CREATIVE ART

Creative Art is a program design to help children express themselves, through   invention and creativity using fun and playful methods that encourages and motivates them to think outside the box to bring out their own invention through creating and redesigning. This program also focuses on children with special needs, children from very difficult background who one way or the other have low self-esteem. The creative art program is part of the Ghana education new curriculum for pre-schoolers and the basic level pupil. There is a lack of creative art teachers and there is the desperate need for volunteers to help teach the subject. When school is not in section the project is carried out at the orphanage homes as an after school program.

This is also a great program for volunteers in the creative industry as they will have the opportunity to design and implement recreational and educational activities for the children using constructive materials, paints, clay, drawing, music, dance etc. that will build the cognitive abilities of children. We encourage volunteers to use their skills and interests to develop fun activities.

Though there is a curriculum to follow, volunteers are allow to also teach any creative subject or activity that will be helpful.
Resources are limited so donations from volunteers are greatly appreciated. This is important for those volunteers who are designing activities that might be new and need a lot of materials

This project is available in Accra, Kumasi, central region and most of the other regional capitals in Ghana.

TEACHING AND ASSISTING IN SCHOOLS

As part of our efforts to support our education system, especially less resourced schools, we seek volunteers to help mitigate the deprivation of learning and teaching aids, and to support and share knowledge with our teachers.

Volunteers help in a range of subjects, including Mathematics, Science, Geography, Social Science, History, Business Education, Art and Music, as well as English.

The teaching takes place in Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools where volunteers initially either shadow or teach under the supervision of a local teacher. Once acquainted with the school and the curriculum, volunteers in Ghana get the chance of teaching independently. It is important that volunteers are flexible as there are a number of other tasks they can help with. These might include helping children with their homework, arranging games and activities, cleaning the classroom and assisting teachers with administrative duties.

It is not compulsory to have prior teaching experience or to have completed formal teacher training to volunteer in Ghana for this program. Volunteer’s level of involvement within the classroom can be tailored to suit their skills and interests. A willingness to share and an ability to be proactive is important and will make volunteers a valuable addition to any classroom.

MEDICAL PLACEMENT/INTERNSHIP

Medical programs in Ghana welcome volunteers with a wide range of experience, including qualified medical personnel, medical students and pre-med students. Attendance on a medical volunteer project is itself a helpful preparation for a medical career.  We also welcome motivated volunteers who are interested in working in the health sector.

Medical volunteers are encouraged to undertake duties according to their own interests and areas of expertise. Medical students can shadow local doctors and nurses, assisting them and learning by observing their work at clinics and hospitals.

Medical volunteers are requested/encourage to bring scrubs, theatre shoes, gloves, nose mask, hand sanitisers or rubbing alcohol etc. for personal use at their placement since they most often run out of it or don’t have.

The work is varied and may be very different from methods and practices at home.  It will include visits to orphanages and rehabilitation centres to support the health workers, medical outreaches to deprive communities etc.

It will be appreciated if volunteers are able to come with basic medical tools and first aid to support the local communities especially during outreaches. These are not compulsory to bring.

CHILDREN WITH NEEDS & DISABILITY PROGRAM

Children with any kind of disability are marginalised and not consider as “humans” in most part of Ghana. These children are sometimes killed or sacrifice at their early stages in life since they are seen as a curse. There are no major medical interventions or national program that support their medication, education and their growth. Most of these children are “dump” or left at orphanage homes with no traces of their families, only a few have families who seldom pay them visit.

Volunteers are therefore urgently needed to help give the students life skills, teach them basic everyday living like dressing up, how to wear their shoes, comb the hair, brush the teeth etc. as well as helping to develop their intelligence quotient (IQ), teach basic drawing, craft, English and teaching them fun games and activities that help them to play and interact with one another.

This program takes place at health facilities, orphanage homes and sometimes individual homes for families who have their special needs children’s locked up at homes to avoid public ridicule.

There is a lack of playing materials at most centres. Volunteers can bring papers, cloths, visual learning aids, disability learning aids, crafts and art supplies according to their abilities. Most importantly you bring a big heart and smile.

REHABILITATION PROGRAM

Ghana been surrounded by French speaking languages calls for the need
for French to be a language in our schools. French language is been
thought from lower primary 1 to Junior Secondary. Some of our schools
especially the orphanage schools don't have French teachers to help teach
it.
We therefore seek for French speaking volunteers who can come in to
either teacher French, assist French teachers or just to play with the
children using everyday basic French conversation words as well as
helping to explain their French homework.
This placement does not need a qualified teacher; anyone who is able to
communicate freely in French qualifies for this placement.
Once acquainted with the school and the curriculum, volunteers in Ghana
get the chance of teaching independently. It is important that volunteers are
flexible as there are a number of other tasks they can help with. These
might include helping children with their homework, arranging games and
activities, cleaning the classroom and assisting teachers with administrative
duties.
It is not compulsory to have prior teaching experience or to have completed
formal teacher training to volunteer in Ghana for this program. Volunteers
level of involvement within the classroom can be tailored to suit their skills
and interests. A willingness to share and an ability to be proactive is
important and will make volunteers a valuable addition to any classroom.

REFUGEE CAMP

The Buduburam refugee camp is a home for Liberian’s who fled their country during the civil war. The living condition at the camp is not the best and most of the people don’t have any meaningful job making it difficult to care for their kids. Some of the kids also have no parents because of the war. A school and a care centre has been established at the school to care for these people.

The orphanage school presently has 100 children, ranging from age 3 to 15, attending every day. This is a year round project. A feeding program has been established to provide a hot lunch every day. The school levels range from pre-school through grade 6. School hours start from 7am to 3.30pm. Volunteers will teach English classes focusing on basic alphabet, mathematics and also be involved in after school fun activities, sports, arts and crafts and other games with the kids. Volunteer will actively assist with the feeding program helping to make and distribute meals to the children. The basic aim is to offer assistance to encourage and inspire less privileged but intelligent children in the camp to stay in school, and assist them to lift themselves out of poverty