A recent and exciting innovation at Village Foundations is the new Medical Volunteer Programme! Are you a doctor? Nurse? Paramedic? Physiotherapist? Medical Student? Any other kind of healthcare professional? If the answer to any of these is “Yes”, then VF’s Medical Volunteer Programme may well be right for you.
The United Nations Office of the High Commission states, unequivocally, that everyone should have the right to life, health and healthcare. VF has taken this as a personal challenge! One of VF’s founding principles and primary purposes is to uphold this right and do its best to make sure it meets the healthcare needs of as many people as it can. VF is always looking for people within the healthcare sector who might want to use their extraordinary talents and gifts to help those in need by providing high quality healthcare which is free at the point of use to those in the areas VF serves, and beyond.
VF does things differently to other volunteer programmes that send clinicians to join a clinic and just “fit in”. With EVERY medical volunteer, VF takes the time to understand what they’re hoping to achieve, what skills they can offer and what needs are present at VF’s projects that will enable individuals to have the most fulfilling, impactful and life changing experience. VF does this by engaging with the teams at its projects sites in order to get real-time intelligence on current needs, health trends and emerging problems so that VF can guarantee that all volunteers will have the most meaningful experience possible.
As with most volunteering programmes, there are some costs involved in travelling to Africa to volunteer as a clinician. However, due to the number of people who have visited in the past, coupled with an intimate knowledge of project areas, VF is able to minimise these costs. VF is on first name terms with local leaders, business owners and providers in the villages that it operates in. Not only does this mean that VF can “get things done”, but it also unlocks a world of possibility and cost reduction for accommodation, transportation, food and facilities in the areas surrounding all its projects. VF also has facilities in place to ensure there is transport waiting to take volunteers from the airport to the project sites at preferential rates. Also to offer advice on travel vaccinations, build an itinerary, get you online when you arrive and provide a 24/7 support network from your first contact with us to your safe arrival home (and beyond).
Alongside the medical experience, VF also tries to give every volunteer a “taste of Africa”. VF can organise a good ‘African Braai’, a visit to the Village Chief’s house, a boat trip on Lake Malawi, a night out in Cape Maclear or Monkey Bay, a shopping trip Mangochi and Lilongwe, a safari experience – whatever it takes to give you a feel for life in Malawi outside of the hospital.
If you have an idea of what you’d like to do when you volunteer with VF, please get in touch and let us know what you have in mind. Likewise, if you have no idea at all, but would like to explore the possibility of using your incredible skills to help people, let us know and we will touch base with you as soon as possible to discuss the opportunities VF has available to you!
