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#1
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working in southern or eastern Africa
Hi,
Next year I shall finally cease to be a student and the last thing I want to do is take a up a "proper job in the city". I've been thinking of working abroad, possibly in Kenya or South Africa, and was wondering if anyone had any advice: right now I know very little. I'm aware that there are lots of volunteer organisations, but I'm thinking of staying out there for at least 12 to 18 months so I'd rather be paid. I expect that means I would restricted to the tourist trade (such as the safari industry). I know that becoming a safari guide is not a job you just walk into but something along those lines may be interesting. I also get the feeling that coming in to that sort of thing as a foreigner may be quite hard. Anyone have any comments? Is volunteer work going to be the only realistic possibility? thanks, Rob |
#2
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working in southern or eastern Africa
In message , Rob
writes Hi, Next year I shall finally cease to be a student and the last thing I want to do is take a up a "proper job in the city". I've been thinking of working abroad, possibly in Kenya or South Africa, and was wondering if anyone had any advice: right now I know very little. I'm aware that there are lots of volunteer organisations, but I'm thinking of staying out there for at least 12 to 18 months so I'd rather be paid. I expect that means I would restricted to the tourist trade (such as the safari industry). I know that becoming a safari guide is not a job you just walk into but something along those lines may be interesting. I also get the feeling that coming in to that sort of thing as a foreigner may be quite hard. Anyone have any comments? Is volunteer work going to be the only realistic possibility? thanks, Rob Rob, So far nobody has replied to you so I will just give you my experience. I think it will be difficult for you to just go and get a job. I can only speak about Kenya but there are quite a few Kenya born Europeans there, most of whom work as pilots or in the tourism sector. Many work out of their own country. I lived in Kenya for several years because my husband worked in Kenya on large civil engineering projects. He saw jobs advertised in Britain, usually with British companies and secured three year contracts. There are young people doing voluntary work, where they are given accommodation and enough money to buy food etc. It is quite a small amount of money though! We met some teachers who were finding it hard to survive but they did so because they wanted to be there. Your question is a FAQ on the Lonely Planet site. You might get some ideas and links there. Good luck! Pat -- Pat Anderson |
#3
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working in southern or eastern Africa
Rob wrote in message ...
Hi, Next year I shall finally cease to be a student and the last thing I want to do is take a up a "proper job in the city". I've been thinking of working abroad, possibly in Kenya or South Africa, and was wondering if anyone had any advice: right now I know very little. I'm aware that there are lots of volunteer organisations, but I'm thinking of staying out there for at least 12 to 18 months so I'd rather be paid. I expect that means I would restricted to the tourist trade (such as the safari industry). I know that becoming a safari guide is not a job you just walk into but something along those lines may be interesting. I also get the feeling that coming in to that sort of thing as a foreigner may be quite hard. Anyone have any comments? Is volunteer work going to be the only realistic possibility? thanks, Rob Dear Rob, I am now in my fifteenth year of living and working in East Africa. I started in Tanzania and a few years ago, my work required I move to Kenya. It has always been difficult getting the proper permits to work in both Kenya and Tanzania - just as it is difficult for most Africans to get proper permits to work in say the USA. It might be my imagination, but it seems even harder now. The key to qualifying for work in East Africa is that you need to: 1. Be providing skills, qualifications and experience that are not easily found among the citizens of that country. One of the reason that many expats are in the tourism industry is that they have the knowledge of the 'needs' of international visitors. 2. Have an intention of passing those skills and experiences along to local people so that they might someday do your job. You would find it very difficult to get a permit to work as a safari guide as there are thousands of qualified African safari guides to fill those jobs. If, however, you had a specialty such as a PHD in the study of the wildlife with a specialty in the migration, (such as Dr. Richard Estes), you could get work leading safaris and teaching guides about the migration. Some companies do have intern programmes where you could get work as an administrative assistant as a 'representative of the investor'. Foreign investors are generally allowed a couple of people to keep an eye on their investment. I hope this is of some help. Gary www.safari.cc |
#4
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working in southern or eastern Africa
On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 10:33:23 +0100, Rob :
Next year I shall finally cease to be a student and the last thing I want to do is take a up a "proper job in the city". I've been thinking [snip] Anyone have any comments? Is volunteer work going to be the only realistic possibility? You don't say what kind of student you are. If it's one of a number of types, there are paid volunteer opportunities out there. UN Volunteers and VSO are always looking for the right types. I've the same kind of wanderlust you appear to be experiencing. I'd love to find some way to go back, but just about everything I see is geared towards people your age. -- Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (*) http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling - - Spammers! http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling/spammers.html http://learn.to/quote http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html |
#5
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working in southern or eastern Africa
On 1 Jul 2004 09:54:17 -0700, Gary Balfour :
The key to qualifying for work in East Africa is that you need to: 1. Be providing skills, qualifications and experience that are not easily found among the citizens of that country. One of the reason 2. Have an intention of passing those skills and experiences along to local people so that they might someday do your job. Even those may not be enough. I've thirteen years in IT. I'd love to be over there doing exactly what you mention above. Unfortunately, there's not many takers. -- Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (*) http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling - - Spammers! http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling/spammers.html http://learn.to/quote http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html |
#6
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working in southern or eastern Africa
Group: rec.travel.africa Date: Mon, Jun
28, 2004, 10:33am (CDT+6) From: (Rob) Hi, Next year I shall finally cease to be a student and the last thing I want to do is take a up a "proper job in the city". What a lazy. Why don't you take up that job and start paying back your momma and papa for your education. Lazy and ungrateful. I've been thinking of working abroad, possibly in Kenya or South Africa, and was wondering if anyone had any advice: Ain't no jobs in Af'ka. Why do you think them coloreds are all here illegally. right now I know very little. That's evident. I'm aware that there are lots of volunteer organisations, but I'm thinking of staying out there for at least 12 to 18 months so I'd rather be paid. I'd rather be Pope, But it AIN'T a gonna happen. Get off your lazy bum and get a JOB. Heaven forbid you volunteer AFTER work in your hometown and help some local people. I guess there are NO Unfortunate, hard up people in the UK Some one need to buy you an alarm clock 'cause it is TIME TO WAKE UP and live in the real world. |
#7
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working in southern or eastern Africa
"s. keeling" wrote in message . ..
