Volunteer Programs in Cape Coast, Ghana

Volunteering with SMWEF Ghana has been one of the most meaningful and heart-warming experiences of my life, and it is something I would recommend to absolutely anyone. I volunteered with SMWEF for two months in 2025, and from the moment I arrived, I was welcomed with open arms by Naomi and Seth. SMWEF is deeply committed to giving every child a fair chance at a brighter future. The warmth and kindness these children carry with them is truly indescribable. Being able to put a smile on their faces by giving them the love, time, and attention they deserve is incredibly fulfilling. Their joy and love is so pure and heartwarming, it gave me such a different perspective. The love and passion that Seth and Naomi have for these children is equally indescribable. They give everything they have to give these children a chance at a better future. Their dedication, strength, and wholehearted commitment are truly inspiring. I have the deepest respect for their mission and the tireless work they do every day. You can see and feel the impact they make every single day you are there and they will take you along with every part of the process. SMWEF still needs all the support they can get, and every volunteer truly makes a difference. I cannot recommend SMWEF highly enough. Volunteering with them will fill your heart, broaden your perspective, and leave you with an experience you will cherish for the rest of your life.

I had the pleasure of spending a short time in Kumasi, sight seeing, volunteering at a local hospital, and spending time forming relationships with my host family and others. I feel that OGVO provides an excellent opportunity for anyone who may want to be immersed in the Ghanaian culture, and experience life as the Ghanaians do. I was both challenged and blessed throughout my short-duration there and would highly recommend this organization for anyone wanting to volunteer in Ghana and experience and learn of the culture. I also have to give honor to the program Director Frank Odoi who is exceptional. His assistance and communication with his volunteers ensuring their safety, comfort, and great experience during their stay spoke volumes. I am beyond grateful for the time spent, and even more so for the people I've gotten to meet at my host home, as well as the wonderful nurses I've connected with at my project site. If you're looking to affordibly tour or volunteer in Ghana, OGVO is the way to go!

“Let The World Change You“ is the slogan of Child Family Health International and that’s exactly what I did during my time of the global health in Ghana program. Becoming a sponge and soaking up the experience to what i was surrounded with is the best thing I could’ve done. From the shadowing at the hospital to being immersed into the culture, everything was amazing. Our coordinator showed us great hospitality as well , we even had home cooked meal EVERY night! Beyond thankful for that. I am beyond grateful for this experience that was both personal and professional. I can’t wait to continue to work toward my career of becoming a physician assistant!

I decided to go with CFHI as part of my global health elective for medical school because of the wide variety of locations they have. I really wanted to go to Ghana and experience healthcare in another country, predominately in a hospital setting. CFHI provided me with an opportunity to rotate with different services at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and also provided me with everlasting memories that I will never forget. I made connections with residents and house officers who I deeply respect. There wasn't much help in getting there but once I was there things just started to fall together. I would suggest to anyone wanting to go to another country to look into CFHI due to its variety of program locations and also the ability to work in an already established setting. In addition, there are weekly lectures that introduce students to Ghana and public health. I do suggest that you be diligent and on top of making sure you have all of your required documents before hand and its correct because there wasn't much assistance with ensuring the information was up-to-date. Take a look at the variety of things to do in both Cape Coast and Accra (3hrs away by van) for weekend activities as well. The program is what you make out of it. There is definitely time to explore and to learn so your trip is what you want it to be.

I decided to go with CFHI as part of my global health elective for medical school because of the wide variety of locations they have. I really wanted to go to Ghana and experience healthcare in another country, predominately in a hospital setting. CFHI provided me with an opportunity to rotate with different services at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and also provided me with everlasting memories that I will never forget. I made connections with residents and house officers who I deeply respect. There wasn't much help in getting there but once I was there things just started to fall together. I would suggest to anyone wanting to go to another country to look into CFHI due to its variety of program locations and also the ability to work in an already established setting. In addition, there are weekly lectures that introduce students to Ghana and public health. I do suggest that you be diligent and on top of making sure you have all of your required documents before hand and its correct because there wasn't much assistance with ensuring the information was up to date. Take a look at the variety of things to do in both Cape Coast and Accra (3hrs away by van) for weekend activities as well. The program is what you make out of it. There is definitely time to explore and to learn so your trip is what you want it to be.

