Africa Calling

amazing Ghana experiences

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    • Ghana Community Help Program

    Building construction volunteer (Ghana)

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    The program
    Help construct a school or a library etc. for rural and semi-rural communities. An ideal project for short term volunteers, no skills are required and you are able to make a significant contribution even you are only staying one week.

    volunteer ghana construction program africacalling Volunteers should bring gloves, flashlight, and light weight scarf for sun protection or hat, insect repellent, working boots and water bottle. Please note, this project has an additional fee of US$40 per week for construction and renovation materials that are used during the project. This project focuses on the construction and renovation of orphanages, clinics, community centers, toilet facilities, libraries and building of classrooms (schools), roads and drainage system and digging of wells. Volunteers also have the opportunity to meet chiefs and community elders, and learn about the various cultures of the different communities through drumming, music and dance. Volunteers work closely with the local people and VIGS Ghana staff on tasks which include painting, brick laying, plastering, digging, block shaping, carpentry, steel bending, mortar mixing, etc. If you’re a keen outdoors person with a good level of fitness, this will be a perfect project for you. The Construction and Renovation project offers volunteers the special opportunity to work alongside local people to help improve the infrastructure in small, rural communities.

    Program highlights:

    1. Experience working independently or as part of a team in a multicultural environment.
    2. Spend 2-4 weeks or more in rural Ghana and immerse in the local culture.

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    The communities
    This program is currently available only in Senya Beraku, Central Region of Ghana.    Back to top


    Volunteers’ accommodation
    Volunteers live in the dedicated Volunteer House. Each bedroom in the house can contain three separate beds; three volunteers. The resident cook shall provide delicious meals – no matter your personal diet restrictions. Volunteers coming as a pair or couple will not be placed with other volunteers in the same bedroom. We recommend that you bring along a mosquito net and a spare bed sheet. Many homes have a shower and flush toilet. In others you would have to manage with a bucket of water and a pit toilet – more likely in smaller towns and villages. Laundry is usually done with a couple of buckets.    Back to top


    Volunteers’ meals
    Breakfast: 6.30 – 7.00 am
    Lunch: 12.30 – 1.00 pm
    Dinner: 6.00 – 7.00 pm
    Volunteers will be fed a variety of food including indigenous African dishes such as yam, plantain, fufu, banku, jollof and red-red or gobé, as well as ‘foreign’ meals such as rice and pasta. Volunteers with special dietary stipulations such as vegetarianism or lactose intolerance can easily be catered for. Volunteers have to budget for their own drinking water. Bottled (as well as filtered, bagged) water is available for purchase in many parts of the village. A 1.5 liter bottle costs about US$0.85 whilst a pack of bagged filtered water (popularly known as ‘pure water’) costs about US$1.00. One pack of bagged filtered water contains twenty-five 0.5 liter pieces of ‘pure water’ sachets or bags. An alternative to buying bottled or ‘pure water’ would be to treat the tap-water with water purification tablets. Water purification tablets are not readily available in Ghana so you would have to bring some along if you intend to treat your own drinking water.  Back to top


    Entertainment and sight-seeing
    Weekends (Friday afternoon till Sunday evening) are free days. Volunteers at the children’s home usually would organize entertainment and sight-seeing trips as a group to interesting places far and near.  Back to top


    Program fees

    Duration Program fee (US$)
    One week 490
    Two weeks 590
    Three weeks 690
    Four weeks 790
    Six weeks 990


    Volunteers’ safety
    Your safety is of paramount importance to VIGS GHANA. As such we give you all the relevant safety tips, plus we place you only in places where good medical services are within easy reach. In addition, we’ll give you a smart phone – so you can call or text or email or Whatsapp the in-country supervisors whenever the need arises. Our in-country support staff are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   Back to top


    Minimum qualification required
    Applicants for this program must be able to communicate in simple English since English is the official language of communication in Ghana.    Back to top


