South African School Quilt Tour

(not affiliated with The NAMES Project)

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2006 School Quilt Tour

The 2006 School Quilt tour will be held between Monday, September 4 and Friday, September 15, 2006. In association with local school districts, Sizwe Sonke Quilting Project of South Africa, and International AIDS Prevention Initiative ("IAPI"), volunteers will visit approximately 20 schools in the Cape Town area.

The School Quilt tour consists of two parts; volunteers can participate in either one or both.

First week - HIV/AIDS discussions with students following a prepared curriculum.

Second week - Facilitating panelmaking workshops with students, churches, and community members.

Each week has an arrival deadline (for foreign volunteers) to allow for jetlag and mandatory training sessions. Anyone interested in joining our teams on some or all of the following tour dates, must fill out a tour application , and submit to IAPI by the deadline shown below under "2006 Tour Dates."

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Volunteer Criteria and Cost

This program is a labor of love. We want to attract volunteers with a passion to work in the HIV/AIDS field. As there is no funding currently available to underwrite the participation of volunteers, each volunteer must raise the funds (or find a sponsor) to pay for their own airline, hotel, food, and local transport expenses. The cost per volunteer is approximately $3,000 to $3,500 (depending on single/double accommodation and departing city of volunteer). IAPI organizes accommodations for volunteers that takes into consideration training, transport to/from schools, and is walking distance to restaurants and shopping.
 
As of (3/1/06) the exchange rate is R6.01 "Rand" to US$1.00.
 
Costs breakdown to the following:
 
Housing:
Apartment w/kitchen, living room accommodations:
1 bedroom apt. @R300/ni (approx. US$50/ni)

Hotel accommodations:

Single/double starting at R500/ni (approx. $US82/ni)
 
Transport:
 Airline tickets: US$1,500 to $2,000 (depending from departure city)
 Airport transport: US$30-$35/per person
 Local transport to schools: US$10/per person per day
 
Meals:
 Food: US$15-30/day (approx.)
 Apartments have kitchens to prepare meals

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Volunteer Position Descriptions:

PRESENTERS/EDUCATORS (5-10 vols.): Individuals must have experience working in the HIV/AIDS field, and have experience working with youth. Previous experience with the Quilt is preferred but not required. Volunteers need to have good speaking skills with large groups, can project their voice to be heard, and have the ability to interact with school children and teachers. Volunteers must also understand the format of a curriculum and be able to cover the objectives of the program within the allotted period of time.
 
COMPUTER ASSISTANT (1-2 vols.): Individual must travel with their own laptop, have knowledge of the Internet, assist uploading pictures from school activities, help with administration data entry, be fluent in Word or WordPerfect, ACCESS, Excel, PowerPoint, and SPSS (IAPI will train on this latter software only), and be able to put together picture slide shows (with laptop) for local events.
 
TRAINING ASSISTANT (1-2 vols.): This volunteer will work with Program Director to facilitate the training sessions held in South Africa on the classroom lesson plan curriculum. This position involves knowledge of the program, good teaching skills, and ability to work on group dynamics and communication/conflict resolution tools for teams.
 
TOUR CAMP "DAD/MOM" (1-2 vols.): Individual(s) to help with assisting the program director with accommodations for volunteers on tour, assist with issues revolving around group conflict resolutions and group dynamics, and help resolve any conflicts that occur.
 
PANELMAKING ASSISTANT (1-2 vols.): Individuals with panelmaking experience to assist
students, families, and church groups design and execute memorial panels during panelmaking week. Participants need to arrive the weekend before to attend training session.

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2006 Tour Dates (deadlines, training, tour schedule):
 

• Deadlines for all volunteers:
 - Feb.-June 1: Application submissions
 - May 31: Applicants tentative commitment to tour
 - June 1-15: Application notification to applicants
 - June 15: Wire deposit to secure accommodations
  Training and tour dates:

 Week One: AIDS Week School Tour(September 4 - 8)
- Sept. 2: Last arrival of foreign volunteers (for jetlag)
 - Sept. 2 & 3: Mandatory training sessions
 - Sept. 4- 8: School tour (daily 7am departure)
 - Sept 8: Earliest date to return home (evening flights)
 
Week Two: Panelmaking Workshops (September 11-15)
- Sept. 9: Last arrival of foreign volunteers (for jetlag)
 - Sept. 9 & 10: Mandatory training sessions
 - Sept. 11-15: Panelmaking workshops (daily 12noon to 4pm)
 - Sept 15: Earliest date to return home (evening flights)

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Tour Volunteer Application:
 
In order to participate in the 2006 School Quilt tour, each volunteer must complete a Tour Application. Applications are to be completed on-line (or printed and mailed), and submitted to International AIDS Prevention Initiative ("IAPI") before June 1st. All volunteers need to be team players. Any conflict needs to be resolved in a professional and timely manner. Applications will be reviewed by IAPI and applicant will be notified within 7 working days following receipt.
 
 For a tour application, please click here .

 For more information on The Sizwe Sonke Quilting Project of South Africa, click here .

 For further tour questions, email IAPI .

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Tour Background Information:
 
Information detailing the conception of IAPI's work in South Africa is available here .

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