Care and Orphanage Volunteer Placements in Ghana

My experience abroad was great and challenging at the same time. I was a caregiver at an orphanage, my job was feeding the kids, playing, changing, cleaning around the orphanage etc. My first week was very difficult. I was extremely homesick (i had never traveled far from home before) and culture shock but after I got over it, the fun began! I started to open up more and actually talk with people and in doing so, I made the greatest connections with people who I'll never forget. Volunteering abroad also helped me grow up, be a stronger person, learn more... I overall feel like a better person and more confident person in making decisions. If you are thinking of doing this, DO IT. You will not regret it but do understand it will take a few days to a week to adjust.

I came to Ghana for two weeks with my wife to volunteer in a orphanage and learn about the local culture. We had an amazing experience with our placement at Liberty Family Home and school. It was located in a small town where everybody knows you. OGVO was a great program, they helped us all along the way with any questions we had both before and during the program. We appreciated all the hospitality of OGVO and Liberty Home.

OGVO was very attentive throughout the volunteer process. I volunteered with my husband, and we had many questions before the program started and they always responded very quickly and attentively. We were well taken care of with travelling to and from our volunteer location and our weekend to Mole National Park, and it was reassuring to have the support from OGVO throughout the process. We worked at a rural orphanage, and had wonderful opportunities to interact with the orphans and other people in the community. We felt very well taken care of and this let us have a really positive experience in our time in Ghana.

It was a great experience that gave us the understanding of different problems that the kids in Ghana meet. It was a pleasure to share this experience in our family. The kids are very kind and hardworking, they like to study despite the fact that they have no all opportunities for this. They don't have a lot things, but they always share everything with each other. Here we saw how the simple things can make kids happy.

As a 20-year old pursuing this program alone and with no contacts in Ghana to begin with, I was astounded by the care and support I received by Frank, one of the program directors, and my host family. I was immediately welcomed into a loving household that was always checking on me to make sure that everything was okay. Frank was marvelous. A very sweet-hearted gentleman, he always made sure I was safe and that I was having a good time. As for my volunteer service, I now wish I had chosen another avenue. This is not because my experience was negative, as the children never ceased to make me smile, but for the sole reason that I believe the significance of my impact to be minuscule and I feel as though I could have gotten more out of the program( due to language barrier issues with the children) if I had pursued another line of service (although I was only with the program for two-weeks) Recommendations for future volunteers in this program: - Study at least some teaching-related twi words, they will come in handy (sit, listen, stop etc.). - Be prepared to see children all-out fighting each other ( this is a common occurrence as the children enforce their own punishments often) - Especially if you are white, be prepared to have children no matter where you go, asking you for money or shouting " Obruni!"( meaning white person) - Do not come with pre-conceived notions of how things will work. -If possible, go on the Cape Coast excursion. You really learn a lot about African history from a perspective you might not readily be approached with if you were to study it abroad.