Grant Kuppenheimer, Colorado, USA (2021)

Grant joined the VACorps program in May 2021 as part of his gap year and participated in an education internship where he taught at a local school.  He will be attending Queen’s University Ontario, Canada in the fall of 2021. 

“During my gap year, I have had to navigate many COVID-related restrictions with gap programs and travel. I was looking for an experience that would be in person and as normal as possible. It was suggested to me to look into traveling to Cape Town as it was less impacted by COVID. After speaking with VACorps and asking many questions I decided to take my chances and travel halfway around the world. I never regretted my decision and had an amazing time! I was able to explore Cape Town with other interns and work as a teacher in a local school, both incredibly rewarding experiences. I grew immensely as a person during my time here and I think this is a trip that I will remember for the rest of my life. Being able to experience Cape Town both in a professional and social manner allowed me to understand South Africa differently than a regular tourist would. During my time here I was not only able to explore Cape Town but also Pretoria and Kruger National Park for a six-day safari!

A typical week as an intern would be working at your site during workdays of course and then meeting up with other interns for dinner and social events in the evening. Every weekend we go on a VA corps trip in the city and will then organize our own trip on Saturday or Sunday. VA Corps is definitely a social program and all of the interns enjoy spending time with one another and explore Cape Town and experience South Africa as a group. As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed my Cape Town experience and highly recommend it to any future interns who are looking for an adventure.”