The Amka Afrika in each country is either one of our own houses or a third-party hostel that we use as our orientation and intake center. Amka Afrika provides a safe and comfortable environment where our volunteers can meet other like-minded travellers while they learn about essential health, safety and cultural information that will help ensure that each placement is a success.
Volunteers will begin their programs at the Amka Afrika. During orientation and language training, volunteers will live at Amka Afrika. (For volunteers who are not comfortable in dormitory accommodations, arrangements can be made for private rooms in a hotel by completing a custom/group program request).
Following orientation, volunteer accommodations will depend largely on the location of the placements that volunteers select. If the placements are within a 1-hour commute of Amka Afrika then volunteers can choose to stay in Amka Afrika or with a host family. However, if the placements are further than 1 hour from Amka Afrika, volunteers will live either with a host family or in a volunteer lodge or ranger station depending on the placement.
When we work with host families our team on the ground personally visit each home, conduct a home-stay inspection and obtain a criminal background check (or local equivalent) for each family.
Living in Amka Afrika
Each Amka Afrika provides hostel-style accommodation for our volunteers. Most rooms are dormitories that are divided by gender. Most bathrooms are shared. Each centre has one or more common areas where volunteers can hang out and an orientation room for the sit-down components of our orientation workshops and language training.
A video tour of each Amka Afrika is available on our YouTube channel and on each of the location pages on this website. These give a great sense of what living in Amka Afrika is like.
Living with a Host Family
Each home-stay will provide a bed and three meals per day for our volunteers. The majority of host families offer private rooms with only one or two volunteers living with the family. In the case of a volunteer lodge or ranger station (which is often the only option for placements within a National Park), volunteers will be living in dormitory type accommodations and meals will be provided in a mess hall or dining area.
As the host family connection is entirely dependent on the location of a confirmed placement, details regarding host families are sent out with the confirmation details 30 days before the start date of a program.
