We collaborate with several sport for development non-profit organizations in Cape Town to offer hands-on, immersive internships. Interns will spend their mornings working on collaborative projects alongside fellow SAA students and staff in a lab setting at Inyathelo: The South Africa Institute for Advancement. In the afternoons, interns will visit their respective organization's site to assist with program operations and explore how their projects can be practically implemented.

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This experience provides a valuable opportunity to gain practical skills while making a meaningful impact in the local community. Internship projects are a blend of supporting daily program operations and completing an independent project designed to address a specific challenge. Example responsibilities include:

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• Event planning

• Website and social media management

• Digital and editorial content creation

• Newsletter system design

• Grant writing

• Monitoring and evaluation systems

• Partnership development

• Sponsorship and donor research

 

For students with an interest in healthcare, internship projects will primarily focus on our partner's occupational therapy program and other community health initiatives. Below are some examples of our selected internship partners:

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Project Playground

Project Playground (PPG) is a non-profit organization focused on bringing structured recreational programs to youth in neighborhoods that are systematically, socially, and economically deprived. Project Playground reaches local youth through free after-school activities, sports programs, and support programs five days a week and currently serves over 750 children in three townships outside of Cape Town.

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Great Commission United

Great Commission United (GCU) was founded by a reformed gang member from the Cape Flats neighborhood of Heideveld to keep local youth away from crime and gangs in the area. GCU provides the supportive family environment that youth often lack at home and are attracted to in gangs. Soccer, basketball, and other sports play an integral role in attracting students ages 5-20 to after school programs with life skills training, tutoring, and physical exercise.

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CHIPs

The Community Health Intervention Programs (CHIPs) was launched through the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA) in 1997 in the Western Cape. The vision was to develop a program that was sustainable in its ability to improve various communities' participation in physical activity. Its primary focus is to offer sustainable lifestyle intervention program to create healthier, empowered, cohesive communities. The CHIPs program runs successfully in 36 different communities around the Western Cape, through its HealthNutz, OptiFit Outreach and Live-It-Up program.

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Our local staff will guide students through the placement process and provide on-site support throughout the duration of the program. For students seeking academic credit, we will work with them to meet university requirements. ​​