Projects Abroad Volunteer Programs in Ghana

This was my second project with Projects Abroad. They take care of everything for you; arranging the airfare from your home city, picking you up at the airport with a friendly staff member clearly marked from Projects Abroad, and they bring you to safe and welcoming host family. The first full day that you’re in your placement you are brought to store to buy a cell phone and add minutes to it so that you can contact the staff at any time day or night if you need to.

I felt very safe on this trip. You are also taken to the offices and brought to the place where you will be working on the mode of transportation (“tro-tros”) and are instructed how to get there by having a staff member do it all with you.

I had never traveled abroad by myself before so these trips were very empowering, not only in the work I did but the independence and confidence I gained in myself.

In Accra, Ghana working in the school was just heart touching; teaching underprivileged children (who quite literally come off the streets) English and math skills who hardly could communicate with you was very rewarding and eye opening when they learn something from you in that short time you have with them. The teachers at the school were very helpful and grateful for the volunteers to spend one on one time with the kids. I gained lasting friendships with volunteers that I still communicate with them often and I can’t wait to volunteer again.

The hospital I volunteered in gave me many opportunities to work and gain some medical experience. At first, I was timid and didn't put myself out there to doctors and nurses, causing me to not have much work to do. Then, I realized that if I just asked questions, offered to help, and kept busy, the hospital staff was happy to help and teach me. I learned how and was allowed to draw blood, test for sickle cell disease, take blood pressure, change surgical bandages, set up operation theaters, observe surgeries, and even scrub in/assist on a surgery! I gained so much knowledge about medicine and became excited about becoming a doctor again! At outreach, I helped bandage injured children and educate them about Malaria and hygiene so that they could lead healthier lives. Throughout the rest of my trip, I made many new friends, both local and from many parts of the world. I was immersed in a rich culture of music, family, religion, food, and friendliness that is unparalleled in the US. Projects Abroad provided me with support from the moment I first contacted them about joining the program until the time I arrived back home. They ensured that all of my documents were in order, travel arranged, and stay organized/fun/educational! I would recommend this program to ANYONE seeking a stress-free medical internship, cultural experience, or a combination of the two!

I worked in a school for 2 months and I built a school for the other 2 months. I suffered from homesickness which the team at Projects Abroad helped me with, I was in the Hills in Ghana and every Wednesday was Quiz night - It was a sociable and exciting event which helped take my mind off missing home and really immersing myself into the Ghanaian culture. I would recommend this to everyone!

Projects Abroad, a very good example of subtle development work!

The offered projects seem to have a big impact to the local communities (which building schools, teaching and working at an orphanage has indeed), so you can satisfy your ego ("I did something very good in my free time!") and have a lot of fun as well.

The probably most important point in travelling abroad with Projects Abroad is that they didn't bring a lot of Europeans, Americans and whatever else to Ghana to organize everything but employed Ghanaians and gave them a job. Very good!

The Trip itself:
I think if someone is unsure about travelling trough Africa, the best thing to do is travelling with Projects Abroad! The organization was perfect. They picked me up, brought me to my hostfamily, were avaiable 24/7 (believe me, if you are in trouble you will love Projects Abroad...) and managed everything else in a very professional way.

My host family was very kind (apart from my macho-behaving hostfather). To be honest, after reading a few reviews I have to say that Africa - not even Ghana or South Africa - can be compared with any "western" country. You have to accept, that you probably won't have running water, electricity and wifi or even internet. You are not travelling to a developed country!

My project:
The farming project didn't seem to be really well organised but maybe I was in Ghana at a bad point of time. Our supervisor usually came late and I never got to know who will get the harvest. The work itself was hard, but I liked to do something "usefull" after 13 years of school.

To sum it up I can recommend Projects Abroad for young people who don't want to travel to Africa all alone.

My time in Ghana was and still is a total disaster. This project is too expensive for the service they gave to the volunteers.

I was brought to my host family and left: nobody was explaining to me, which things (which kind of food, drinking stuff toilet paper, soap and things for cleaning…) you will get and which you have to buy by yourself; where and in which occasions you have to ask for this stuff; where you can get washing water etc. It was the same at my first day in the office I was just parked there: “Wait till the head of the office comes to pick you up” – That was 6 hours later and nobody was taking notice of me till that time. And after the short induction I had all the time problems in the office: nobody gave me work, I had to run around and search for it; nobody asked if I need help; nobody had explained how the computer systems were working, where I can get food, where do I have to go to take the firm car etc.

Some of the descriptions of the projects here in Accra are too much gloss-over. The same goes for the host families, too. Nowhere is written, that you regularly don’t have power for 10-12 hours; our longest blackout was 35 hours and the intervals between the blackouts shortened from once a week to every second day! Then you have problem with the washing water in a few host families: sometimes you will never have running water in the washbasin and the toilet, not at all a shower. You have to wash with water from a tank and a small bucket. But there is a big difference in host families and you can’t decide in which family you will go. Here the two extreme examples: in one host family they have great rooms, running water, electricity nearly all the time, Wifi and a cleaning lady. But the house is far away, you need a lot of time to go to work. In another host family you have to bag for everything – toilet paper, drinking water, jam, peanut butter etc. every time you run out. Nobody will ask if you have enough or bring it by him-/herself. One time the volunteers had no water for 3 days in that host family because they did not want to pay more for a man who brings the water earlier, so that the volunteers bought small water bags at the market to flush the toilet and to wash. Sometimes there is running water for a few hours on Saturdays but not longer – then the volunteers can fill up the tank themselves. So in the end there are very different conditions in the different host families. And what they don’t tell you: you have to pay by yourself to go to work if you are too far away to walk to your placement. I think If volunteers pay such a fucking high amount of money to go work for free (!) somewhere, they must be treated like kings and queens, provided all with the same standard: good balanced food and different beverages, constant running water and electricity, reasonable rooms and the transport to the work placement!!!

