Internships in Cape Town with VACorps

VACorps provides their interns with amazing adventures and loving attitudes. The first week for orientation was my favorite time, building relationships with other interns and the staff was wonderful. I enjoyed all the experiences I attended that VAC curated and facilitated for us. Our amazing hosts, Kholi and Kus, always made the excursions more exciting and comfortable. There are so many opportunities to learn about South African culture and places to explore with VAC with their culture nights and weekly excursions.

The internship VAC was able to connect me with was truly wonderful. I am so grateful to have experienced such a wonderful institution and to have been able to give back to the community with the services I provided. I am an Occupational Therapy student and I interned at an intermediate care practice for children with chronic illness and disabilities. I fell in love with the kids and the staff as they were the most welcoming and warm hearted people I have ever met. What I truly loved about the site is that they prided themselves on always greeting each other throughout the facility, no matter who you were. It allowed all of us who were new to greet others even if we didn’t know each other, provided comfort in knowing it was a safe space. After 2 months I felt as if I was a staff member of the institution, walking the halls, greeting everyone, hugging the kids, I felt at home. One nurse saw me as I was making my usual rounds and she said to me, “you look like you belong here, I hope you stay”. At that moment I realized this internship will come to an end and I was hit with a wave of grief. I have felt such intense emotions since I arrived in Cape Town, now that my time has ended I am filled with intense emotions once again.

For this entire experience I am truly grateful and humbled and appreciate all the support I was provided from VAC and my internship site. I highly recommend VAC to anyone who is interested in exploring Cape Town and has an interest in giving back to communities. Thank you VAC for everything, you hold a special place in my heart. Until next time, cheers 🙂

My time with VACorps has been nothing short of amazing. I have made many memories that will last a lifetime. I built incredibly strong relationships with the staff as well as other interns, and it has been extremely emotional having to say goodbye to everyone. I got to do so many things during this journey, including scuba diving, hiking Lion's Head, many beach days, quad biking in the sand dunes, skydiving, and much, much more! My internship placement was the greatest place I have ever worked, and I absolutely adored the people I worked with. If anyone is hesitant about doing this program, I would fully encourage them to just do it as this will change their life in so many ways. It makes me sad having to say goodbye to all the people and the place, but I feel so lucky to have had this wonderful experience.

I fell in love with this beautiful city, its landscapes, and its people. I decided to come here as a political science student because the history of this country fascinated me. This internship at a sustainable development NGO helped me gain a better understanding of it and nuanced my knowledge. It was my end-of-master’s internship and my first professional experience in my field of activity. It helped me have a clearer vision of what I want to do, and I was involved in several projects regarding the Sustainable Development Goals. It was really interesting and worth it!

I am going to miss Cape Town so much; I met incredible people here. I started yoga in Obz and discovered so many places thanks to all the VAC activities. This program exceeded my expectations, and I am so grateful for this beautiful opportunity and cannot wait to come back to Cape Town!

VACorps did a superb job of making me feel supported, safe, and taken care as I explored the beautiful Cape Town and all of its rich culture. Their staff were warm, responsive, and experts at making you feel at home while away from home.

During my first internship placement I worked primarily on a research deliverable for a land advocacy organization, that wedded international literatures and the South African context around farm worker evictions. I learned a ton about insecure land tenure and land dispossession issues across the world, and I am proud of the product.

During my second placement at a refugee advocacy center, I really enjoyed assisting on legal matters — and in particular getting to see South African courts in session. I developed greater confidence working on legal matters and materials, and affirmed my interest in going into the legal profession. I really appreciated my supervisors willingness to connect me with meaningful opportunities and get me involved in his work.

I was was so grateful for the internship placement, and my ability to contribute meaningfully to the organization’s work. I was involved in field work that made my time in Cape Town immensely enriching and eye-opening. VAC ensured that this placement was smooth and respectful.

I will miss the people I met most, my roommates, my clinic staff, Kus and Kholi. They have truly been the highlight of my visit. Cape Town is like nowhere I have ever been before. It's a city built around nature. As an ecology major, I enjoyed living right next to Table Mountain and the ocean. I learned so much about living in an urban city and all of the joys and worries that come with that. I learned I'm braver than I thought I was coming down here by myself, knowing no one. I've made lifelong friends and colleagues that I will never forget. Cape Town is somewhere I want to come back to with my friends, with my family, and with the other interns I've met here. The staff at a medical clinic has changed my professional life. They took me under their wing and taught me so much. I will never be able to thank them enough for all that they have done for me. Eight weeks was a good length for being in Cape Town. I'm so sad to leave but it feels like a good ending to this adventure. VAC weekly activities were always a fun time. The wineries and Cape of Good Hope were my favorite trips. I'm most grateful to VAC for being there for me when I had questions about my internship or Cape Town itself. It was so easy to text Kus and ask her to arrange a trip to paragliding or the Garden Route.

I can't thank VAC enough for those staff members who kept up with me and my roommates. I could not have loved my time in Cape Town more. It is one of the best decisions I've ever made to take a chance and fly down here. I will always treasure my time here.

Choosing to spend six weeks of my life in Cape Town was the best decision I could’ve possibly made! I love traveling and I was yearning to scratch that itch.

My internship with the micro-publisher gave me a lot of insight into the literary scene in South Africa, especially poetry. During my time here, I also went bungee jumping, did a safari (and saw 4 out of the big 5), walked with elephants, hiked amazing trails with amazing views, drove an ATV across beautiful sand dunes, ate some of the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted and made friends with some really cool people! Throughout the whole process, VACorps was super friendly and helpful and it was fun to participate in the Monday night cultural series and the Friday activities. I will miss the daily adventures of exploring Cape Town with my friends, and I hope to return someday in the future. I definitely recommend this experience, 10/10!

I loved VACorps. Overall this has been a great experience for me. I think it has pushed me in ways I didn't know I would grow and taught me lessons I didn't know I needed to learn. This is a great way to learn about and explore an incredible country and I can't wait to tell everyone back home about it too.

I picked VACorps because it's unlike so many other programs. I enjoyed that we get to live with other interns and make our own connections while still having the freedom of our own internships and living life however we choose. I counted the other night, and I've met and said goodbye to 39 interns this summer, all people I never would have met otherwise. This is a really cool way to build connections not just abroad in SA but also between other countries.

I came across VACorps when I was looking for a program that would allow me to get some work/volunteer experience while living in another country with people my age. It fit my criteria perfectly, Cape Town looked super exciting, and the website had a ton of information. I loved the internship I ended up doing a law internship because the site gave me meaningful and interesting work to do and was very welcoming. I also loved living in the Arnold Street house and became great friends with all of my roommates. I will miss being able to go hiking, to the beach, or to try new restaurants with them. We had so much fun at the VACorps activities and culture nights as well. Kus and Kholi were so kind, funny, and helpful and we always loved seeing them. I stayed for two months and am so sad to leave - I would recommend staying as long as you can. I feel so grateful for this opportunity to try a new job, explore a beautiful new place, and make incredible friends.