TalentProjX NPO
Gap Year Programme
8 weeks of Social Impact, Nature,
and Adventure
Accelerate your talent by learning team work and problem solving. Learn and work alongside South Africans to design and implement solutions for some of the challenges they face in their communities.
TalentProjX is a non-profit organisation registered and operating in South Africa. We arrange for gap year students to join our courses. Your attendance adds diversity to our teams and helps us to provide our flagship course to the talented South Africans who need it. This website is designed to help gap year students to make a well informed decision about joining TalentProjX's gap year programme. Feel free to visit www.talentprojx.co.za for more information about TalentProjX NPC's other activities.
Why choose us?
We deliver a safe, impactful, authentic, self development experience; with a ton of adventure, fun, and learning thrown in.
Impact from day one
You will learn and work with a class of motivated entrepreneurs. We select talented young South Africans who want to make a difference to their lives and communities.
Work with and support underprivileged South Africans.
Social impact through solving real problems.
Impact through cultural diversity. Your presence and input adds to the experience of everyone in the class and the solutions that are generated.
You help fund our Non Profit Organisation.
Nature understanding
14 intense days of unforgettable learning and observation of wild animals in their wilderness environment.
Learn to recognise and understand the richness and fragility of the un-spoilt African savanna ecosystem.
Based from Hoedspruit, a vibrant town just outside of the centre of the Kruger National Park, with 7 days spent in the park.
Entrepreneur experience and skills
You will learn and use Silicon Valley style problem solving and team working skills every day.
Design Thinking is the solution finding approach used by top Silicon Valley companies.
Scrum and Agile help the team to get things done together.
The theory of the learning curve underpins the entrepreneurial mindset.
Language and culture
If English is a second language for you, build your confidence and skill.
Fun, low pressure linguistic environment.
Non-judgmental colleagues as English is a second language for most South Africans too.
This is a rich cultural experience. You will have the privilege of learning and working with real South Africans on some of the problems that they face in their lives.
You will learn to see life through their eyes and they will learn to see life through yours.
TalentProjX is a talent accelerator
TalentProjX is a Talent Accelerator. Our flagship course is a four week Entrepreneurship Development Course designed for talented young South Africans from underprivileged communities.
For our Gap Year Package, we invite selected Gap Year students (with the necessary motivation and independence) to join us. We expect you to fully participate. By doing so you will accelerate your own talent whilst generating positive impact in the communities that we serve.
Testimonials
Amandine Part 1
Why TalentProjX, programme highlights, changes in me
Amandine Part 2
Personal development, the future, who the programme suits.
Amandine Part 3
Her roadtrip, TalentProjX course, Safety and Security, paying for it.
Khayalethu
Lebogang
Our options for you
Curated experience
Our all in one package. Our selection of best experiences in South Africa:
2 week Road Trip: An epic 2,392 km road trip over 14 days.
4 week TalentProjX course: Fully immerse yourself in our flagship Entrepreneurship Development Course in Johannesburg.
2 week Nature and Safari Guiding: Learn about wilderness and wild things amidst the African flora and fauna.
Course only, build your own
Your flexible option; you are responsible for your plans.
Perhaps you already know South Africa or want to focus on a particular activity like climbing in the Cederberg, scuba diving in Sodwana Bay, or your private pilot's licence in Johannesburg?
You join for the TalentProjX course only. We look after you during the four weeks of the course. Otherwise you are free to devise your own adventure.
We can give you advice, before and during your trip, should you need it.
How it works
Your safety is our first concern. South Africa has different rules and ways of doing things. We want to ensure that you navigate this environment in a safe way and don't have any surprising lessons. We also want you to be independent, make your own decisions and take accountability for yourself and your actions. We believe that we can achieve these two important objectives by selecting to engage in activities in safe areas, designing the activities to reduce risk, maintaining safety standards to EU levels, and finally ensuring that you understand the environments that you will operate in and act in an appropriate way.
Fly in. We will meet you at the airport and take you to your accommodation. If you are building your own adventure then we will arrange to meet you when you get to Johannesburg.
Cape Town. We will give you and facilitate our top recommendations. However, you decide what you want to do. But make sure that you are in time for the road trip.