And if you have problems the first thing they told you: you must be patient and understanding. It is a different culture here. Things need time and you have to adjust to live here. So please be patient and try to solve the problems by yourself. The Projects Abroad staff will help you, if you feel sick or if you are in big arguments at placement or in the host family but not if you feel unhappy or something like that. Then you have to be quite and calm and patient and try to solve the problems yourself. Only if you bother them every day with emails and messages there will be a reaction and a try to assist. But most of the time it seems to be half-hearted.

TO SUM UP: If you want to gain some overexpensive experiences in a foreign country without so much trouble in organizing and little working hours a week then Project Abroad is the right decision. If you want to gain experiences for your curriculum vitae and you a searching for a serious internship with a lot of work and appropriate results as well as a western-country standard accommodation for the lots of money you spend for the project you should try to organize the trip by yourself or search for a higher qualified volunteering/internship organization.

Volunteering in Ghana is the best i've ever done.
I worked at a small Children's home for 4 months, where I took care of the small kids (0-4 years) and disabled kids. Sure, sometimes it was hard knowing how the kids future might look like, but when you start getting to know the kids, you realize it's all worth it, and that you are giving the kids a lot that actually can help them as they grow up. The kids love you, and all they want from you is kisses, hugs and love. And what ever you gave the kids, you would get back x 10.
In my sparetime i hung out with the other volunteers at either wednesday meeting, where we had quiz nights, cooking lessons, played football/volleyball agains local schools or children's homes etc., and in the weekend the entire group often travelled around Ghana together - learning the people, language and culture.

What was important for me, was the people around me. My first week was hard due to the cultural shok, but the other volunteers and especially the local staff helped a lot. The staff really cares about you - if you fell homesick, you're always welcome with the staff, if you fell sick, they'll bring you to the doctor, and so on. They are there for you all the way, no matter what it is.

I would definitely travel with Projects abroad again.

I went to Ghana for a month last July, and was only 17. I was a bit worry because of my age, however it was the best experience I never have, and I will never forget it. I worked in an orphanage in Accra. At the beginning, I was just playing with the little kids (4 to 6 years old), with the things I brought (color books, bubbles, ...). But I then decided to get more involved. First, I gave french lessons to older kids (16 to 18 years old) : they were my age and some of them were even older than me so that was quite disturbing, I didn't want them to think that I felt superior or anything, I just wanted to learn to know them, and to learn them about the french language and the french culture. It went perfectly well, and I'm happy I have learn them some french words, sentences and songs ! I also bring, with 4 other volunteers, 5 of the little kids to the beach. This was amazing : we went to the beach for an afternoon, just the kids and the volunteers, no member of the orphanage staff (which shows that they trust us totally). The kids almost never go there so they were really excited and had a lot of fun, and we brought them some cookies for the break so they were really really happy, which made us even happier.
This trip had such an impact on me that I want to continue to help these kids as I can : I am doing presentations to students in my school, and i'm trying to raise money with cake sales for example. Then, I want to go back next summer to bring them the money I raised, some clothes, some games, and most of all to see the kids again. I miss them so much, I'm still dreaming of them sometimes.... They brought me so much more than I brought them.
Projects Abroad was really great : they took care of us from the first day I registered to the day I left. They try to organize events so the volunteers get to know each others, with Pizza parties, Football cups, shows, etc.

I spent two weeks in Accra, Ghana during the month of April. It was the first time I was traveling to Africa and I was nervous because I had no idea what it was going to be like. Projects Abroad helped me a lot before my trip, sending me e-mails with tips of things I should take with me, and answering all my questions, even the silly ones.

I got there on a Saturday night, around eleven and my first surprise was the warm weather! I knew it was going to be hot, but not that hot. It felt amazing! One of my favorite things out of that trip was the amazing weather. A driver picked me up and took me to my house. He was very nice and talked the whole way about things I should see, places I should visit and former volunteers. I was so excited! When I got to my house, I met the other volunteers who were all girls around my age. Along the trip, we became friends and I had so much fun with them!

During my first week, I worked at a school. It was a school for the neighborhood children, who had no money to go to the public schools that all the other children go to. I asked the other volunteer who worked with me at the school if it was expensive and she said it was around 15 dollars per year. 15 dollars per year!

The teaching I had to do was very simple, basic math and basic english. I loved doing it, and the kids were so sweet, they made it all worth it! on my last day at the school they had a dancing competition and it was so much fun watching them dance. I also met this girl, Abigail, who I fell in love with. I still think about her everyday, and wish more than anything I could bring her to live with me. I gave the kids all my stuffed animals, and they were so happy! It felt nice to give them what was once was so special to me, and see that priceless look on their faces. I worked for around three hours everyday, usually starting at 9 and ending at noon. Tuesday and Thursday I had the option of staying for long and helping with various activities the school offered after classes.

The second week I worked at an orphanage. I could choose how many hours I worked each day, and I usually stayed around 5-6 hours each day.It was sad to see all those kids without parents, without families, and it was hard to imagine how they felt. Amazingly enough though, they were always smiling, always laughing. That good energy that they had changed me, made me realized how petty our society is, how we are always complaining when we have everything. That was my favorite thing about Ghana, a country without luxury, without extra comfort, but with a population that is always smiling, always happy, always ready to wave when you walk by and sing and dance. I think everyone could learn with them.

It was an amazing experience, and it was only possible because of Projects Abroad and how organized and caring they are. They made me feel relaxed and safe during my stay. I recommend them to anyone who is thinking of taking a gap year, or having an experience abroad!