STAESA is a nonprofit organization based in South Africa. We take our nonprofit title very seriously and we believe in helping the poor rise up to the level of the rich. We are a nonprofit because we believe the people of Africa should benefit from our organization, instead of the people who belong to the organization. We use our money efficiently and we maintain full transparency by publishing our financial records from 2003 online.
Other volunteer in Africa organizations are not nonprofits and they consider volunteering abroad a business. We are different as we truly transform the lives of people in Africa. We do not run STAESA as a business, but we do it out of our good faith that STAESA will change Africa.
STAESA charges its volunteers appropriate fees for volunteering. It is impossible to make volunteering free as we do not solicit funds from the government from which to pay for our volunteers' accomodations. Our fees, especially when compared to those of other organizations, are very reasonable.
Our coordinators and staff exist to make sure that each volunteer or intern has a great time with STAESA in Africa. Our coordinators are carefully chosen people who lead one project or multiple ones in a specific country. The volunteers or interns who work with a specific coordinator will be able to use their skills in all the projects the coordinator manages. Before the program participant comes to Africa, they will be given the contact information of the coordinator. This allow the participant to work out ideas with the coordinator and enhances the quality of the project. Our staff at the STAESA office are well qualified and have visited a vast majority of STAESA projects in many African countries. They know STAESA inside and out, and they are perfect people for assigning a volunteer or intern to a specific project and coordinator.
Unlike for-profit volunteer organizations, STAESA benefits the volunteer, the community, its institutions, and the host families. STAESA's mission and vision are in line with its activities in African communities. Our mission statement reflects why STAESA was formed: to uplift the poor, to help the communities, and to get the whole of Africa where it needs to be.
STAESA understands when its infrastructure cannot handle one or more projects that would be greatly beneficial to a community. When we see that we cannot start and finish a project, we look around for other nonprofits that can. STAESA then requests proposals from each organization, and awards donations to the chosen nonprofit. We not only help our communities, but we also help other nonprofits help their communities.
Every organization has its good times and bad ones. STAESA has had many good times, but only one bad one in 2006. Since we are a completely transparent organization, we want to share with the world everything we know. Please look here to address your concerns.
Ever since its conception in 1995, STAESA has been receiving multitudes of volunteers and interns into its programs in Africa. We are glad to share with you the many testimonies our volunteers have written in our log books. Our testimonies are updated frequently to ensure potential program participants of the quality of STAESA's programs.