On 1 Jul 2004 09:54:17 -0700, Gary Balfour : The key to qualifying for work in East Africa is that you need to: 1. Be providing skills, qualifications and experience that are not easily found among the citizens of that country. One of the reason 2. Have an intention of passing those skills and experiences along to local people so that they might someday do your job. Even those may not be enough. I've thirteen years in IT. I'd love to be over there doing exactly what you mention above. Unfortunately, there's not many takers. Sadly, that is a issue of economics. A good IT person gets a fairly good salary in most parts of the world. Here in Nairobi, there are many good IT people, who make good money by Kenyan standards - up to $1,000.00 a month. Sadly, I don't see too many foreign IT people with the experience needed to set them apart from the locally trained candidates willing to work in this price range. When requirements do exceed local expertise, many companies turn to India where there are some brilliant programmers who will work for bargain wages. Cheers, Gary Visit www.safari.cc for a new free giraffe wallpaper with July calendar. |
#8
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working in southern or eastern Africa
What a lazy. Why don't you take up that job and start paying back your momma and papa for your education. Lazy and ungrateful. right now I know very little. That's evident. I'm aware that there are lots of volunteer organisations, but I'm thinking of staying out there for at least 12 to 18 months so I'd rather be paid. I'd rather be Pope, But it AIN'T a gonna happen. Get off your lazy bum and get a JOB. Heaven forbid you volunteer AFTER work in your hometown and help some local people. I guess there are NO Unfortunate, hard up people in the UK Some one need to buy you an alarm clock 'cause it is TIME TO WAKE UP and live in the real world. Yes some people do need to wake up. You're one of them. You shouldn't be judgmental about others when you know nothing about them. I expect you're normally this rude so I'm not expecting an apology. You might (although I admit it's unlikely) be interested to know that I get off my lazy bum at 7:30 every morning (weekends included) to work in a physiology lab. It's not unusual for me to stay there until after 21:00 or even 08:00 the next day. Furthermore, my lazy ass is paid a salary (by a private company) to do this so I do in fact have a job: I'm a physiology PhD student working on neurological aspects of deafness. I wrote to this newsgroup for general advice on the viability of getting work in Africa. I want to spend over a year away and I'm not currently paid a lot of money so financially it makes a lot more sense for me to find paid work abroad rather than for me to pay. I wrote to this NG to get information on the viability of doing that. Your comments were endlessly useful for this-thank you very much. Rob |
#9
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working in southern or eastern Africa
On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 10:35:15 +0100, Rob :
[somebody:] What a lazy. Why don't you take up that job and start paying back your Yes some people do need to wake up. You're one of them. You shouldn't be He's a troll, Rob. Some nitwits get their jollies out of provoking others. There was no need for you to reply pointing out how off-base he was. He managed that admirably all by himself. Good luck on the hunt. -- Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (*) http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling - - Spammers! http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling/spammers.html http://learn.to/quote http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html |
#10
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working in southern or eastern Africa
On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 10:35:15 +0100, Rob :
[somebody:] What a lazy. Why don't you take up that job and start paying back your Yes some people do need to wake up. You're one of them. You shouldn't be He's a troll, Rob. Some nitwits get their jollies out of provoking others. There was no need for you to reply pointing out how off-base he was. He managed that admirably all by himself. Good luck on the hunt. -- Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (*) http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling - - Spammers! http://www.spots.ab.ca/~keeling/spammers.html http://learn.to/quote http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html |
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