Location
  • Ghana

Program Details

Language
English
Housing
Hostel

Pricing

Starting Price
500
Price Details
Program fees include accommodation, in-country transportation, meals, 24 hour support from a MAD crew member, and a donation to the community projects.
Jul 09, 2018
Feb 12, 2015
1 traveler is looking at this program

About Program

Join the MAD Tribe in Ghana and become immersed in a community where you can serve, learn, explore, and truly make a difference. Our Ghana projects are located in the beautiful coastal villages and towns in Ada Foah, giving you a chance to get off the beaten path and into an incredible cultural experience.

This summer you will be partnered with a small community school that will benefit from volunteers building, teaching, and coaching. Build in the morning, teach in the afternoon? The choice is yours!

Ghana projects run between June 6th and August 1st, you can choose your own dates and come anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months!

Project Highlights:
• Become apart of a traditional, friendly, and fun Ghanaian culture
• Create genuine and life changing relationships
• Be a part of lasting and empowering development projects
• Learn valuable lessons and gain new perspective on community, culture, and service.

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 9 reviews
  • 5 rating 100%
  • 4 rating 0%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Impact 4.7
  • Support 5
  • Fun 4.55
  • Value 5
  • Safety 4.9
Showing 1 - 8 of 9 reviews
Default avatar
Thelma
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

One of the best experiences I have ever had.

My experience to Ghana was one of the best that I have ever experienced which is quite a lot considering I have travelled many places. When I arrived it was all a bit scary since you are in a new country aswell as in a whole different community but that changed right away after i got to know the people that i was going to be living and interacting with. Personally I could have not asked for better people. Both Christa and Natasha (the project leaders) were amazing both as friends and as your supporters. The community of Maranatha was even better, the children in the school, the teachers and all the people at Maranatha Beach camp made my stay and incredible one.
Im a blonde girl with white skin in a whole different community but I couldn't have felt better with my appearance. Everyone just excepted you for what you look like and that to a certain extent came as a surprise to me. However even though people look you, you are immediately welcomed into their home. People want to know where you are from, touch your skin and hair and wave, the warm welcoming was one of the main aspects that Im thinking of going again. The school is also amazing even though you encounter hard days and better days you will always remember the children who are both wonderful and encouraging to help you with your ideal goals for the project. Overall I would recommend Ghana since it really changed my view on life.

51 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Christian
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The Real Africa

When I arrived in Ghana I was struck by what people would call a culturel shock. Everything was different from what I knew back home. But setling in was the easiest thing ever, because of the heart of this project: The people. Here I am talking about both my co-volunteers and crew leaders, that really but there best effort into helping improve the school and local community in general. Everyone helped coming up with new ideas as to how we could teach or do sports or something compeltely different. And then there are the locals. Close to the school os a place called Maranatha Beach Camp where you spend a lot of hours if your on this project. And here you find the nicest people you will ever encounter. They make you feel at home the second you arrive.
One of the guys from here took me to watch football at the local village one of my first days there. So there i was with 50 locals, wathing Ghana play against Togo. They were so welcoming and really wanted to talk to me about where I was from, who I was and lots of other things.
That is what I really like about this project. You really get a chance to join an actual african village and the life there. It is challenging at times but all worth it in the end.
Compared to the other places I have been in Africa, which includes 5 other countries, I think that Ghana is a place where you really get to be a part of another culture. A great culture!

What would you improve about this program?
Food. The cook does not make enough dinner. I think that is unacceptable considering how much you have to pay in order to join the project. It is not nice having to months were you are still hungry after having dinner.

50 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Matthew
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

MAD Ghana!

At 18 I decided to go and do a building and teaching trip to Ghana...... I still talk about it to this day 4years on!

You step off the plane and are thrown into a different world, different culture with so many different people, different smells you really don't know where to look. We stayed a night on Accra which is the capital of Ghana and it was such an experience I find it hard to explain the city never sleeps something is always going on.

You travel to your village the day after and you get the chance to try street food which I may add is amazing! You get to the village and are greeted by the most happiest people I have ever met yet they have very little.

