COME TO GHANA AND HAVE FUN WITH
THE KIDS. Turn their school holidays into an enjoyable learning experience
at a fun
THE NEED FOR A SUMMER CAMP Children in Ghana have school holidays from the beginning of August until the middle of
September. Unfortunately,
many of the children come from poor families and they have very little
in the way of resources to entertain themselves during the Summer holiday ... so two years ago Travellers set up a free Summer
Camp where the children can have fun together and learn at the same time.
We
provide equipment and materials for games, competitions and general fun stuff
and we also make sure they get a meal every day (sometimes this is the only meal
they get!).
If you've got
nothing planned and you have anything from a couple a weeks or longer free this
summer, why not come to Ghana and have fun with the kids!
Project Dates:
This project runs between approximately 10 August and 10 September every year and you can stay for 2 or
4 weeks(or longer, if you combine it with a teaching or
sports placement).
To read a report
from one of the volunteers who took part in the 2005 Summer Camp
click here
This is a special
Summer project which Travellers has set up to give the kids some something to
do during the holidays that will be fun for them and won't cost them a penny.
The idea is to keep them entertained and perhaps teach them some skills at the
same time.
Our first Summer Camp took place in 2005 at St Matthews School and three have
been a great success for all involved! The volunteers all loved it because
they got to really give hands-on attention to all the children in an informal
setting. Volunteers have made comments like, "the best time of my life", "I
loved every minute of it and I'm going to miss my children!" and the best one,
"I'm coming back for next year's camp".
The
children love the Summer Camps - they're kept entertained and have somewhere to
go during school holidays when there's no one around to look after them, and
they get a meal and win prizes! The prize for our volunteers is the big grins
across all the kids' faces :-)
One of the
obvious activities will be sports - as many varied sports as possible - plus
various other children's activities, such as:
Any ball games, like Football, Cricket,
Basketball, Rounders or Netball
Frisbee games
Dancing - Ghanaians love to dance, so
putting together a dance concert or dance competition would be fun
Drama - Informal Drama productions is
another activity that can be initiated - and all kids love play-acting!
Music - teaching them to sing, to play
an instrument and perhaps to put together a concert to be performed at the end
of the holidays
Magic tricks, juggling or circus-type
activities
Simple games like hopscotch, skipping,
hula-hoops
Arts & Crafts - here there are many
options.
Any creative activities, like face
painting
Reading from story books
Or anything else your imagination can
dream up that will amuse the children.
The kids will
be learning to use English at the same time, so they'll not only have fun,
they'll also benefit from the activity. These activities also benefit the
children by improving their team-work skills, social interaction and building
their confidence.
The Summer Camp will take place in the grounds of one of the local schools in
Kwabenya
and will be for children from all around the area, including other schools in
the community. Kwabenya is a small town/suburb about forty minutes
drive outside Accra city centre and a place where many of our teaching
volunteers are based.
You may work for
only a few hours a day, or you may find that you want to devote more time to the
children. The school will
remain open during the holidays because they are also running extra-curricular
academic lessons for the children who need them.
However, during the holiday period it is likely the school will have only one
member of staff present as the rest of the staff are likely to be away on
holiday. For this reason you will have the opportunity to become quite involved
in the structure, running and development of the camp, which will require you to
work on your own initiative for a lot of the time.
For this reason, being creative is a must.
You may work with large or small groups of children, so you need to be diverse
and organised, but you are encouraged to utilise any skills or passions you
have, whether these are playing sport, music, drama or just games.
Past volunteers made a real difference by introducing a fun and
creative way for the children to express themselves and learn about new things.
You’ll be
rewarded by how much fun the children will have!
So if you haven't got anything planned and you're
free for a couple a weeks or longer this summer, why not come to
Ghana and have fun with the kids.
Our Ghana Manager and his team will look after you well.
You'll get lots of advice about the do's and don’ts of Ghanaian culture, what to
do and where to go.
Your accommodation will
vary depending on the type of placement you're doing and where you are
located. You may live in comfortable guest house accommodation, but you
will most likely live with a host family. This means that you get to eat,
sleep, work, socialise and generally live like a Ghanaian. Local family
stays enable you to fully experience the local culture from the inside.
Many of our volunteers remain friends with their host
families long after they leave Ghana and in some cases they return to
the country later especially to visit their family. Sometimes members of
their Ghanaian family have even gone to visit them in their home
country.
"My family -
Lizzie and Prince are lovely. The children are very sweet, and I feel
extremely lucky to have been placed with them. The house is of a Western
standard in most ways, and Lizzie's cooking is excellent. I feel a part of
their family already."
Food will be local cuisine - again this is
to enable you to fully experience living as local Ghanaians do.
Read about what it's like to live in Ghana
When we arrange your placement, we will liaise
extensively with you regarding both the placement and your accommodation.
As always, our Local Manager will look after you well and will
always be on hand to help and offer advice.
Caroline on the left,
Susannah on the right
standing on the front verandah of their accommodation
with Caroline’s
host, Lizzie
You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Ltd., ATOL No. 6856. (Read more about Murray Rogers Travel Ltd.)
Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the
same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other
volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up
before leaving for your placement.
Where possible, all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many of our
volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in their destination
country.
Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa
and the level of your air ticket,
of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour to get
a changeable ticket.
We can also arrange your flight
dates
to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a
fascinating and wondrous country!
VISAS:. In countries where visas are required, we'll send you all the necessary forms and
information and make the process very easy for you.
You'll fly into Accra where you'll be met by our Ghana Manager, or one of his staff. From the
airport you'll be taken to your work and your accommodation and introduced to your
hosts. You'd be well advised to prepare yourself
for an almost overwhelmingly friendly welcome!
.
+44 01903 502595
