Feature: Volunteering opportunities in Ghana
Volunteering is an excellent way to give something back to the communities and countries you visit on a gap year or career break. As such, we’re bringing you our guide to top destinations for you to do just that, providing background, travel tips, and help to get you on your way. This week: Ghana!
First things first...
This small country in West Africa is one of the most popular countries on the continent for volunteering and travelling. With welcoming people, a hot climate, unbelievably stunning beaches, and beautiful varied landscapes, this democratic nation is safe as well as fascinating. While democratically stable, understand that this land of wild savannah and dense rainforests is still very poor. Water and electricity are unstable, and many children don’t go to school because they work with their parents to pay bills. All of this makes Ghana a perfect introduction to this great continent, while also giving you the chance to help out people in a safe and affordable environment. So read on for a range of volunteering opportunities!
Teaching English
Although a small percentage of the Ghanaian population are rich, most are not. And unfortunately, schools are understaffed, so the quality of English teaching is poor in public schools, and many children grow up listening to tribal dialects. But with many youngsters wanting to learn English (it is after all, the international language of commerce) volunteering here could be the most rewarding thing you ever do!
Many non-profit organisations offer teaching projects, and IFRE Volutneers Abroad are a good choice to get started. For anything between two to twelve weeks, you’ll assist local teachers and come up with fun ideas to teach English. Staying in a compound ‘base’ an hour’s drive from the country’s capital Accra, you can either cycle or get a bus to your school every day. IFRE provide three meals a day, so expect local delicacies like Fufu (a paste of root vegetables) and Red Red, a delicious black eyed bean and tomato dish. No teaching requirements are need, and if you’re skilled in them, you can teach maths, science, and sport too!
Orphanage work
Extreme poverty and the ever present challenge of AIDS sadly leaves many children orphaned in Ghana. Nothing is more rewarding and heart breaking than caring for children in an orphanage. Volunteer in Africa provide very affordable programmes in the many institutions across the country, throwing in accommodation, food, and 24 hour support. Your caring work will include cooking for the children, teaching English and other subjects, bathing them, and showing them lots of love! For the first week you’ll assist a teacher, but by the start of the second, if you’re ready, you can start working independently. Four weeks cost £420 with additional weeks costing £50 each.
HIV awareness
Sadly, HIV and AIDS is a growing problem in Ghana, but fortunately the government are addressing the issue. While some organisations provide counselling and medical testing, another equally worthwhile alternative is to help raise awareness of the problem. BUNAC Working Adventures Worldwide offer two to six month placements where you’ll conduct seminars in villages, and produce your own educational material to give to locals. Good communication skills are a must and one of the highlights of the BUNAC programme is ‘local approach’ mentality, where you’ll be living with families in your project destination.
Farming
To help make rural communities more self-sustainable, farming is brilliant. Projects Abroad are one of the leading voluntary organisations in the world, constantly using volunteer fees to fund much needed new projects. One of their newest ongoing ventures is a Community Farming Project in the Akuapem Hills, one of the most rural regions in the country. The views of rolling jungle hillsides and misty mornings are stunning! Help care for livestock, cultivate herbs, produce flowers, and grow plantains, oranges, carrots, yams, and onions. Help create a fish pond while feeding rabbits, geese, and guinea pigs. You’ll then be responsible for showing children from local schools around the farm, teaching them how to plant seeds and identify herbs.
Ghana is a fantastic destination, with all manner of volunteering opportunities available, ranging from journalism, community building and conservation to human rights education and veterinary work - you’re spoilt for choice. Just remember, any amount of help makes a difference!
