Volunteering in Zimbabwe – At the Clinic

A typical day at the Medical Aid in Antelope Park project starts with taking part in an activity of your choosing from 6:25 am until breakfast at 8:00 am. The project coordinator was very flexible and some of the choices included walking with the lions or cleaning the elephant bomas (enclosures). If you want, you could also have the morning session off. Then after breakfast we either had a full or half day out in the community.

I was in the clinic most days (there were many holidays during my stay so sometimes the clinic was closed). In the clinic there were different stations that I was able to choose from. Some days I was in the baby weighing station, others in the wound dressing room or even in the maternity ward if a woman was in labor.

There was always a staff member with you so I never felt uncomfortable. Another great part of the experience was the opportunity to do an overnight shift at the maternity ward from 9 pm until 5 am. It added so much to the experience having the opportunity to take part in an overnight shift. On a regular day we would return from the community by 3 pm and then have the rest of the afternoon off until 6:15 pm when we had nightly meetings to discuss the schedule for the next day and talk about what everyone did that day. After the meetings we’d have dinner and after we ate, most of the volunteers would head up to the bar for games and great conversations! The two weeks I spent volunteering in Zimbabwe were better than I ever could have imagined and I would highly recommend volunteering at any of the projects!