Volunteers Work

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Volunteer Work

Motivated people!
Working as a volunteer is a great way to put your shoulder to the wheel and to be busy in a meaningful way together with and for other people. Furthermore it gives you the opportunity to widen your horizon and learn a lot. We hope that you, as a volunteer, will contribute to the project, but will also learn something of this experience yourself. Nevertheless a lot is expected from you. We require that you take your job seriously and will mean something for the project you are working at. Of course you have brains. In addition to this you need to have relevant working experience or an adequate educational degree and will minimally be 21 years of age.

At this moment various volunteers are working in Ghana for NorGhaVo. NorGhaVo has a lot of experience with voluntary work and has good knowledge of Ghana. For this reason we are able to make sure motivated and capable people fit on the right location to work as a volunteer. We also assure an optimal coaching. We will serve our volunteers with relevant assistance and support during their preparations and stay.  In order to guarantee this, we generally place no more than four volunteers each month. 

For admission to the program a compensation fee will be paid to NorGhaVo. This compensation covers the costs the organisation incurs for your placing and includes board and lodging. Additionally, a part of the compensation is reserved for supporting three sponsor projects (with a minimum of €50 each volunteer).

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What do we offer you in short:
   ·         A working place
   ·         A host family
   ·         Introduction, coaching and assistance during your stay

Working place
The kind of work you are going to do depends on your experience, motivation and educational background. NorGhaVo co-operates with several projects where enthusiastic and suitable volunteers are welcome and needed. More detailed information can be found under work projects.

Host family
NorGhaVo not only attempts to find an appropriate and suitable working place, but also arranges your accommodation in a host family. You are given the opportunity to make acquaintance of the rich Ghanaian culture and its habits and experience Ghanaian life and cuisine. Breakfast and supper are included in your program fee. Through living with a typical Ghanaian family you have the great chance to taste all aspects of Ghanaian life, but also will have a new temporal ‘home’.

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Introduction and coaching
A good preparation and coaching is very important. Realise you are going to a developing country and the circumstances will be completely different compared to the Netherlands (or Western Europe ). At our website you can find a lot of information which is necessary for a good preparation. Besides this, the team of NorGhaVo-Netherlands is always ready for you with tips and advice via ghanavrijwilliger@yahoo.com and the Dutch Info Meeting which is organised four times a year. We expect that all participants from The Netherlands visit one of our info-meetings before departure.

After your arrival in Ghana you will get a three-day introduction, before really starting your job. If you arrive on the settled last Wednesday of the month  you will be met on the airport by a NorGhaVo-member, who takes you to the guesthouse. The introduction starts the very day after the monthly arrival date. It will be partly done in Accra and partly in Tamale, our hometown in the North of Ghana. During your introduction you will have time to calmly get used to the new environment and you will be given information about culture, health, food, changing money, et cetera.

What do we expect from you?
We want volunteers to go beyond all bounds and count on a 100% devotion and motivation.  We give you a lot of freedom, but also expect discipline and respect. Discipline in your work: your project deserves full commitment and a serious attitude; you are no tourist! Respect your new environment: You are a guest in an unknown country, so you will have to be the one to adapt and change to the culture of this land you are blessed to be able to live for some months.
 
We also want to emphasise that it is your choice and your responsibility to go to Ghana. Whether your stay will become a success depends merely on your attitude and motivation! Of course, outside effects can influence the achievement and you cannot control everything. So try to respond positively on these things and show initiative and an open attitude. Again: you are a guest in a land that is so different compared to the land you are from. And do not forget that NorGhaVo is always there to help you. Both in Ghana and in the Netherlands!

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The program fee comprises:
  • arranging a working place;
  • arranging a host family;
  • Breakfast and supper with your host family (dinner sill be a Ghanaian dish; breakfast usually contains bread, egg and tea);
  • An own lockable room with a bed and a fan;
  • Shared toilet and bathroom;
  • A three-day introduction (including cultural orientation);
  • All transport costs during your introduction will be paid by NorGhaVo, as well as lodging in a guesthouse in Accra;
  • Appropriate information during your preparations;
  • Coaching and assistance during your stay in Ghana;
  • A €50 donation to our sponsor projects.

Not included are for example:

  • Meals, drinks, costs for baggage-transport (= weight dependant) and personal activities (incl. a potential trip to the beach) and purchases during your introduction;
  • Lunch at host family;
  • Bed sheets and Mosquito net
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Our conditions
  • Until affirmation of decisive permission to the program by NorGhaVo through e-mail, the applicant can not lay claim on participation to the program;
  • After affirmation of decisive permission to the program by NorGhaVo through e-mail, the volunteer is obligated to pay the accessory program fee;
  • The applicant needs to be at least 21 years of age at the moment of departure to Ghana. Besides, must the applicant be able to prove a minimum of 1 year relevant work experience òr be in the possession of a diploma of a relevant (higher) education. NorGhaVo has the final decision in judging whether an applicant is considered suitable. In case of denial by NorGhaVo an applicant can never claim the right on conditions stated on this website ;
  • Duration of the program has a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 12 months (the maximum period of validity of most plane tickets); 
  • Each new program starts at the last Wednesday of a month. Arrival at this date assures that a member of NorGhaVo will pick you up from the airport in Accra. Other arrival dates are negotiable, but you will have to arrange your own transfer from the airport and might miss the introduction (see below); 
  • The introduction always starts the day after the fixed arrival date;
  • Monthly a maximum of four (4) volunteers will be permitted to the program. If a month is full, no more applicants will be accepted. Candidates are referred to other months. NorGhaVo remains the right to place less or more than four (4) volunteers a month;
  • The Application Form needs to be sent to NorGhaVo at least five (5) months before the aimed date of arrival;
  • The program fee needs to be in the possession of NorGhaVo at least twelve (11) weeks before the aimed day of arrival (bank 93.97.346, NorGhaVo, Nijmegen, the Netherlands);
  • The volunteer’s flight details have to be sent to NorGhaVo-Netherlands by e-mail, at least ten (10) weeks before arrival. The volunteer should inform NorGhaVo about changes of schedule as soon as possible; 
  • In case of changes in costs in Ghana (due to inflation for example), NorGhaVo has the right to change the program fee. If a volunteer leaves after declaration of this change in price, he/she is obligated to obey the change and pay a possible increase. NorGhaVo is required to always inform the volunteers about the reason(s) of change completely;
  • Restitution of the program fee in case of annulment by the volunteer will be done under the following conditions: 
    • annulment until 6 weeks before departure means restitution 75% 
    • annulment until 4 weeks before departure means restitution 50% 
    • annulment until 1 week before departure means restitution 25% 
    • annulment less than 1 week before departure means restitution 0%
  • In case of superior forces, when NorGhaVo can no longer guarantee the volunteer’s interests, NorGhaVo will always do its very best to make sure the journey can carry through. Possibly in an adjusted form. This will always be done in full communication with the volunteer;
  • Total cancellation of the program by NorGhaVo, will result in full restitution of the paid program fee;
  • NorGhaVo expects all volunteers from The Netherlands to visit at least one of the three-monthly organised Info-Meetings.

 

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