Ghana Volunteer Programs from $22/day | Most Affordable & Trusted

Volunteering is not an endeavor for the faint hearted or for those who are high maintenance. Flexibility, patience and rolling with the punches are attributes that go a long way and you should expect that your expectations will be both exceeded and lowered at the same time.

Two months ago I returned from my IVHQ trip where I spent a month on the Scarlet program in Ghana at an orphanage called Blessed Bright Future and I have thought about it every single day since. It is important to be aware and accept before you go, the fact that the people and the country and the experience will change you, much more than you will be able to make change. Regardless of the hardships you may face and the many cultural differences and difficulties (like the heat, the smells, the pollution the bathing and the bathrooms) if you're experience is anything like mine, it will be perhaps the greatest in your lifetime.

When I think of the highlights of my experience, the root of my joy and my happiness and my love was the people I met and grew with. Many of the specifics (and there are so many they never seem to end) I find too personal and close to my heart to share here. Waking up and falling asleep to the sound of their voices and their laughter and their language and goats; so many goats, is something I miss so very much.

Nights spent staying up far too late hearing stories that make you laugh and cry bittersweet tears of both joy and sadness, learning their faces and names and their hopes and dreams, and holding each other until both of you fall asleep with intermingled limbs, hearts beating together as one.

Watching how they live and love together as a whole but also as separate individuals is something quite phenomenal. Their incredible intelligence and endurance and the way they taught me that love can happen in an instant and that family is much more than blood and body.

Waking them up and putting them to bed, making them laugh and holding them while they cry, walking them to school and playing water-bag football, constantly having your hands and body held.

A big highlight was Christmas day. Watching them open their gifts with such joy. If you ever think that going away over Christmas means you'll miss out on the fun back home, don't. Because it is the people back home who are missing out.

PS: If you have read through this far and are still going I am impressed and I thank you so much. It means the world.

Something I do also want to say is that weekends spent relaxing and touring, while a must do and see experience to have, I found to be bittersweet. I loved the running shower and the flushing toilet and the close to home food, but I hated it as well. Things that reminded me of home made me sad, not because I missed being at home but because it made me think of things like privilege and circumstance and it made me question what it means to have rights. These were things that I found challenging. Going on a 3 day holiday and being amazed and relaxed and having fun but at the same time feeling irrevocable guilt and anger at the fact that you can do this and they cannot.

These are just some of the highlights and challenges that I experienced. I hope this has given you a small taste of what volunteering with IVHQ can be like and I hope you say yes to an experience of a lifetime.

I would like to thank IVHQ for all the information & support before my placement in Ghana.

IVHQ in Ghana has been incredibly supportive throughout especially Gideon who phoned and visited us regularly, patiently listening to all our queries & suggestions.

Seth & Vivian at the Turquoise programme (Becky's Children's Home & School) in Senya Beraku were inspirational in what they are achieving, their kindness and support to us all was outstanding. Also a thank you to Robert and Frances who accompanied us often for our safely & guidance.

It has been a moving and amazing experience to live and work with people who do so much with so little.

Being close to the sea was a huge added bonus for me. After work at the clinic to be able to walk to the beach often with children from Becky's Home who absolutely delighted at being in the sea was wonderful.

I was also very grateful to share my experiences and room with another 'older' volunteer forming what I'm sure will be a lasting friendship so thank you for putting us together.

I would highly recommend IVHQ to anyone interested in being a volunteer.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the importance of preventative measures against malaria & typhoid, these diseases accounted for up to 90% of cases at Senya Beraku Medical Clinic. During my stay four volunteers from another organisation visited the clinic & were all ill with malaria (one with typhoid too). Two became very ill having to go to hospitals in Accra. I would advise sprays, nets as well as preventative medications.

So thank you again and I hope to be back!

Where to start- my experience with IVHQ was nothing short of incredible and I would HIGHLY reccomend to anyone thinking about the experience. I have noticed that there is a negative post on this site, and I simply cannot believe that anyone would have anything bad to say about this volunteer group.

The staff are wonderful, inspiring, honest, and approachable people who will do anything and everything to ensure you feel comfortable and safe. There were several people in my orientation group who had special diets (vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free) and they were able to accomodate all, which I can ensure you is not any easy thing to do in rural Africa. These people really do bend over backwards to ensure that you feel safe and can focus on what you are there to do- volunteer and make an impact. There was not one moment in my two months in Ghana that I did not feel cared for.

I was placed in the Turquoise program, located in the central region of Ghana. Myself and several other volunteers lived in one room with three bunk beds (6 beds total), and we had a ceiling fan and electricity in our room. There was a washroom indoors, which was nice, but you still had to take bucket showers with well water. It is rural Africa, after all. However the well water was clean and provided to us whenever needed.