    Rough estimate of total cost involved

    • Flight to and from Ghana: US$600-1250 (Round-trip)
    • Ghana visa: US$80-170
    • Vaccinations: US$150-250
    • Travel Insurance: US$70-320
    • Miscellaneous personal items: US$300-900
    • Personal Spending money whilst in Ghana: US$200 upwards
    • Program fee: starts from US$490

    So, a rough estimate of the total cost for a two-week program duration would be about US$1,870 – 3,560. Check the equivalent in your currency.    Back to top


    Next steps — after you have been accepted and given your Placement information
    After you have been admitted to participate in the program, you would now have to execute the following:


    Other relevant facts about the program

    • Minimum volunteering/internship duration: 1 week.
    • Maximum duration: 6 months.
    • Age range accepted: 18 – 75 years.
    • We will send you a document on how to fund-raise for your trip – after you’ve confirmed your participation.
    • We will meet you at the Airport in Accra (ACC) on your arrival day.
    • The average work day is 3-8 hours for this program.
    • Saturdays and Sundays are free days.
    • You can contact VIGS GHANA local staff on cell phones all the time — 24 hours a day — seven days a week.
    • We can give you a Testimonial on successful completion of your volunteer or internship work.
    • You can pay the program fee through any of the following methods:
    1. By PayPal-Xoom, credit/debit card or bank wire.
    2. Cash installments (or full payment) upon arrival into Ghana.

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    Apply to volunteer in Ghanaian orphanage

    Apply to volunteer or intern in a Ghanaian orphanage. Use the form below. Responses are usually very fast. You may be interested in what past participants have said about us.

      Your Name*

      Your first-choice program*

      Your second-choice program

      Your Email*

      Your Cell Phone Number*

      Your Age*

      Your Gender*

      MaleFemale

      Your Nationality*

      Intended Start Date*

      Intended Duration*

      Any Diet Restrictions?

      Emergency Contact Name*

      Emergency Contact Phone*

      Optional remarks


      How to fund-raise to volunteer

      Apply to volunteer in construction / community program

      Apply to volunteer in an Africa Calling construction or community program. Use the form below. Responses are usually very fast. You may be interested in what past participants have said about us.

        Your Name*

        Your first-choice program*

        Your second-choice program

        Your Email*

        Your Cell Phone Number*

        Your Age*

        Your Gender*

        MaleFemale

        Your Nationality*

        Intended Start Date*

        Intended Duration*

        Any Diet Restrictions?

        Emergency Contact Name*

        Emergency Contact Phone*

        Optional remarks


        How to fund-raise to volunteer

        Volunteer in Community Health Program (Africa)

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        The program
        The focus of the project is to propagate positive health practices in households and communities and to push for changes in cultural norms that would sustain and embed these good practices in the villages and towns within our scope of operation. With the main goal of the project being the improvement of health status of inhabitants of the target communities, the project will use Community Mobilization, Community Based Distribution, Capacity Building and Monitoring and Evaluation to achieve its target.

        Key responsibilities:

        1. Assist community health nurses at the local health center.
        2. Assist local volunteer and community to develop a community action plan when absent and facilitate its implementation.
        3. Organize community meetings and educate the gathering on a health topic.
        4. Home visits to educate household on a selected health topic or topics.
        5. Identify social groups in the community, attend their meetings and educate them on selected topics.
        6. Fill data collection forms with local volunteer and submit to field facilitator.
        7. Facilitate community health outreach programs
        8. Assist in organizing health training programs for focus groups in the community.
        9. Partner the local volunteer to organize focus group discussions on a health topic.
        10. Refer health cases to health center.

