The Volunteer Adventure Corps Team

Sean Walpole graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2002 with a Bachelor of Social Science in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Sean is a South African with extensive experience working with international students and university professors and describes his position at the VACorps as his dream job. Sean has a passion for travel and an insatiable desire for exploration. Since 2001, Sean has organized and led trips to Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and along the Garden Route in South Africa. He provides all logistical support for university faculty-led programs in South Africa facilitated by VACorps (see our Faculty-Led South Africa website for more information). In his spare time, Sean has also managed to teach more than 150 people to SCUBA dive! He is one of the most enthusiastic, hard-working individuals you will ever meet!

Contact Sean at:  sean@vacorps.com

Oliver graduated from the University of Oregon in 2005 with a BA in Journalism and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society. Oliver’s path to Cape Town originated when he decided to spend his junior year studying abroad at the University of Cape Town through CIEE. From his first few days in the country, Oliver fell in love with his surroundings and has been a resident of South Africa since 2006. It is for this very reason that he feels so strongly about providing VACorps participants with the necessary support and information to have a memorable overseas experience. His personal volunteer experiences include teaching English to fifth graders in the Khayelitsha Township and working as a writing tutor for students speaking English as a second language. When not engaged in VACorps affairs, Oliver can be found surfing one of Cape Town's many amazing waves.

Contact Oliver at: oliver@vacorps.com

Originally from Johannesburg and schooled in Grahamstown, Vanessa's family lives in the small town of Plettenberg Bay. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Cape Town in Marine Science and a Post-Graduate degree in Physical Oceanography. After finishing her studies, she worked as a PADI scuba diving instructor in the Bahamas and then moved to Mozambique, where she also lived and worked as an instructor for a year. She has been with the program since March of 2010 and loves the work she does at VACorps! Vanessa designs internship placements for our program participants and is a key coordinator of our VAC Travel adventures. For all enquiries about internships, travel and adventure, feel free to contact her!

Contact Vanessa at: vanessa@vacorps.com

As a native South African, Andrew will become your guide to Cape Town. In addition to giving interns a public transportation orientation when they arrive, Andrew is also the VACorps soccer coach and events planner. He is most famous among interns for coordinating weekend trips to Mzolis and other places in the townships. Andrew has a very easygoing and hospitable personality, and will go out of his way to make interns feel comfortable in his home country.

Contact Andrew at: andrew@vacorps.com

Takiyah White Ndwanya, who is originally from Washington, DC, is a doctoral student currently working on her dissertation in Infectious Disease Epidemiology. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Biology and taught for years in the public school system on the middle and high school levels, as well as for various programs on the county and university levels, respectively. Takiyah obtained her Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree from The George Washington University in 2004 and has worked in a consultant capacity for public health programs involving adolescent health/physical activity promotion, organ donation awareness, prostate cancer prevention, HIV/AIDs prevention, and Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). Upon beginning her dissertation in September 2010, Takiyah decided to do an internship with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in Cape Town, South Africa through the Volunteer Adventure Corps (VACorps). While in Cape Town, she fell in love with the country and enjoyed her internship so much that she decided to stay until the completion of writing her dissertation. She is excited about working with VACorps to bring students from around the world to the program and to share her new adopted country!

Contact Takiyah at: takiyah@vacorps.com

Sly is the first and last face you will see in South Africa! He responsible for the coordination of all our participant airport transfers and also assists with special program transportation arrangements. Sly was raised in Bloemfontein, South Africa before moving to Cape Town as a teenager. Prior to joining VACorps, Sly worked in the South African film industry as a Production Manager with Magic Mountain Film Productions. He enjoys going to gym and encourages any future VACorps participants needing a gym buddy to contact him.

Contact Sly at: sly@vacorps.com

Ivy was born and raised in Cape Town, and is proudly South African! She is famous among VACorps interns because of her amazing cooking skills, especially when it comes to preparing authentic South African meals. She is the coordinator of VACorps cooking classes and serves as the chef during VACorps faculty-led programs in South Africa. In addition to showing interns how to make fabulous South African cuisine, Ivy teaches VACorps Xhosa lessons (Xhosa is one of South Africa's 11 official languages), hosted on a weekly basis at the VACorps office. Ivy's great personality is contagious and she inspires every intern to dive into South African culture!

Contact Ivy at: ivy@vacorps.com

Legend has been working at VACorps since July of 2011. He is a regular on our Friday program activities and keeps morale high during the most difficult hikes! He enjoys shoelaces, so keep yours tucked in when visiting our office!