Volunteer in Ghana

International Volunteer HQ’s partner organization in Ghana requires volunteers NOW! IVHQ has a wide range of volunteering opportunities available in orphanage work, teaching, medical, agriculture and sports teaching in the coastal city of Accra and rural villages in the Ghanaian countryside.

LOCATION OF GHANA VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

IVHQ has volunteer placements in the coastal city of Accra, in rural villages close to Accra and in small townships throughout Ghana.

START AND DURATION OF GHANA VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

Volunteers can begin our Ghana placements on the 1st and 15th of each month.

GHANA VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS

Volunteers must be 18 years or older at the beginning of the program and have at least a high school education.

GHANA VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT DESCRIPTIONS

ORPHANAGE WORK

The Ghanaian orphanage program seeks to address the numerous problems that many children without proper education, health care, food, love and attention face as a result of their parents not being there for them. Orphans everywhere need care and volunteers will be placed in either rural or urban environments where they will teach, love and care for these less fortunate children. Volunteers will design and execute effective teaching programs, activities and events to inspire and develop the children’s talent and abilities through human interaction and care. This program will also give volunteers an opportunity to explore and understand the Ghanaian people and their culture. Volunteers can bring along sweets, books, pencils and music instrument to help entertain the kids and assist with activities. These supplies can generally be brought in country if packing is limited (IVHQ actually encourages this as it brings more money into the Ghanaian economy as opposed to buying the goods in our home countries).

IVHQ PLACEMENT: Handi Children Outreach Home
Handi Children Outreach Home is located in the North of Accra and is home to over 50 children. The children admitted range from 3 years to 16 years. Most of them are orphans or street children brought to the home by relatives and friends. Volunteers on this placement will live in a volunteer house close to the orphanage, however if volunteer numbers are high, sometimes local home stay families are also utilised. NB This is only an example placement which is one of many offered by IVHQ in Ghana and not necessarily the one you will be working at.

TEACHING

Although Ghana is an English speaking country, many school children cannot communicate effectively in the English language. This is a common phenomenon in both rural and urban areas of Ghana, hence the need to recruit and place volunteers in communities where there are simply insufficient teachers (or teacher’s who have inadequate English) to cater for the number of children. The project seeks to stimulate the interest in school children to study and speak proper English whilst at the same time offering our foreign volunteers a unique opportunity to learn and experience the Ghanaian culture. Music, math and arts are also incorporated into our program and volunteers are encouraged to bring resources that can assist with the teaching.

Volunteers are effectively placed in rural and urban communities where they will teach solo and assist the few teachers available. Project is based on the syllabus of the Ghana Education Service and this will be made available to all volunteers after their orientation. NB Volunteers DO NOT need to be a qualified or experienced teacher.

IVHQ PLACEMENT: Frankadua EP Primary School
Frankadua EP Primary School located in the relatively small Ghanaian town of Frankadua has over 250 children that attend. Volunteers generally teach between the hours of 7:30am and 2:30pm. Classes vary dependent on volunteer ability and experience but general classes include math, English, science, arts and physical education. In addition to school classes, volunteers can also assist children with their homework and assignment after school and in the evening. NB This is only an example placement which is one of many offered by IVHQ in Ghana and not necessarily the one you will be working at.

SPORTS TEACHING

If you are a lover of sports and enthusiastic to work with kids, but are not confident enough to take on a teaching program, then this is a great program for you. Volunteers will work with young children and sometimes older people base on a volunteers request to develop their interest in a range of sports and increase their skill base. In addition to the obvious physical benefits of physical education, the program helps to give the children mental discipline and heightens alertness and coordination. The program will generally involve physical training, teaching the kids how to work as a team, bringing the best out of the players and also give the children more self confidence.

Football is extremely popular in Ghana (as it is in most African countries) and therefore volunteers are encouraged to introduce different sports to the children (volunteers may need to bring special material and equipment for this as there is a chance it cannot be purchased in Ghana). However, football training can still play a large role in the program and generally football matches will be also arranged between volunteer teams and others from neighbouring villages or towns.

IVHQ PLACEMENT: Timber Nkwanta SDA Primary School
Timber Nkwanta is a small rural community with a small population of mainly farmers. This placement is rural. Volunteers work at Timber Nwanta SDA Primary School where they take sports education classes from 2:30pm until 6:30pm. Volunteers will also arrange games against other schools in the community and region. Most children are in school between 7:30am to 2:30 pm in the afternoon. Therefore during these hours, volunteers will generally take one or two classes at the school to ensure they are busy and fully contributing. NB This is only an example placement which is one of many offered by IVHQ in Ghana and not necessarily the one you will be working at.

MEDICAL

The Ghana medical program is a rural community based program with the aim of helping smaller Ghanaian communities deprived of basic medical access and health care. In the major cities of Ghana such as Accra, medical care is fairly good and accessible relative to other African nations. However, once you leave the major cities, the standards drop considerably and there is a shortage of trained medical professionals to work in the communities and provide even the most basic health cares. Volunteers on the Ghana medical program, will be placed in small rural clinics where they will work closely with the local staff. Some medical placements are also available on our orphanage programs where medical volunteers will visit the various orphanages we work with, providing medical care and guidance to those in need. It is important to note, that facilities and resources on this program are extremely limited and will be a much different working environment to what most medical volunteers have experienced before. NB Volunteers on the Ghana medical program must be a qualified medical professional or have at least two years medical training (such as medical school or nurses college) behind them. Medical qualifications, or a letter and transcript from your college or school need to be provided to staff in Ghana on arrival.

