Wildside has recently introduced their Life Skills gap year programme, which offers delegates of all ages and cultures a chance to evolve and cultivate their personal life skills whilst working on environmental, cultural and wildlife related projects in South Africa over 3 and 5 month periods.
The Life Skills Programme has evolved from Wildside's Nature Experience Programme (which provided volunteer work on wildlife projects) into a more structured programme to offer delegates an interesting and challenging course to test/learn how to:
deal with peer pressure issues
lead a team in difficult circumstances
be a team player
resolve conflict amongst peers
re-group and strategise/plan their life course
contribute towards less privileged individuals or communities
Wildside's team leader Ian Thompson has used his life long experience working with corporate teams and students on relationship building and strategising to structure these life skills programmes. As an example the 3 month programme based at Ingwe Forest Camp in the Crags near Plettenberg Bay is based on the following schedule.
Week 1
Orientation week at Ingwe
Initial briefing and Vision Planning Workshops
Week 2 and 3
Group 1 works at the Elephant Sanctuary
Evening activities and Fund Raising Task
Week 4 and 5
Group 1 moves to work on a local project with an underprivileged community
Various evening activities
Week 6 and 7
Group 1 moves to the Dolphin and Whale Research station in Plettenberg Bay
Week 8 and 9
Group 1 works at Ingwe on their re-forestation and schools camps programme
Week 10 and 11
Group 1 moves to Monkeyland Raptor Land
Week 12
Regroup at Ingwe
Stage and Complete Community/Fund Raising Project
Presentation of Certificates
Note: Ideally each group of 6 will rotate to different activities every two weeks.
Delegates are structured into groups of 6 to 8, and rotate every 2 weeks or 3 quarter weeks (depending on course duration) amongst the different activities in the area.
Each group will be shuttled daily by a dedicated driver to their activity in the area (all +-15 kms from Ingwe)
A Wildside Instructor/Course leader will facilitate regular evening social interaction activities at Ingwe 5 nights a week for +-2 hours each night.
e.g. All groups will be required to undertake the full planning and execution of a community project during their 3 or 5 month period for completion in their last week (This requires interactive sessions in the evenings)
Groups or Teams will rotate in kitchen/catering requirements, which is a participative effort with all catering provided by Ingwe and Wildside. Members will in turn be rotated so as to integrate with other members/delegates.
Delegates will have 2 days and 2 nights at leisure a week to have fun or explore the area, under guidance of the Wildside Instructor based at Ingwe.
Throughout the programme various local schools groups attend 4 to 7 day camps at Ingwe. Delegates on the Life Skills Programme will be invited to assist in the facilitation of these school programmes as instructors.
Wildside plans to introduce the first Life Skills Programme at Ingwe in September 2008 for a 3 month course until end November/early December 2008. The 5 month programme will then follow at Ingwe and other venues from mid January 2009 to mid June 2009.
Gap Year Programmes 
