HELP VOLUNTEER GROUPS
If You Want To Volunteer In Africa You've Come To
The Right Place
What to Expect
You will set foot in Namibia at the Hosea Kutako International Airport, where you will be met by
HELP expedition staff and transferred by expedition
truck to the HELP base camp at Kaross in north-western
Namibia.
En route we shall pass through Namibia’s capital Windhoek, and various small towns whilst travelling along good
roads for about six hours. The scenery will vary from rolling hills to Kalahari savannah bushveldt to mopane
bushveldt, dotted with granite outcrops as we travel along.
We can expect to see wild animals such as warthog, baboon, kudu, oryx and springbuck beside the road.
On arrival at our HELP base camp at Kaross we shall
settle down in rustic open air accommodation on top of the kitchen deck against a granite rock, or tents for those
who need to feel a little bit more enclosed.
Camp briefings and dinner will follow before we settle down around a mopane campfire to listen to the roar of lions
nearby. Kaross is a private game reserve that teems with a great variety of wildlife, including lions which are
enclosed in a very large (130 acres), secure enclosure and which is situated half a mile from our base camp.
So, short of breathing down our necks we will be constantly reminded of their presence.
On day two of our volunteer in Africa adventure we shall be thoroughly briefed on the programme that will be in
store for us for the next two weeks, followed by routine camp chores, preparing of breakfast, the loading of
expedition vehicles with all the expedition kit that we will be needing for the field work and project work we will
be involved with shortly, before we shall depart from base camp into the bush to get on with the work.
Each team that is volunteering in Africa, will consist of about ten participants and
will be allocated a specially prepared and equipped landcruiser jeep all terrain vehicle which will provide
transportation for the duration until the programme has been completed.
Whilst working in close co-operation with local Otji’Herero communities and under the guidance of our
highly experienced and knowledgeable field guide/driver, the programme will involve the following tasks:
1. Lion and Elephant Research: In order to be
able to successfully manage the complex conflict situation between the local farmers on the one hand, and the wild
lions and elephants on the other hand, as much knowledge as we possibly gather about the animals’ movements,
habits, family structures, social and antisocial behaviour and feeding patterns is required by HELP.
The research task subsequently boils down to data collecting in the veldt where the animals occur, which involves a
great amount of foot work but also some exiting stuff occasionally when we join ranks with the Ministry of
Environment and Tourism (MET) to dart a lion.
The purpose of darting is primarily to relocate a problem animal before it gets shot or snared by angry farmers,
which provides excellent research opportunities in the bargain. Blood samples and measurements are taken as a
matter of routine, but a veterinarian will execute an array of additional clinical procedures from which a huge
amount of information may be derived.
2. Education of Local Communities: Though always
a controversial issue, the concept of allowing wild animals to stay, in order to draw tourists, and subsequently
badly needed revenue into the area, whilst running the risk of having livestock getting taken by lions and
installations damaged by elephants, has to be explained in terms of the benefits derived from proper management of
the situation.
Our task is to fully explain how we plan to prevent endangered lions from
taking livestock and elephants from damaging water and other installations, and then actually proving that we can
put our money where our mouths are. We achieve this by building a solid and long lasting relationship of friendship
and trust with local farmers over time, which enables us to try to change their minds at every opportunity we get,
by providing solid facts and decisive action.
When you volunteer in Africa with us, you will meet HELP expedition staff who are well versed in the procedures and will
give sound guidance and advice as we go along.
3. Community Project Work: This part of our
programme is where the more hard core project work is engaged by participants, and the end results of which will
determine the immediate success of our combined efforts.
The whole issue of conflict originates with elephants that follow migratory routes on which they encounter the
human made barrier fences that surround Etosha National Park and the Hobatere conservation area, which they
promptly flatten in order to proceed on their way.
The sheer scale of such damage outstrips MET’s capacity to stay abreast with repairs and maintenance, not least
because of financial and manpower constraints. Elephants subsequently enter commercial and communal farming areas
where they are obliged to make use of borehole water sources to sustain themselves, that is why we need to
undertake these conservation projects.
The farmers perceive the elephants as a financial threat since they have to buy and pay for the diesel fuel for the
water pumps to get the water to the surface for their cattle, which the elephants promptly consume.
Considering the fact that an elephant may drink up to 200 liters of water every two to four days, this is
definitely a real problem in an area where communal farmers earn a pittance from their farming activities, so they
invariably attempt to deny the elephants access to water reservoirs.
This is where the real problem then takes shape.
Elephants are notoriously powerful beasts and will destroy expensive installations in order to get to the source of
the water, which they eventually will achieve, regardless.
Our primary job comes into play now when we build rock and concrete protection walls around installations which
will keep the elephants out, but still allow them free access to drinking water.
This process eventually eliminates the destruction of infrastructure completely.
In addition we provide limited financial assistance to the farmers to pay for fuel to pump water for the elephants
as well.
Now as you may have suspected, lions will make use of the same breaches in the park fences caused by the
elephants to get access to adjacent farm land, where they pose a threat to livestock. If you have ever wanted to
volunteer with animals, this is as good as it gets.
Our solution to this is to build strong kraals for the farmers where they keep their livestock at night, safely
barriered in from marauding lions.
In addition we spend lots of our time and funds on the on-going process of repairing flattened park fences.
How to sign up
You may contact us at for more details if you so require, or through the website. Due
to the intensity of the programme, only a limited number of participants will be considered for each period of two
weeks, so it is important that you secure a place by booking long in advance.
Should you need to have a chat to clarify any aspect of the programme, Faan may also be contacted on his mobile
phone at most normal times of the day on this number:
+264 81 128 3025.
If you are in a different time zone, you can check what the time is in Namibia here
What is the duration of the programme?
Each volunteer will sign up for the standard period of 14 days at a time, but any extension period is allowed. It
is however necessary to discuss your consideration to extend in advance in order to avoid double bookings.
How to get here
Leave everything in our hands. You will fly from your country to Hosea Kutako International airport at Windhoek,
the capital of Namibia from where you will be picked up by expedition vehicle and transferred to
HELP base camp.
After your stay you will be transferred back to Hosea Kutako from where you will fly back home.
Please check out the Kit List here that you will also need to bring along.
What time of year?
The Humans, Elephant and Lion
Programme runs year round except for the month of December which is spent on staff leave, maintenance and
development planning.
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