IVHQ PLACEMENT: Frankadua RC Clinic
Located in the Asuogyaman district in the Eastern region of Ghana, Frankadua Roman Catholic clinic serves a population of approximately 6000 people from a variety of small townships and villages. It is a small clinic with poor infrastructure, a lack of medical equipment and very few staff. The clinic has local doctor and one nurse who handle all medical cases. Volunteers will be working closely with the local staff in providing medical care and assistance to this rural community. NB This is only an example placement and one of many offered by IVHQ in Ghana, not necessarily the one you will be working at.

AGRICULTURE

The Ghana Agriculture program is designed for those who enjoy the more physical aspect of volunteering and want to get their “hands dirty”. The main aim of this program is to address the difficulties facing our orphanage programs in terms of food for the children. By assisting the orphanages with developing and expanding agriculture programs, it assists these institutions in providing more sustainable food sources for the children and in some cases an added source of income for the orphanage, whereby the orphanage can sell the goods to local communities. Work consists of both crop farming and animal farming dependent on the season and where you are placed. Volunteers will be clearing land for growing crops, assisting with fertilizing the land, developing land for cropping, planting crops, nurturing crops, teaching farming techniques to the older children and local staff, assisting with purchasing stock, caring for stock, fencing and moving stock. Those with previous agricultural experience, will also be able to assist the orphanage in developing systems to help grow their crops and animals more effectively. Because the Agriculture program is design to help the orphanage homes where we work, volunteers on these project will also be assisting in the day-to-day activities of the orphanages to ensure they have sufficient work throughout the day. Therefore, agriculture volunteers must also be prepared to participate in some orphanage work. NB While previous agricultural experience is not a prerequisite for this program, the more experience you have, the more you will be able to assist with developing the program and teaching techniques to local staff and older children at the orphanages. It is also important to note that resources and machinery are extremely limited and most work is very labour intensive.

GHANA PROGRAM COSTS

One of the strengths of IVHQ is our extremely affordable fees. Click here to see the program cost to volunteer in Ghana and what you receive in exchange for your fees.

ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS

Volunteers are accommodated in a home stay where they will live with a local family. We give that local family money from your fee for support, food and board. It is exciting to stay with a family; that way you will learn the Ghanaian way of life, meet local people, eat local food, speak the local language and engage in local customs and traditions. Living is comfortable and all home stays and volunteer houses have electricity and running water. Volunteers can expect to share a room with one or two other volunteers but in some home stays volunteers get their own rooms. On some placements, volunteers are located in volunteer houses on site at the project, where a house manager cares for them and a cook prepares meals for them. Ghanaian food is tasty, diverse and volunteers can expect to experience a myriad of flavours and meals during their home stay experience. If volunteers wish to eat out, there are a large numbers of restaurants and diners to suit all tastes and budgets. If you have special eating needs, please let us know ahead of time so that we can make arrangements for you. However, we need to stress the point that you should not expect to eat as you normally do at home. We will do our best to see that you are well taken care of, but also as a volunteer, there is a need to be flexible.

ORIENTATION

Orientation will begin on the 1st and 15th (dates) of each month and last for approximately half a day. Orientation will be conducted by staff in Accra and cover everything you need to know for your volunteering placement in Ghana – Introduction to Ghana, Ghanaian Customs, Rules and Expectations, Safety, Basic Twi lesson, Travel Opportunities in Ghana and introduction to your project and placement. The orientation will also give you a chance to meet other volunteers and swap contact details for weekend travel and socializing. Once orientation is complete, volunteers will be transported to their home stay and introduced to all relevant parties – home stay family members and program placement staff.

VOLUNTEER WEEK

First Day: On the first day of the volunteering placement, the volunteers will be escorted to the project and introduced to the staff at the project you will be working with.
Weekdays: While our programs are flexible and can be fitted to your requirements, an example of a typical day is as follows.
7.30AM Breakfast with the host family.
8.00AM Volunteer leaves home and travels to the project; The volunteer joins with the local staff. You will be given a duty roster and a plan for your work. There is usually a tea break and a lunch break. Work and hours is dependent on the project and location that the volunteer is participating in.
2.00PM-5.00PM Work at the project usually ends. The volunteer at this point is free to visit and see places or do shopping. Usually we will have a guide to take you around. You may also want to hang out with the kids up to around 6.00PM.
8.30PM Dinner with the host family.
Weekends: During the weekend, volunteers have spare time and usually just relax or take the opportunity to explore other parts of their local town and Ghana. Long weekends can be taken to travel further afield such as Cape Coast or other Western African countries. If volunteers wish to volunteer over the weekends they can join local teams and visit other orphanages (or other children helping organizations) to spend time simply playing with and entertaining the children.

GHANA INFORMATION

Capital City Accra
Population 23,000,000
Languages English
Currency Ghanaian cedi
Timezone GMT (UTC0)
Climate The climate is tropical. The eastern coastal belt is warm and comparatively dry

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