Road trip. Our road trip is a thoughtfully curated journey between selected backpackers. We have chosen backpackers on the basis of their: stunning locations, friendly welcome, and consistently enriching social experience. To get between backpackers we have selected the Bazbus. The Bazbus is a great social experience and will allow you to make friends with other travelers in South Africa.
Backpackers. Backpackers are South Africa's version of youth hostels. The best backpackers have excellent facilities, stunning locations, incredibly helpful and knowledgeable staff, brilliant entertainment, clean bed-linen and duvets in excellent repair, great activities, and delicious well priced food.
Bazbus. The Bazbus is another South African institution. The Bazbus is a privately run minibus company that provides safe hop-on-and-go transport between backpackers. The Bazbus is known for: being very social; taking passenger safety and safe driving incredibly seriously; and the courtesy and helpfulness of its drivers and staff.
Accommodation. Throughout your time with us you will be accommodated with other course participants. During the road trip that means some of South Africa's awesome backpackers. During the course, you will be in one of Johannesburg's central neighbourhoods, close to great facilities, parks and social spaces. During the nature and safari guide introduction, you will be staying in Hoedspruit a vibrant town close to the Kruger National Park, nestled among game parks.
Our duty of care. We take our duty of care seriously. We do everything in our power to ensure that the activities that we deliver to you directly and organise on your behalf from external suppliers are safe. That is to say that safety standards are up to European standards of safety. Where we have safety concerns, we will let you know in advance.
Your responsibility and independence. Dovetailed with our duty of care is your own responsiblility for your safety and wellbeing, and the safety and wellbeing of those around you. You should expect to make sound decisions and not take any risks. We select our participants on the basis or their motivation, independence, and responsibility. If any participant endangers themselves or other participants, we reserve the right to ask that participant to leave the programme.
Things work differently in South Africa. The majority of the population is very poor. As in all countries on the planet, a small portion of the population have decided to choose crime as their best economic option. That means there are always individuals and teams looking for opportunities to take advantage of naive or vulnerable people. It is easy to be safe in South Africa and it is also easy to make bad decisions and end up in harms way. We will give you extensive advice before arrival and once you arrive about how to stay safe.
Application process
1 Research and compare
Compare our package with other options available to you. Understand what is included and excluded.
Does it deliver what you want from a two month experience in South Africa? Does the cost make sense to you?
Feel free to contact us directly to find out more and to answer your burning questions.
2 Fill in our application form
We need to know about you and what you are looking for to make sure that our programme is the correct fit for you. We are looking for motivated, independent individuals who are willing and able to collaborate with others to solve difficult problems.
Once you have filled in our application form, we will arrange a call with you. This is an opportunity for us to make sure that you are ready to participate in the programme.
3 Book dates and pay
Check available dates with our team. Decide which dates work for you. Confirm and book with our team.
Find book and pay for your flights.
Let us know if you are going to arrive early and need any advice or help.
Our team
Robert Lorriman, Founder and Executive Director of TalentProjX NPC.
Robert spent 13 years in the British Army. He was an infantry officer in the Welsh Guards where among other things he trained and mentored hundreds of soldiers, often from underprivileged backgrounds, additionally he led an independent leadership training academy preparing hundreds of young talent for promotion into more senior roles. Robert left the army in 2008 to try his hand at strategy and business. He did this via an INSEAD MBA and a stint at McKinsey & Co., in London. Roles in strategy, sales and startups have followed. One of these brought him to South Africa. He has fallen in love with South Africa for the warmth of its diverse peoples, its magnificent landscapes, and the richness of its flora and fauna. South Africa is Robert’s adopted home.
Katiso Lekeno, Chief Instructor and lead facilitator Kwa Thema district, Gauteng.
Katiso is a committed social entrepreneur. Before joining TalentProjX, he founded and managed a non-profit organisation helping primary and secondary students with their academic struggles.
He has a background in hospitality and sales which inform both his approach to interacting with and understanding customers as well as the commercial imperative driving his entrepreneurship.
Ofentse Ntsane, Start up manager and lead facilitator Langa, Western Cape.
Tebogo Mtshali, Deputy facilitator Kwa Thema District, Gauteng.
Hope Mosehla, Lead facilitator elect for Limpopo.
Mohammed Fazel-Ellahi, Chief Instructor Nature Guide Introduction Course, Hoedspruit, Limpopo.