Jamie, an aspiring nurse, spent four weeks volunteering in Ghana. Here, she tells her story of working side-by-side with the community of Senya-Beraku, an experience which not only influenced her career path but also had a major impact on her view of life. What did your volunteer work consist of? We went to the project in the morning and helped where they needed us. While we were at there, we would help clean it, so we would sweep, mop, and wipe the windows. We would also play with the kids and give them the love and affection they needed, and a bit more of that kind of attention. When we were done, we could go back to the volunteer house and do whatever we liked. On one of the last days, we even took the day off to go to the beach. I also did a bit of teaching there while I was there; just a math class. Whatever you’re capable of doing, you can do it if you’re comfortable with it. A girl I was volunteering with was from Mexico and she did some of the English classes with the Grade 1s. We also played with the kids at the daycare; that was tiring though! What were your expectations before starting? Did these match up to your experience when you had finished? I think my expectation before I started was that I wanted to feel that I made a difference somehow in the kids life. I don’t know if they matched up to my expectations because I found that when you’re only there for such a short amount of time you can’t really make that much of a difference. It does help to have that extra attention and support there, but at the same time, the kids need more long-term relationships. It’s always hard when you leave because you can see that they’re sad. However, I’d say expectation wise, it kind of exceeded them because I saw more of a change in myself through them. Can you describe that change in yourself? I’m in nursing school and one of the things I wanted to do with my nursing degree was work for Nurses without Borders and help people in developing countries. I feel like there’s a lot of people in western cultures that want to create a lifestyle similar to their own in these developing countries, but I find that’s not what they need. The people more so just need things like clean water, road construction, and improved healthcare and education systems, and I think that’s what the real focus is and the focus isn’t on them having flat screen TVs and things like that. So I would say the change in myself was that it made me focus less on the materialistic things I need in my life and more on creating connections with people. I found that I didn’t even want to come home because the people there were so much happier and more joyful and more welcoming than people here who have so much more. So I would say that was one of the things that changed, and also just a change in what I want to do in my career. So do you still want to be a nurse? Yeah, I’m going into my fourth year as a nurse, it’s just more so what I want to do when I’m done. So how did this experience impact your career path? And would you say it’s helped in your schooling and career at all? Yeah, I would say it helped. It does look kind of good on a CV, in the sense that I’ve been to a country like that and done some work. I found that it also helps direct me in the way that I interact with my patients and it gave me a more of a clear idea of where I want to work and that kind of thing. When I’m done with school, I probably need to gather all of my skills in Canada and get that all figured out, but I do still want to work somewhere like Ghana that needs that extra assistance, and I’ll be able to stay for longer periods of time. So why should someone choose to volunteer in Ghana over somewhere else? I haven’t been anywhere else, so I’m not 100% sure. But Ghana is a mostly English-speaking country, so that provides one less barrier. You also just feel safe there. Like my mom was always texting me asking if I was ok and I was like, I’m not texting you because I literally feel so safe that I feel no need to let you know how I’m doing. Me and the other volunteers (there were nine girls in the house), went on adventures on our own too, and throughout that whole time, there was never a time where I felt unsafe. So I think that was one of the greatest things. And the people there are just so warm and so welcoming, I always tell people they should go to Ghana. So did you get to explore Ghana at all? Yeah! So the first week as volunteers, we got to go to Cape Coast. We took this big bus, so we all met up, drove to Cape Coast, and stayed at a hostel for the night. While we were there, we got to go on a canopy walk, which was really cool, and we got to go to the castle and learn a lot about slavery. We also had our own time to explore around, so some of us went down and got street food or went to the little shops and stuff and brought people’s artwork. There was a little club thing there, so there was music and dancing at night. We also got to interact a lot with the locals that day. The second weekend we went to Wli, where there are waterfalls. It took us so long to get there, about nine and a half hours. I think it was three tro tros and one taxi, and there were nine of us in this one taxi! So we all piled in and we went to these waterfalls and stayed at another hostel. We went hiking the next day and then we came back. It was really nice. On the way back, our tro tro driver had bread, and he did a baboon call and all these baboons came and he fed them the bread, so it was pretty cool to see that too. So yeah, we got to explore a bit and interact with the locals. What would you say was the most impactful moment from your volunteer experience overall? I don’t know that I could say there was one single moment that was most impactful…I think just the whole trip! I came back and people would ask me how it was and I just said it was amazing because I couldn’t sum up everything – my thoughts were so jumbled. I said to the girls that it’s amazing how many memories we packed into a two week span. So maybe I would just say the thing that I took away the most was trying to bring that sense of human connection that they have over here to Canada. I find that everyone there lives so simply but so happily. I’m trying to bring that joy and what I learned there back here to share with people. Also, just the love and the kindness from the kids, and their openness, because they’re so welcoming. They don’t even know you, and the first time they see you they run up to you and give you a hug. So probably that. It was amazing how in two weeks, you develop these relationships with these kids. I want to go back so bad; if I could I’d be back this summer 100%.

