• Kalkfontein is a township situated in Kuils River, near Stellenbosch, about a 40 minute drive from the Cape Town city centre.
• Kalkfontein is unique in its diversity. It’s a post-Apartheid township and home to ‘coloured’ and ‘black’ South Africans, as well as foreigners from other African countries.
• Unlike many other larger and more well-known townships around Cape Town, Kalkfontein does not enjoy any other community projects and programmes for the local children.
• This township faces many social problems such as unemployment, domestic violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, gangsterism and many other issues associated with poverty. About the Children
• The number children who attend the project range, on average, between 80 and 150.
• Their ages range between 2 and 13.
• The 2 to 5 year olds, our ‘babies’, have a separate activity to the older children.
• The children all attend school and live with parents/ families.
• Most of the children speak Afrikaans or Xhosa as a first language and they learn English as a second language at school. Volunteers
People of all ages, nationalities and interests are welcome to join Rainbow Dreamers as volunteers. The project relies on the ongoing participation of volunteers as it’s entirely volunteer-run, with the oversight, organisation, guidance and help of four local facilitators headed by Aaliya. The duties of a volunteer:
• To attend two planning meetings a week – on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 11h45 in Room 7. Attending meetings is vital because all sessions and activities need to be well-prepared and organised.
• To co-operate and work well with their fellow volunteers in order to give the children an afternoon of fun and learning.
• To be prepared to work for the full session – from the moment we arrive in Kalkfontein to the moment we leave.
• To be well-prepared for the weekly activity and have a clear plan in mind.
• To promote a culture of love, understanding and non-violence.
• To respect the children and the people of Kalkfontein, as well as their fellow volunteers and facilitators.
• To learn, love, have fun and enjoy the experience! DISCLAIMER:
The entire contents of the Rainbow Dreamers Volunteer Project page, including all images, photographs, graphics, text and illustrations remain the copyright of Rainbow Dreamers. Reproduction of any section in part or in its entirety in any form, whether electronically or otherwise is not permitted without the prior written permission of Rainbow Dreamers. The content of the site, including images, photographs, graphics, text and illustrations may not be re-posted to any part of the internet or elsewhere without the prior written permission of Rainbow Dreamers. Rainbow Dreamers upload photographs purely for documentary purposes and therefore, they may not be sold, reproduced or altered in any manner, either entirely or partly, whether electronically or otherwise without the prior written permission of Rainbow Dreamers Volunteer Project.