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        The communities
        Participating communities are in Bawjiasi in the Central region, Kitase in the Eastern Region and Prampram and Dowenya (aka Dawhenya) in the Greater-Accra Region.    Back to top


        Volunteers’ accommodation
        Volunteers live in the dedicated Volunteer House. Each bedroom in the house can contain three separate beds; three volunteers. The resident cook shall provide delicious meals – no matter your personal diet restrictions. Volunteers coming as a pair or couple will not be placed with other volunteers in the same bedroom. We recommend that you bring along a mosquito net and a spare bed sheet. Many homes have a shower and flush toilet. In others you would have to manage with a bucket of water and a pit toilet – more likely in smaller towns and villages. Laundry is usually done with a couple of buckets.    Back to top


        Volunteers’ meals
        Breakfast: 6.30 – 7.00 am
        Lunch: 12.30 – 1.00 pm
        Dinner: 6.00 – 7.00 pm
        Volunteers will be fed a variety of food including indigenous African dishes such as yam, plantain, fufu, banku and red-red, as well as ‘foreign’ meals such as rice and pasta. Volunteers with special dietary stipulations such as vegetarianism or lactose intolerance can easily be catered for. Volunteers have to budget for their own drinking water. Bottled (as well as filtered, bagged) water is available for purchase in many parts of the village. A 1.5 liter bottle costs about US$0.85 whilst a pack of bagged filtered water (popularly known as ‘pure water’) costs about US$0.90. One pack of bagged filtered water contains twenty-five 0.5 liter pieces of ‘pure water’ sachets or bags. An alternative to buying bottled or ‘pure water’ would be to treat the tap-water with water purification tablets. Water purification tablets are not readily available in Ghana so you would have to bring some along if you intend to treat your own drinking water.  Back to top


        Entertainment and sight-seeing
        Weekends (Friday afternoon till Sunday evening) are free days. Volunteers at the children’s home usually would organize entertainment and sight-seeing trips as a group to interesting places far and near.  Back to top


        Volunteers’ safety
        Your safety is of paramount importance to VIGS GHANA. As such we give you all the relevant safety tips, plus we place you only in places where good medical services are within easy reach. In addition, we’ll give you a smart phone – so you can call or text or email or Whatsapp the in-country supervisors whenever the need arises. Our in-country support staff are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   Back to top


        Minimum qualification required
        Applicants for this program must be able to communicate in simple English since English is the official language of communication in Ghana.    Back to top


        Rough estimate of total cost involved

        • Flight to and from Ghana: US$600-1250 (Round-trip)
        • Ghana visa: US$80-170
        • Vaccinations: US$150-250
        • Travel Insurance: US$70-320
        • Miscellaneous personal items: US$300-900
        • Personal Spending money whilst in Ghana: US$200 upwards
        • VIGS GHANA Program fee: starts from US$450

        So, a rough estimate of the total cost for a two-week program duration would be about US$1,870 – 3,560. Check the equivalent in your currency.    Back to top


        Next steps — after you have been accepted and given your Placement information
        After you have been admitted to participate in the program, you would now have to execute the following:


        Other relevant facts about the program

        • Minimum volunteering/internship duration: 1 week.
        • Maximum duration: 6 months.
        • Age range accepted: 18 – 75 years.
        • We will send you a document on how to fund-raise for your trip – after you’ve confirmed your participation.
        • We will meet you at the Airport in Accra (ACC) on your arrival day.
        • The average work day is 3-8 hours for this program.
        • Saturdays and Sundays are free days.
        • You can contact VIGS GHANA local staff on cell phones all the time — 24 hours a day — seven days a week.
        • We can give you a Testimonial on successful completion of your volunteer or internship work.
        • You can pay the program fee through any of the following methods:
        1. By PayPal or credit/debit card.
        2. Cash installments (or full payment) upon arrival into Ghana.

        Back to top

        APPLY NOW

        African Orphanage Volunteer Program

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        ghana orphanage volunteer sarah vigs ghana africa sarah from uk

        The program
        The orphanage volunteer would be helping to:

        • Maintain children in the orphanage by giving them the necessary care and attention as their mothers would have given them. This is achieved by feeding, bathing and ensuring general cleanliness of the children.
        • Supervise day to day activities of the children in the orphanage i.e. sweeping, bathing, fetching of water
        • Keep the girl and boys dormitories clean, plan extra-curricular activities, physical education, music and culture, indoor and outdoor games, morning and evening studies, organize excursions and so on.
        • Organize children for extra classes after school.
        • Organize them cultural activities such as singing, dancing, drumming etc.
        • Teach the children any subject of your choice at the in-house school.
        • Teach handicrafts, art, music, play with the children
        • Help with the income-generating activities of the home: mushroom, vegetable, fruit, cereal and livestock farming.
        • Any other activities related to children.

