We work with local, foreign individuals and groups who like to volunteer their time in Schools, Orphanages, Hospitals and in communities.
This program is especially suitable for professional teachers and teacher-trainees. As a volunteer class teacher for one of the lower primary classes, you would be in full charge of your class. You’ll be teaching all the subjects: English Language, Math, Natural Science, Physical Education and Elementary ICT. If you would like to experience how it is to be a full-time teacher in an African country, this program is what you need.
Most of the accommodation is with carefully-selected host-families, with a couple of dedicated volunteers’ apartments. You would be placed in the same home with another volunteer — except you specifically state that you prefer to be placed alone. Volunteers coming as a pair or couple will not be placed with other volunteers in the same bedroom. Volunteer(s) have their separate room – with a lock and key. There are two beds in the volunteers’ room; each with a mattress and in most cases a table and chair. It is advisable to 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.
You will be served three meals daily. Breakfast is usually tea/ coffee/ oats or corn porridge and bread with jam/ butter/ egg omelet. Lunch could be plantain or rice or yam with vegetable stew or similar. Dinner could be rice, yam, pasta or plantain with vegetable sauce or stew or soup. For dessert you’d be served an orange or pineapple.
Weekends are free days. You may choose to travel out of town to see the many interesting sights and sounds in other parts of Ghana or hang out with your fellow volunteer(s) and/or locals in the neighborhood. GMI frequently puts together sight-seeing trips: as a volunteer on one of our programs, you’ll first be given the option to sign-on to our tours. The remaining slots will be offered to the general public.
Your safety is of paramount importance to GMI. 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 have a smart phone in the disposal of our volunteers so they 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.
Minimum volunteering/internship duration: 1 week. Maximum duration: 6 months. Age range accepted: 18 years and above. 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 on your arrival day. We will connect you to wifi internet on your arrival day. The average work day is 3-8 hours for this program. Saturdays and Sundays are free days. You can contact GMI 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.
Recently, we have been looking into it to see if children from our homes can also travel abroad to spend two to three weeks in order to see how things are done elsewhere which will give them some new ideas and inspirations.
