Come and help with eco-projects in a remote Xhosa village outside Hogsback in Seymour, South Africa

South Africa

Favourited 257 times

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12
Last activity
07/07/2021
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Description
We are a mixed (Belgian-Xhosa) family of 4 who started a backpackers in Sept. 2012 in a remote Xhosa village just 20 minutes outside Hogsback in the Eastern cape. We are an eco-conscious backpackers. All our water is collected from the roof and harvested in water tanks. Water is heated by our solar boilers or with our hot water donkey. We don't use flushing toilets but use compost toilets instead. We are partly of the grid and generate electricity mostly from solar panels.
We are very involved in our community and have set up a number of social programs to create jobs or to generally improve peoples live.

Due to Covid19 we had to close business, but are looking for an ethousiastic and responsible couple to continue with our dream while we are overseas. Minimum agreement for 1 year. Food, accommodation + salary included.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
Babysitting and creative play
General Maintenance
Farmstay help
Help around the house
Hospitality/Tourism
Charity Work
Art Projects
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
If you are interested in learning more about Xhosa culture....this place is for you. Always wanted to know how it is to live in a remote African village away from civilization, buzzing nightlife, restaurants...stay for a couple of weeks. There are public taxis that can bring you around the area.
Help
We are looking for volunteers for a variety of tasks on our premises. Tasks at the backpackers include help with the daily running of the backpackers, entertaining guests, maintenance, help in our social projects, help in veggie garden, making pictures/videos for social media and even take over our Instagram account,

For our non profit organisation we are looking for people who have experience with fund raising in South Africa or overseas.

We are accepting short term volunteers, but are also looking for long term volunteers. If you have time between 6 and 12 moths we can help you with a volunteer visa.

As we are homeschooling our son of 14, we are looking for somebody who can teach him how to make and edit video's.
Languages spoken
Afrikaans: Fluent
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Beginner
Accommodation
We offer free accommodation in our dorm, free tea and coffee and free breakfast and dinner. No formal qualifications required. Experience is a bonus. You need to be minimum 20 year of age and have lots of energy and enthusiasm and be open to other cultures as you will be working close together with the local community.
What else ...
Activities we offer during your free time is learning how to make Xhosa bread, go on a day hike to Hogsback, go mountain biking, learn Xhosa, etc.
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
5 hours a day 5 days a week

Photos

A volunteer helping to paint the house. She and her partner also helped marking a hiking trail.

Feedback left by and about host (12)

17/01/2020

Left by Workawayer (Zenzi & Aaron) for host

Aaron and I had a wonderful time here at their backpacker's. We stayed for just under 2 weeks in March/April 2019 (apologies for the late feedback!) It is a wonderful place and project they have there - the location is stunning in the Amathole mountains and just a short drive (or hike!) away from Hogsback. We really enjoyed helping out with… read more

(Excellent )

05/09/2018

Left by Workawayer (Annabelle) for host

I had a great time with Lieve, Elliott and the kids! This was my first workaway experience, and I'm glad I ended up with them as my first WA.
I helped at the backpacker; cleaning rooms, making beds, painting, feeding the animals, bringing the kids to school,...
It was not hard to do :)
I learned a lot: making bread/pizza without an oven, some… read more

(Excellent )

13/04/2018

Left by Workawayer (Eef & Kevin) for host

We had the pleasure to volunteer for Lieve and Elliott back in February for 3 weeks. We are very grateful for their hospitality and meeting their great family and neighbours. Thanks to them, we had the chance to be immersed in a unique culture that we never could've experienced without staying there. We really learned a lot and had a great time… read more

(Excellent )

18/04/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Valentina)

Valentina is a very nice person to have around. As she has amazing writing skills she helped mostly with marketing our backpackers and volunteer program, but also with general maintanence like painting ed. She is also great with entertaining guests. Would have loved for her to stay longer!!!

(Excellent )

11/02/2017

Left by Workawayer (Brita) for host

What a beautiful place I stayed 2 weeks here and wish I had time to stay longer. If laid back and peaceful is what you like this is the place. Lieve and Elliot are very great hosts and really make you feel at home. They also have other projects going on within the local community which you can help out with there is all kinds of things you could… read more

(Excellent )

05/08/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (ian)

Ian is an amazing guy to have around. He is very open and really interested in getting to know another culture (which is quiet important at our place). He had to help us with getting an English syllabus together for a new project. He came up with awesome ideas and we will never forget his contribution to this project. Very nice to have a guy with… read more

(Excellent )

04/07/2016

Left by Workawayer (ian) for host

I had a fantastic time. It felt like more of a homestay; my hosts were warm and hospitable, the jobs were fun and always unique, and I felt like I was truly immersed in the local community. It was a wonderful experience that I will be forever thankful to Lieve and Elliot for.

(Excellent )

05/08/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Emilie & Alexander)

Awesome couple!!! You can see they have real experience in hospitality and can work very hard and independently. Instead of waiting for an order, they take action and know what needs to be done. When they were here it was really busy in the kitchen and they took over a lot of the jobs. They also managed to find time to mark a hiking trail,… read more

(Excellent )

05/08/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Laura)

Laura has got a very warm personality and was always there to help. Her main job was to give computer lessons to the local community and she did that with a lot of patience, although she had to start from scratch. She is great in the kitchen and I miss her salads:-)!!! Even after her stay she was still very involved with the community. I hope to… read more

(Excellent )

04/08/2016

Left by Workawayer (Laura) for host

Had wonderful 2.5 weeks at this backpackers. IT's a lovely family running that place. I learned sooo much here. How tomake coals, how to steam bread on fire, how to make fire properly, some basic Xhosa and the traditional Xhosa bread. The people in the village are also very nice and I came a lot in contact with them. Thank you Lieve and Elliot :)

(Excellent )

24/10/2014

Left by Workawayer (Jorge & Irati) for host

Our stay here was nothing if not special. From the very beginning we felt part of the eco-project that Lieve and Elliot run at their backpackers, and tried to help with all the stuff that they needed. It was precisely that variety of work that made it so much fun! Even if sometimes the job was physically hard, we are delighted to have learnt so… read more

(Excellent )

19/10/2014

Left by host for Workawayer (Jorge & Irati)

Jorge and Irati stayed at our place for 2.5 weeks. Both of them are hard working, social, clean and fun!!! The amount of work they did in this time is unbelievable. They changed our grey water system, put up a fence, installed a vegetable garden, planted grass, did art work, made a funding proposal, etc. Hope to see them back one day!!!

(Excellent )

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