Meet Alex, a student studying to be a nurse who volunteered with our project in Ghana for two weeks. Alex and her friend Lora volunteered through the Vocational Impact medical placement and worked at the clinic in Senya-Beraku, where Alex worked in the maternity ward and Lora worked with mental health. Alex had done some travelling before, but told us that her experience in Ghana was unlike anything she’d ever done before. This trip was particularly special for Alex, because this is the type of work she wants to continue doing once she finishes her degree. Alex started by telling us about a typical day of volunteering “We’d wake up at about seven, and they come with breakfast anywhere between six and half seven, so you sort of have to be up. The first day we got to the clinic for quarter to eight, but they weren’t really doing anything because they don’t really pick up the pace until half past eight, because they do a big worship all together.” The clinic lead then decided where they needed us to go with the clinic lead. Lauren took a real interest in the mental health side, whereas I'm a lot more clinical with what I enjoy, so I spent a lot of time with midwifery and I really liked that there. “I got to see a lot and get involved in a lot of varied stuff. We’d do that and then we’d head back home at around twelve for lunch. By the time we finished lunch, we’d go back up to the clinic. They’d be winding down, they seem to close up about two, and then everyone’s gone. As school finished, then we’d go up to the children’s home for the afternoon. That was really good, we really liked doing that spending time with the kids up there. And I think it broke up the day a bit so we weren’t always doing the same thing.” What happens when someone comes into the clinic? The volunteers witnessed a man who had been run over and had really bad skin abrasions that were treated but because the clinic did not have an x-ray machine, the patient was sent on his way after his cuts were cleaned up If you don’t have medical insurance the patients won’t get treated The nurses at the clinic get paid a fair wage for their job in comparison to the amount needed to live in Ghana In the NHS you have a mattress with a cover that you wipe down after every patient, in Ghana they only have foam beds where infection control is not their top priority. Since Alex and Lora went to Ghana for their medical elective, we were interested in hearing more about their work in the clinic “I spent a lot of time in the maternity ward. We spent two days weighing the babies and making notes like that, and then an entire day doing the registration of them and registering them online. Lots of vaccinating the babies and the mums when they come in, and checking up on bumps and things.” “We did a day in vitals at the wound care, and seeing how they handle things. And then we went to labs, and that was really interesting, seeing how they check for malaria and tetanus.” We did loads, they really do take you on an and throw you into the deep end. “With the deliveries, we watched one and then I watched another, and then for the next one, they were like, “alright, you do it and we’ll guide you”. “They’re all so lovely at the clinic, they do all want to help you. And they want you to stay for as long as you can, because I think they like the extra pair of hands there.” “There’s not many places in the clinic, so we tried everything. We were comfortable enough to go and do our own thing. Laura was ok with going off with mental health and I was ok with going off with midwife, and we didn’t feel like we needed to be attached at the hip. And then we’d see each other in the evening and catch up.” We dealt with hundreds of babies whilst in Ghana They weighed the babies to monitor their progression The midwives were quite strict about babies losing weight and make sure the mothers are taking care of them properly The student nurses were there to support the midwives Alex and Lora are both studying nursing at the University of East Anglia university, so we wanted to hear a bit about how this experience related to Alex’s career plans and her studies: “When I’m qualified, this is what I want to do. I want to go out and carry on this sort of thing. So for me, it was ideal going and making sure it was what I wanted to still do, because I thought “well if I go out and hate it, then there’s no point in me finishing my degree”. But luckily I really enjoyed it.” “We’re in the middle of our degree right now, and you’re at the point where you’re run down and don’t want to do anymore. We went to Ghana and I think it’s given me a lot of motivation to finish.” For me, when I do apply for permanent jobs doing this sort of thing, I'll have experience, which will be really helpful for me. We were also so happy to hear that Alex would recommend volunteering in Ghana to a friend. It exceeded our expectations “Especially for Lora, she was really really nervous about going, and I was nervous too. We didn’t really know what it was going to be like. I was worried we would feel quite nervous about being on our own in the house with someone we didn’t know, but we felt safe. And the clinic really got you involved and you were quite independent. I thought it would be a lot of shadowing, but it was a lot of independence. We really loved it. We really enjoyed the independence. It’s quite nice when they give you things to do. We felt like we had actually given a hand and been helpful” We met other people from other organisations and realised how lucky we had been to find Vocational Impact. People were paying huge amounts of money and not getting nowhere near what we were getting.