I worked in the medical program, so I had the opportunity to volunteer in both the orphanage and the local clinic. At the clinic, I treated patients primarily with malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, wounds from machetes, and delivered babies/ provided pre and post-natal care. I work as a registered nurse in the U.S. and can say that this has been a truly eye opening experience. The staff at the clinic were absolutely wonderful and willing to teach everything. I was also able to participate in government-run vaccination clinics for the local children of our town.

Not all malarial medications are 100% effective, and myself and another volunteer contracted malaria while there. The IVHQ staff took great care of us and we stayed in Accra at the volunteer house with wonderful accomodations until we were well enough to return to our placement. They were very sympathetic and helpful.

Working at the orphanage was even more rewarding than the clinic. There were about 50 orphaned children at our placement. Daily duties included doing laundry, cooking meals, helping them bathe and brush teeth, and teaching in the local school. The children are truly wonderful, and the family that runs the orphanage are absolutely inspiring. The IVHQ staff came by every week to see if we were faring well, which was nice but not necessary as everything was incredible.

Yes, it is rural Africa. You will be hot, sweaty, tired, and probably not used to the food. You will be emotional because of the poverty you will experience and your want to make a bigger impact than you can. You will have the best moments of your life, you will meet new people, and you will never be the same. You just need to have an open mind and and open heart.

Thank you, IVHQ, for giving me the greatest experience of my life. I cannot wait to go back again.

Firstly I would like to say how HONEST & TRUSTWORTHY all staff within IVHQ Ghana are. Getting to know them while volunteering and staying in contact with them after has been an absolute pleasure they have hearts of gold and would do anything for anyone especially their extremely appreciated volunteers. Please know that they would never take money for themselves or be untrustworthy in anyway. I have and always will have complete trust and faith in them. The world needs more people like them!!! .

Where can I begin to explain the life experience that completely changed my life. This was something that i had been wanting to do for a long time and this year I decided to go ahead with my plans. I did a lot of research on lots of organisations and finally decided to go with IVHQ and this was an excellent choice. Not only was it very affordable compared to all the other organisations they are very professional and reliable.

When planning my trip they were very helpful as i had a million questions and so did my worried Mother! Arriving in Ghana is very daunting at first but there is clearly marked IVHQ friendly staff welcoming you. At the Volunteer house your first night you are made to feel welcome and anything you are unsure or worried about they will do anything they can to help you. THEN the day you have been so excited about going to your placement myself and my brother choose to do orphanage work. We where placed in West African children's Foundation (sliver program). We stayed in a families house who also runs the orphanage who made us feel at home. Remember guys you are in AFRICA i think some people forget that and look for there 5 start treatment.

When we first meet the kids it was one the the greatest moments of my life , opening the gates and they all just came running , arms open , screaming for joy. Seeing those beautiful smiles and all the love they have to give is so priceless. Honestly the first few days were hard i guess being jetlagged and an experience that you have never had before and major eye opener. Our daily duties were to wake the kids up and bath them , clean teeth , get dressed and serve breakfast. Lunch time we would serve them also , in the afternoon was my favourite was time to just play with the kids and get lots of cuddles!!! IVHQ were great they would come often and see how we were going and if anything was bothering us , if anything was it was always just a phone call away.

We were there for 3 weeks and i cannot even being to tell you how amazingly , life changing , challenging , fulfilling , hardest best thing I have ever done in my life. The love those children have and the size of their hearts is incredible. They have made me want to be a better person and have made me look at life very different.

If you are even thinking about it stop thinking and just DO IT !! Sign up with IVHQ and i promise you wont be disappointed . It is everything you could imagine plus 100 times more ! I never once felt unsafe in Ghana you just have to use common sense like anywhere in the world. You have to be wanting to do this for all the right reason at the end of the day if you go in with love and an open mind that is what is going to make your volunteering experience.

I dont know what they would do Without volunteers , you will be helping more than you will ever know. When first looking into volunteering its hard to figure out who to plan your trip with , who isnt a scam , knowing where your money is really going . Well look no further IVHQ is very reliable , honest & your best choice !!!! ENJOY!!!!

So I went to Ghana over 12 months ago from Australia for a month to volunteer. I came back raving about IVHQ Ghana and had the best time of my life that I went back to Australia, ran fundraising events and rallied a group of ten together to return to the program 12 months later. I was so excited to return and we had been building a Library. Then head of the program agreed to help me build the library in the school and I felt safe as I trusted him. His wife, who was Australian, did most of the communicating with me and I was told numerous times $3500AUD will build the entire thing. A week before leaving for Ghana I was Asked for another $1000 AUD and told me that he had all the receipts. I was told it would be built before my arrival so that we could set it up with the 300kg in books we took over.

