Volunteering Solutions

Volunteering Solutions-Ghana is an international Volunteering organization dedicated to promoting the most affordable and exciting volunteer programs abroad for the betterment of local communities in need. It’s unique and innovative ways of working make it a highly competitive and popular volunteer placement organization in the world, providing a truly satisfying and fulfilling experience for all. It was established to provide volunteering work program that will impact lives of deprived communities.

 

Volunteering Solutions provides affordable International Volunteer Abroad Programs in 16 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin/South America. Since 2006 Volunteering Solutions has provided great volunteering experience to over 2500 volunteers from around the world. With a vast variety of volunteer, you will always find a program that matches your needs. You can choose from the following programs - Volunteer Abroad, Summer Volunteer Abroad 2010, Group Volunteering Abroad.

Our volunteers work in orphanage, teaching, medical, construction, day care centers, wildlife and street children programs around the world from 1 week to 24 weeks in duration. We are commited to provide you affordable and truly amazing volunteer abroad experience. Come join our meaningful international volunteer abroad programs and change the way you see the world !

 

 

Being a Volunteer in Tamale, Northern Ghana

 

Tamale is the main town in Northern Ghana and one of the fastest growing in Africa. It is full of life and vitality. That is why we promise volunteers a memorable experience. As English is the common language in Ghana and most people can speak a little, you should be able to participate in everyday life fairly easily. However, the Tamalaians appreciate you learning a little of their language, Dagbani, and so we have included a page of useful words and phrases which will be given to volunteers on arrival in Tamale. There is also their unique handshake to master!

 

When you arrive in Tamale we’ll give you a tour of the town to make sure you know where everything is. And of course we’re always on hand to help and advice at any point during your stay. 

 Choosing your Program – our volunteering opportunities
We are confident that one of our programs will be just what volunteers will be looking for. 

(I) Maltiti First Steps for Girls (www.maltiti.org)

The Maltiti Maltiti First Steps for Girls for Girls provides a FREE first step into formal learning for young girls living in rural villages. The aim of the program is to assist the girls, aged 7 – 16 into either state education or employment. We provide the girls with opportunities they would not otherwise have, empowering them to make choices about their own future.

Our education program teaches between 40 – 50 younger students basic skills in English, Maths, Social Studies and Religious & Moral Education, and prepares them for entry into the state school sector. Our vocational program teaches 10 older students basic sewing techniques and prepares them for placement in a sewing shop.

Volunteers on this program will enjoy a rewarding experience by assisting our teachers to deliver lessons. Working mainly with smaller groups of children you’ll be helping them with their reading, writing and numeracy skills. There may well be occasions when you’ll be asked to teach one of the classes yourself but you’ll be fully supported if this happens. 

The MDCG is popular with volunteers because it allows them to be entirely creative in their teaching style and use of materials, and actively encourages new ideas for improvement and development. If you come on this programme you’ll undoubtedly fall in love with the girls and return to help us again and again.

 

(ii) Teaching Assistant (http://www.ghanaglobalvillage.com/)  

This programme offers the chance to teach in deprived village schools called Jantong wulanyilli village. It is an ideal way for practicing teachers from other countries to have the experience of teaching in a Ghanaian school. 

 

But this is not just a one way benefit. The knowledge, skills and ideas that teachers from other cultures can bring to a Ghanaian school is invaluable to both teaching colleagues and students alike.

 

You could well find yourself teaching groups of children in an ‘open-air classroom’ where there are no chalkboards and the children have no books or pencils. The need for improvisation & creativity in teaching methods is paramount and can challenge the most experienced teacher, but the rewards are amazing.

If you choose to volunteer at MDCG or as a teaching Assistant and would like to bring such educational equipment as pens, pencils, books and other learning and teaching materials with you, these would be most welcome.

(iii) Guinea Worm Education and Treatment

Guinea worm infection is one of the greatest threats to people living in rural communities. The guinea worm is a bacterium found in dams providing water to the villages and it can infest anyone who drinks it. Currently, Ghana is ranked second after war thorn Sudan by the WHO in terms if guinea worm infection. The guinea worm takes a long time to emerge from the surface of the body and when doing so it unleashes untold pain and suffering on its victims, who can be afflicted for months at a time and sometimes years. The effects can be to retard growth and drastically reduce the quality of life.

 

Volunteers who work on this program will be trained by Government health experts and shown how to treat and educate people in 15 of the worst suffering villages. You will visit twice a week and liaise closely with the village volunteers in the delivery of this support.

This is a program to suit those volunteers who are interested in health issues and being ‘hands on’ in the delivery of treatment. Possibly not for the faint hearted! Training is essential before you can become fully involved and you’ll be supervised closely by the Program Co-coordinator. You’re also encouraged to look for signs of other illness amongst the villagers, bringing these to the attention of the Program Co-coordinator. 

 

 

(iv) Zhesung Rural Water Program

We all know that water is essential to human existence but not everyone has access to fresh, unlimited supplies. In Ghana it is mainly the poor and vulnerable who do not have access to clean water, the very people who can least cope with the health risks associated with drinking and washing in dirty, infected water. 

 

To help overcome this problem we work with other local organizations to help provide water supplies to approximately 15 villages. Working as part of a team you’ll be involved in various activities that are both educational and practical.

 

Part of your role will be to educate the villagers on the need for fresh water, on the health risks involved with using dirty water in their daily lives, and encouraging them to change their practices accordingly.

 

But education is only of value if fresh water supplies are available and so other activities include digging wells or bore holes in the villages, and distributing water filters where these can be used.

 

This is a program for those who like to be more physically challenged and capable of doing heavy work. But the interaction with the villagers and seeing their delight at getting their own fresh water supply more than compensates for those aching muscles.

 

 

(v) School Building and Renovation Program

Several factors contribute to the low level of school attendance in those villages where schools are available. These include poor, badly constructed school buildings, a lack of educational materials and teaching staff, the low value placed on education by parents who would prefer their children to be working in the fields, and the lack of such basic amenities as electricity.

 
As a volunteer on this program you will help with the physical work of renovating broken down school structures, building schools where none exist, and helping to facilitate the provision of electricity.

 

In addition you will visit villages to help educate parents on how important education is to society in general and to their children in particular. Working with the Chief and the Elders you’ll help persuade parents that attending school is a way of ensuring a better future for their children and one that could well benefit them in the long run.

 

http://www.volunteeringsolutions.com/ghana/