Our Generation Voluntary Organisation

Overall very pleasant experience working with OGVO. Frank, our program coordinator, was very helpful and made sure that we had a rewarding experience while we were in Ghana. I spent four weeks volunteering at Aniniwah Medical Center where I was exposed to many areas of health care from consultations to surgeries. All the medical professionals we encountered were knowledgable and willing to teach. I found the whole experience invaluable as it helped me gain a better insight into how medicine works in developing countries such as Ghana.

Hello everyone, I'm Robin, an international volunteer from the Netherlands. I volunteered for 2 weeks in Kumasi, Ghana doing teaching and coaching football to children. I really enjoyed my time in Ghana doing voluntary work! My host family were very nice, caring and helpful people, I never hesitated to talk to them about anything. Their kindness I sincerely appreciated. The work I did, I really loved and I looked forward to going to work everyday because I knew that every day would be a good day. The children really appreciated me being there and respected me very well. I am very passionate about football and also working with children, so this program was a perfect fit for me. I experienced the great Ghanaian culture through visiting museums and places during weekends, eating from the lovely Ghanaian cuisine but mostly through the very friendly people! I have also made good friendships whilst being here with the school staff, the school children, my host family and also my resourceful OGVO guide. To sum everything up, I would just like to say that it was an amazing, unforgettable experience for me and that I highly recommend volunteering through Our Generation Voluntary Organisation to all people looking to volunteer in the great country of Ghana.

My experience in Kumasi was instrumental in my successful application to medical school in Australia. Based in a small, hands-on clinic in Kumasi, I was actively learning from day one. It was hot, humid and the small waiting room was full of prenatal women, patiently waiting their turn with the doctor. Staff were busily attending to patients with barely time to raise their eyes to notice the awkward Obruni half-cocked and hesitating in the doorway. "Alex!" Frank gestured in his direction, "come and meet the team". I needn't have worried: within five minutes, I realised that I had just made 10 new friends. And I realised that I didn't have time to be nervous! Primarily a maternity clinic - and given the high fertility rate in Kumasi - you are going to be busy. You are given as much or as little responsibility as your experience will allow. However, it must be said: you will be permitted to be involved in procedures that would otherwise be impossible back home. This is an unparalleled opportunity to observe, learn and even practice the messy, chaotic and REAL side of primary care medicine in a developing country. That kind of hands-on experience was indispensable and is a driving factor of my recommendation for OGVO. I began simply shadowing a GP while he went about doing consultations. During this time I learned about all the prevalent maladies affecting Kumasi's many residents: malaria, typhoid and more malaria. After some time just observing, the GP got me consulting with patients, before I went into the lab to learn how to identify different pathogens under the microscope and make a proper diagnosis. You get to check for malaria, sickle cell anemia - the list goes on. I also weighed and immunised infants, helped deliver two babies, and gave talks to antenatal women on how to stay healthy during pregnancy. This educational role saw me head out into (very) regional villages to give out medication and give more talks on primary healthcare. It was challenging and daunting at first, but entirely awesome and a hugely important experience for me. Undertaking a medical internship through OGVO is a life-changing experience and something that I would recommend without hesitation. Frank and the organisation will ensure that you are happy and well looked-after, from the moment he meets you at the airport to the time you say a difficult goodbye. At times you will need to draw on your inner-strength and the new friends around you, but I promise that you will leave a different, more-resilient person with a better-developed global outlook. Not to mention an impressive set of skills to aid you as you begin or continue your medical training.