I'm Tinu. A 4th year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine. I participated in a hybrid program in Cape Coast Ghana: Social Development, Empowerment & Health at a community clinic, and Hospital Medicine at a Teaching Hospital. My experience with CFHI Ghana was great! The local institutions I worked with were clearly accustomed to having visiting students and their familiarity allowed for my experience with them to be productive for both me and them. The individuals I worked with at these institutions did a solid job of incorporating me into their team by delegating clear discrete tasks to me which made me feel like a valued member of the team. My last day at the community clinic where I was serving as an outreach intern was one of many rewarding days during this experience. The morning began with HIV testing at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind – a school that had been targeted due to the vulnerability of its students. Students were taught about HIV and at the start of the session, few hands went up with regards to interest in HIV testing. At the end of the session, which included counseling on the benefits of HIV testing, many more students were interested in testing. We ended up testing over 200 individuals over the course of four hours. While it was incredibly busy, it was rewarding to partake in providing care that they might have otherwise not received. Later that afternoon, a CFHI co-intern and I led a comprehensive sexuality education session for 15 adolescent girls in the clinic conference room. We spoke on “How Pregnancy Occurs” and “Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights”. It felt good to nerd out about some basic obstetrics/gynecology concepts that I had learned in way back in the 1st and 2nd years of medical school. Left to my devices I would have drawn out the menstrual cycle with estrogen, progesterone, LH, and FSH levels (LOL). The girls had a lot of great questions and by the end of the session they were able to echo back some of our teaching points. It was again rewarding to know that they were armed with more knowledge about their bodies and rights. My experiences at the various local institutions weren’t the only great things about my CFHI experience. The CFHI local coordinators went out of their way to ensure that I was well settled. They checked in frequently about ways my experience could be improved and made many changes in real-time. The country director was also clearly invested in participants having the most meaningful experience possible and made arrangements - such as my hybrid experience - to this effect. I left the experience wishing my stay was for more than four weeks, and I am already thinking about my next global health experience with CFHI!

I am a second-year medical student and I went to Accra, Ghana through the CFHI program! I rotated in the ER department and was able to round with the fifth-year medical students from Accra College of Medicine and Family Health Medical School. On my first day I rounded with the fifth-year medical students and I was terrified and intimidated. The way they presented, answered the doctor’s questions and interrogations on details about their cases, and dissected their differentials was astounding. With only one year of medical school under my belt, I felt useless and unknowledgeable compared to them. However, I tried to stay as engaged as I could, listening to patients’ hearts and lungs, interpreting x-rays and EKGs, and perfecting the craft of the history and physical exam. This coming year we’ll learn more about chronic illnesses and management, so I’ll be able to deepen my clinical knowledge and skills. I was happy that I was able to recognize a lot of drug names since Pharm is one of my favorite classes and could ask questions about treatment plans and care management. Most of the pediatric cases were acute tonsillitis, acute otitis media, bronchopneumonia, bronchiolitis, and complications of sickle cell disease (SCD). I was able to see an infant that was diagnosed with Trisomy 21 aka Down syndrome and had a heart murmur. I was also able to see a patient that had a palpable thrill and murmur. I sat in on my first Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) meeting and learned a lot about that part of medical care. I also participated in various lectures on proper handwashing skills, stages and treatment of malnutrition, how to properly clean the umbilical cord postpartum, triaging, and common respiratory/cardiovascular diseases in children. One of the most memorable days was when I clerked with one of the fifth-year medical students. His partner wasn’t coming till the afternoon, so I was there to make sure he asked all of the right questions. We exchanged mnemonics on the history of present illness (we learned OLDCARTS and he learned SOCRATES) and social history. I quickly jotted down all the aspects of the history that should be asked and felt grateful that my school had forced us to create our own SOAP note from scratch countless times. He was grateful that I was able to ensure he asked all of the necessary questions. Our main differential was Vaso-occlusive crisis as a complication of SCD. Our other differentials were osteomyelitis and cellulitis. Both doctors ended up supporting our top differential and it felt good to be able to come up with the correct diagnosis. The child also had otitis media but we weren’t sure if it was secondary to the SCD since they are more prone to infections, or independent of the SCD. All in all I learned a lot this week, more than I ever thought I would and I’m so excited to rotate in other parts of the hospital. This experience is strengthening my desire to go into Family Medicine even more apparent and necessary.

In February I traveled to Accra, Ghana and worked in Princess Marie Louise, a Pediatric hospital partnering with Child Family Health International. The attending physicians, residents and staff were happy to have us and worked to make our experience as fourth year medical students rewarding and professionally enriching. The in-country staff described the many ways CFHI helps to support the work of the hospital, including contributing to a needy fund for patients and fixing equipment in the facility. This gave me confidence that my program fee was well spent. CFHI coordinators also worked to make sure we had a fun and safe experience. The CFHI home team in San Fran followed up with us on our experience when we got back to the US. I recommend the program to those interested in learning more about West Africa and seeing how medicine is practiced in resource-challenged settings.