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        The orphanage home
        The VIGS GHANA orphanage is located in a lovely little town called Bawjiasi; in the Central region of Ghana — within just 50 km of the capital city Accra.   Back to top

         


        Volunteers’ accommodation

        You will be staying at the orphanage’s ‘Volunteer House’: All volunteers stay in a self contained house, which is about a 10 minute’s walk from the orphanage. The house has four bedrooms which can accommodate up to 12 volunteers maximum. Inside the volunteer House’s kitchen, Isaac, the greatest cook in Ghana prepares all kinds of sumptuous foods; and the volunteers eat in a common area. There is electricity but no running water. The water is brought by volunteers – from a water reservoir within the compound of the house. The rooms are equipped with beds, fans and mosquito nets.  Back to top


        The meals
        8.00am – Breakfast;
        12.00pm – Lunch;
        6.30pm – Dinner.

        Volunteers will be fed a variety of food including local dishes such as fufu, banku, kenkey and red-red, as well as ‘foreign’ meals such as rice and pasta. Vegetarians and vegans, as well as people with any other diet restrictions (e.g. gluten / lactose intolerance etc.) can easily be catered for. Volunteers have to budget for their own drinking water. Bottled (as well as filtered, bagged) water is available for purchase in many parts of the village. A 1.5 liter bottle costs about US$0.85 whilst a pack of bagged filtered water (popularly known as ‘pure water’) costs about US$0.90. One pack of bagged filtered water contains twenty-five 0.5 liter pieces of ‘pure water’ sachets or bags. An alternative to buying bottled or ‘pure water’ would be to treat the tap-water with water purification tablets. Water purification tablets are not readily available in Ghana so you would have to bring some along if you intend to treat your own drinking water.  Back to top


        Entertainment and sight-seeing
        Weekends (Friday afternoon till Sunday evening) are free days. Volunteers at the children’s home usually would organize entertainment and sight-seeing trips as a group to interesting places near and far.  Back to top


        Volunteers’ safety
        Your safety is of paramount importance to VIGS GHANA. As such we give you all the relevant safety tips, plus we place you only in places where good medical services are within easy reach. In addition, we’ll give you a smart phone – so you can call or text or email or Whatsapp the in-country supervisors whenever the need arises. Our in-country support staff are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   Back to top


        Minimum qualification required
        Applicants for this program must be able to communicate in simple English since English is the official language of communication in Ghana.    Back to top


        Rough estimate of total cost involved

        • Flight to and from Ghana: US$600-1250 (Round-trip)
        • Ghana visa: US$80-170
        • Vaccinations: US$150-250
        • Travel Insurance: US$70-320
        • Miscellaneous personal items: US$300-900
        • Personal Spending money whilst in Ghana: US$200 upwards
        • VIGS GHANA Program fee: starts from US$450

        So, a rough estimate of the total cost for a two-week program duration would be about US$1,870 – 3,560. Check the equivalent in your currency.   Back to top


        Next steps — after you have been accepted and given your Placement information
        After you have been admitted to participate in the program, you would now have to execute the following:


        Other relevant facts about the program

        • Minimum volunteering time: four (4) hours.
        • Maximum duration: 6 months.
        • Age range accepted: 18 – 75 years.
        • We will send you a document on how to fund-raise for your trip – after you’ve confirmed your participation.
        • We will meet you at the Airport in Accra (ACC) on your arrival day.
        • The average work day is 3-8 hours for this program.
        • Saturdays and Sundays are free days.
        • You can contact VIGS GHANA local staff on cell phones all the time — 24 hours a day — seven days a week.
        • We can give you a Testimonial on successful completion of your volunteer or internship work.
        • You can pay the program fee through any of the following methods:
        1. PayPal or debit/credit card.
        2. Cash installments (or full payment) upon arrival into Ghana.

        Back to top

        APPLY NOW