BE THE CHANGE THAT TAKES ROOT
Where your hands help seeds become futures.
There are many ways to walk beside the Food Forest Foundation. You can volunteer on the ground, host fundraisers, organise donation drops or join our art exchange program. Every action grows something real for the children and communities we work with.
LONG TERM VOLUNTEERING
Stay longer. Grow deeper roots.
Long-term volunteers become woven into the rhythm of Katambora. You might teach, build, plant, mentor, care for children, or support programs that help the community grow stronger. We design each placement around your skills and passions because the impact you make is personal and powerful. This work changes lives, including your own. Every long-term journey begins with a conversation, because what you bring is irreplaceable and what you experience will stay with you forever.
SHORT TERM VOLUNTEERING
Where giving back feels like coming alive
Spend one or two extraordinary weeks living on an island in the middle of the Zambezi River, arriving by mokoro as the water moves beneath you. Wake to birdsong, swim at sunrise, eat farm-to-table meals, and end each night under a sky stitched with stars. Your days are spent contributing to meaningful projects in farming, conservation, community development, and youth empowerment. On your rest days, feel the thunder of Victoria Falls and explore Chobe National Park on safari. It is a rare kind of journey: part adventure, part contribution, and entirely unforgettable.
ART EXCHANGE RESIDENCY
Where art becomes a bridge between worlds
Artists are invited to help restore something precious: a living culture of creativity within the Lozi community, whose beauty has always been held in song, soil and river story, yet has not always had the space or tools to flourish. Along the Zambezi, you create your own work while guiding the community to explore colour, movement, language and imagination. Painters, writers, sculptors, dancers, photographers, musicians and creators of any kind help spark expression, confidence and connection throughout the community. The exchange is deeply mutual. You offer your craft, and the land, the river and its people offer you stillness, perspective and a way of seeing that stays with you long after you return home.
TEACHING & CHILDCARE VOLUNTEERING
Shape futures. Share knowledge. Hold space.
People who love to teach, to nurture, to guide and to simply show up with an open heart are welcomed into Food Forest School. Some arrive with years of experience. Others come as students preparing for their first classroom. All bring something meaningful. You may spark curiosity through play, guide reading circles beneath a mango tree, offer creative arts, support practical life skills or help care for our youngest children and orphans. Your presence brings steadiness, encouragement and possibility to children eager for connection and consistency. This work is tender and transformative, offering moments of safety and joy to those who have carried more than they should. All volunteers complete appropriate safety checks so we can honor and protect the children who trust us.
FUNDRAISING & DONATION DROPS
The ripple effect begins with you.
Your community can transform ours. When you host a fundraiser or organise a donation drive, you place essential resources into the hands of people who need them most. Clothing, books, sports gear, art supplies, laptops, phones, tablets, projectors, monitors, and other technology open doors for families and students who often walk miles to purchase second-hand items at high cost. We can guide you on what is most needed right now and when our next container will travel to Zambia. Whether it's a local fundraiser or a region-wide donation day, every effort creates impact.
WHAT OUR VOLUNTEERS SAY
"I stayed for six weeks and it completely shifted my perspective. The Food Forest Foundation is not a project—it’s a living ecosystem. I learned how to plant syntropic rows, build soil the natural way, and work alongside people who genuinely care about the land. What struck me most was how much the community owns the process. You don’t feel like a volunteer from the outside; you feel part of something much bigger."
- Katie K - France