On arrival I was told we had to stay in the capital for two nights because our accommodation was not ready as they had overbooked and needed to create new accommodation for us. I took it all in my stride until the day we were leaving to go to the village the head of the organisation sat me down told me he did not have any receipts and if I wanted it done by the time I was there in Ghana i needed to get another at least $2500US.

I was so upset and as the leader wanted to be positive for the group but I did not have that money to pay and I could not just leave the school with a half built library. Anyways after multiple calls to try work things out in the first week I ended up getting called names and being disrespected by some staff in Accra in which I had the utter most respect for just a week before. I found out the so called builder who had the receipts and who I never got to see was actually the head guy from IVHQ's brother.

Over ten people in the village whom were business owners, including the mayor of the town and many others that I was cheated and the building should have only cost maximum $4000 Australian to build. Whilst all this was going on my group were given water out of a petrol barrel that was stinging their skin and they could not wash their face with. Eating outside and as a result a number of them got malaria as we did not have anywhere inside to sit.

From there we had a lot more problems from our gluten free girl and vegetarian having the same meals pretty much everyday and the cook not sticking to the menu and cooking what she liked when she liked so we ended up missing things such as a church service on a Sunday or our bus to an attraction, which consequently was the only bus. We also had no fridge in our vicinity which meant we had to walk to the other volunteer house to get water to drink and never could keep it cool. We also did not have a key for their kitchen so if we were thirsty around 10.30pm at night we could not get water and had to buy our own, when we paid for it with our price.

Finally there were so many things that went wrong and that I was so disappointed as this was a program I could trust and now definitely would not. So I can not inform other potential volunteers, they have deleted me off all Facebook and social media groups to do with them.

There were some "dodgy" aspects to when we arrived in Ghana this time including the staff in Accra trying to sell my volunteers items that were much more expensive then on the street etc... I offered IVHQ Ghana a ten year contract with our University in Australia in which a group of at least ten would come a min of once a year, mostly likely twice a year.They seemed really happy with this agreement. When these issues arouse I spoke with them about talking to resolve them so we can move forward with this friendship and they wanted nothing to do with it.

I would recommend volunteering in Ghana but not with IVHQ, they may be cheap but you get not much for what you give. The local staff also give you a cost breakdown and in that is a $100US donation to your program from every volunteer. I asked multiple times if we could use our 10 X 100US and I kept getting told it went to an orphanage in another part of Ghana. I asked to see receipts it went to the orphanage and got no where.

Please I am someone who is honest I will tell you what was good about IvHQ too so please do not hesitate to contact me. I would rather you do that rather then have a bad experience as Ghana is a beautiful place and the locals there are amazing!

The first day that I walked into the West Africa Children's Foundation, I knew there was no where else in the world I was suppose to be. The beautiful children taught me more in a month than what I could teach them in a lifetime. Their love knows no boundaries! My life has been completely changed by these beautiful little souls!

My experiences with IVHQ Ghana was the most remarkable experience I could have endured. I have volunteered before in Costa Rica and Europe before but this experience lifted my opinion on international volunteering. I was picked up at the airport by IVHQ staff and they immediately welcomed me, gave me food and housed me for the night before the orientation the next day which was more than enough to prepare for the adventures. I was there for one month working in a community outside Accra. The school, the Virgin Kids Academy was my post for my month stay. I was given plenty of food and lived in a room with three other volunteers. There was no running water but we did have electricity. We had a large tub of water which we would use to wash and bath. It was always plentiful and there was enough for us all.

Madam gave plenty of instruction and feedback for the work assignments which included teaching, cleaning, cooking and setting up educational programs. Her husband is a travel agent so he helped out with the travels. The work was hard more than rewarding. We worked down the street from another group of volunteers so there was enough socializing. The kids are go grateful and happy. This experience made me reevaluate my priorities and made me value my luxuries.

The children are the most energetic and happy people I have ever met. I have never felt so welcome.

I was for six weeks in Ghana-Tamale. It was one of the best decisions I have made! I worked as a Volunteer in an orphanage. I had a class with 10 kids from 8-14. I really enjoyed teaching the children. We had so much fun together. I really loved every moment.

Our Coordinator Fred was very nice and helped us always. He didn’t give us the feeling of being just Volunteers, he gave us the feeling of being a family. I felt very safe in Ghana, because everyone is very friendly. It was great to try some Ghanaian food.

I had so many Highlights during the six weeks; the children in the orphanage, the trips on the weekends and the Ghanaian culture. We visited the Mole National park, where we saw so many and interesting animals of Africa, like elephants. We also went to the monkey village, the Kintampo Waterfall and to a slave camp. Actually the whole trip to Ghana was a highlight. It was also great getting to know all the other volunteers.

I would surely recommend this program to anyone. It’s a great way to volunteer in Africa and you won't regret it. It was the best experience of my life!