Who Can Volunteer?

We are looking for people with good hearts, with or without previous experience or qualifications... including teachers, students, social workers, nurses, doctors, medical students, childcare workers and caring people like you! This could be the start of the most amazing life-long adventure you could ever imagine!

According to your abilities and desires we can place you as a volunteer working with orphans, street children, women's empowerment groups and also assisting local midwives. We also have a program for sports volunteering with the local football team!

We try to be flexible and place you where your interest lies, so even if you don't see it mentioned here, just ask!

When:

Our Programs start on the 1st and 15th of every month.

Where:

You choose! We have urban and rural placements available all over Ghana but most of our work is in the Tamale region, Northern Ghana

The Program:

SEDARVP-Ghana will pick up participants from the airport in Accra. The organizer will meet them at the airport and further assist them to get a hotel and check in.

When arriving in Accra participants will have a one-day orientation.

At this time participants will be assigned a work location and a host family. Living with host families enables volunteers to learn much of the culture from their host mothers.

When arriving in the town/village of work placement, SEDARVP-Ghana will provide another three days of orientation to get used to the culture and learn basic things.

Volunteers can also stretch out their hands to other departments where their services will be needed. Volunteers will serve in their areas for the period of 1-3 months or 4-6 months depending on the program they selected.

When visa extension is needed SEDARVP-Ghana takes the responsibility of extending it when they find it appropriate. This additional cost will be at participant's own expense.

Nearing the end of the program, volunteers are expected to write a report of activities to the organization to enable us to better tackle the problems these deprive people need.

Volunteers will receive a certificate of appreciation at the end of the program. Participants can use this certificate to verify that they have undergone training and experience within this organization, which not only provides professional in-service training but also some preliminary language training and cultural participation (drumming and dancing).

The cost is less than many other volunteer training organizations for the simple reason that this work is so urgent and vital.

Some African doctors will not treat the poorest women and children and many people die on their way to hospital, including pregnant women and street children.

Many small children live and sleep on the streets, or work there making their small trades (eg selling water) to pay for their schooling. There they are subject to the dangers of traffic as well as human cruelty, like rapes and beatings.

SEDARVP-Ghana tries to help all of these voiceless ones.

Why not find out now how you can use your compassion and your professional skills to benefit humanity and help put an end to extreme poverty?

--Click here to volunteer

In the past our volunteers have worked in the Tamale teaching Hospital in the following areas of interest:

• Physiotherapy Department
• Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation
• Labor and Maternity Ward
• Assisting both contemporary physicians and tradition mid-wives
• Pediatric Ward
• Helping in the day care of young Ghanaian toddlers
• Gynecology and Obstetric Ward
• Women's Health assistant
• Operating/Surgical Theaters
• Orthopedic
• Anesthesiology
• Outpatient Department (OPD)
• Pharmacy / Pharmacy Assistant
• Medical Emergency Department
• Hematology, Pathology, Bacteriology, Cytology, Blood Bank Departments

Outside of SEDARVP-Ghana programs are a wealth of engaging and active volunteer opportunities and include:

• Teaching and/or assisting at the Taimako Business College (age: 15-22 years)
• Teach young people basic computer literacy and Internet skills at Technocef, a private institution in Tamale
• Care for orphaned children at the Anfaani Tamale Children Home
• Co-op in the mango arboricultural Agrovet/Taimako Farms and Nurseries (only in the summer). Grow, seed, plant, graft trees, fruits, and much more
• Join excursions and visits with a local guide to people of unique and mystic professions

If you are a lover of sports and enthusiastic to work with kids, but are not confident enough to take on a teaching program, then this is a great program for you!

Volunteers will work with young children, especially in our community orphanage Football Academy, and sometimes older people based on a volunteers request to develop their interest in a range of sports and increase their skill base.

In addition to the obvious physical benefits of physical education, the program helps to give the children mental discipline and heightens alertness and coordination. The program will generally involve physical training, teaching the kids how to work as a team, bringing the best out of the players and also give the children more self confidence.

Football is extremely popular in Ghana, as it is in most African countries. However volunteers are encouraged to introduce different sports to the children (volunteers may need to bring special material and equipment for this as there is a chance it cannot be purchased in Ghana).

Football training will still play a large role in the program and football matches will be arranged between volunteer teams and others from neighboring villages or towns.

The Sports Academy has an Under 12's team and Under 17's team. These boys are extremely talented and in need of sponsors!

Drumming and Dancing has been one of the main cultural traditions in the northern region, that is Tamale and the other 2 regions, Upper East and Upper West. Drumming and Dancing are normally performed during naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals, and during the time of festival.

SEDARVP-Ghana has for the past several years been involved in organizing communal labor which goes along side with drumming and dancing in the communities and has also been in contact with many traditional cultural groups who are engaged in teaching international students and volunteers dancing and drumming, such as the Choggu N'Bamba Group.

Choggu N'bangba have been performing and teaching traditional Ghanaian drumming and dancing since the beginning of the 1980's. Choggu is a part of Tamale where the group was founded and where most of the members have grown up together. "Choggu N'Bangba" means "Choggu, You know us!"

Due to a big interest in the group by foreigners they have during the last years been teaching and performing for foreign people in Tamale. Choggu N'bangba teaches drumming and dancing as well as local songs and other instruments. 

INSTRUMENTS: Drums, flute. 
DANCES: Bamaya, Jara, Takai, Tora, Bela, Bawa, Nagla, Kpalongo, Fumefume

Some History

The main reason for establishing the group was that the culture was dying in the northern part of Ghanamainly due to religious reasons. Both Islam and Christianity have been seen to preach against traditional dancing and drumming as well as other traditions.

The founders did not want to allow this culture to die and gathered young boys and girls to keep it alive for the future. The group was also formed to keep the youth and the community together in hard times for the purpose of unity and peace.

Sulley Imoro is one of the founders of Choggu N'bangba Cultural Group and now the Head Coach. He established the group in Tamale 1982. Sulley was then the age of 22 years. His father was a great dancer of the traditional dance of Bamaya.

Because of Sulleys early interest in the dancing the father devoted his time to teach him. Sulley was at the age of ten when he followed his father around in northern Ghana to dance. When his father passed away in 1972 Sulley decided to start teaching the young generation the Bamaya and other traditional dances since he was the only one who still knew how to dance many of them well and he felt the culture was dying.

He decided to start by organizing some of his age mates. They were practicing the dance bit by bit for some time with a few drums.  Sulley is now a professional dancer both locally and internationally. He has long been dancing at the National Theatre in Accra and now he is teaching foreign students both inGhana and at Universities in USA. He is still the Head Coach of the group, teaching new techniques during the time he spends in Tamale.

You are always welcome whenever you want to have drumming and dancing lessons in Ghana.