Anyone that has been thinking of travelling and doing something like this STOP! Get on the next flight and get out there you really do find yourself and are a different person. You havnt lived if you havnt visited Ghana! I will be going back.

Have fun!

What would you improve about this program?
The only thing I would possibly change is I wish I could have stayed for longer!
48 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
James
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Superb - Aim to return!

Fab time working in Ghana for the MAD organisation.
Kids were fantastic, both in the classrooms and at the beach camp.
MAD leaders Cathy and Emily were extremely helpful and lovely to spend time with.
Early hours waking up (my most difficult experience!) and getting to the village via boat is a refreshing experience.
I taught maths to 3 separate classes which seemed daunting at first, but once I became familiar with the children I loved it. A great feeling.
Weekends had the choice of exploring the country or to relax by the beach - followed by a highly entertaining bonfire/boogie at night.
Hardest part would be saying goodbye to all the brilliant new people I'd befriended over the month.
All in all a fantastic way to spend your summer.
5 star, 10/10, highly recommend!!

51 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Megan
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

MAD for Maranatha

I cannot recommend this program enough! I was in the beach community of Maranatha for a month as part of the Gib Tribe on a school building project. The madventurer team was amazing at making you feel welcome and accommodating your every need. It was amazing how involved we became in the community - not just during the work day but even after! Constant contact with the school children and people made all of the difference. With madventurer there was also a strong sense of knowing where they money you raise is going straight towards all the materials and resources that go into the project and community you are working on. The friendships and memories I have made with the rest of the building tribe, the friendly people of Maranatha, the madventurer team and the amazing kids, have gone above and beyond my expectations! I cannot wait to get involved in madventurer all over again! Akpe MAD!

49 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Laxmi
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

MAD project

I found this project at school, and so happy I did, this has been one of the best summers I've ever had. I was meant to stay there for four weeks but I enjoyed it so much I stayed an extra week.
The project wasn't easy, it was exhausting working in the heat but it was worth it at the end!
Our living conditions wasn't what you expected there was no running water, no electricity throughout the day but you get use to it and it teaches you of how lucky we are at home, it opens your eyes and makes you appreciated of what you have back home, you see the children with no clothes, no shoes, no toys and the are the happiest children I've ever seen.
I would recommend everyone to do this project it is the greatest achievement that you would receive!

48 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Francis
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

MAD about this project!

I recently returned from completing my second trip to Ghana to take part in the project. The project itself is very well organized and our tribe leader, Cathy, supported us every step of the way from Gibraltar to Ghana and back.

Maranatha beach camp where we volunteer is a beautiful part of the world. It reminds me a bit of the Caribbean with palm trees on the shore line. It is not a holiday resort however and make no mistake about it, you are in the middle of nowhere where there is no running water or constant electricity. But to my view the resort is all the better for it as this allows you to enjoy the beauty around you more and become part of the community that much easier. You will be practically living like the locals: from showering in the river; to drinking out of plastic bags instead of bottles; to working shoulder to shoulder with them; to dancing to the small hours of the morning on the beach beside a camp fire.

Make no mistake about it, the manual work is tough, but as your time there progresses you will be amazed at what is achieved by people who have never done manual labour before. It will bring out the best in you.

This second time round I could really notice the impact that our first trip has made to the local community. Not only had the school attendance more than doubled in a year, but I could see a marked improvement in the academic level of many of the children. Which brings me to the best part of the whole experience...the local children. They are very excitable, very loud and above all very very fun to be around. You,ll have to fight the urge to take one home with you once the programmer has finished. They love being around the volunteers and help wherever possible.

In conclusion, I cannot recommend this project enough, and if I have an opportunity I will be back for the third time next year!

48 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Daya
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Not to be missed!

Ghana is my birthplace and my trip there had a twofold purpose...go back to my roots and involve myself in the lives of some fantastic people.
The work experience was great despite the odd obstacle...no one ever let anything get in the way of the service they were there to provide....socially , everyone had a great time discovering about other cultures and to some degree even discovering themselves...
My trip to Ghana came at an opportune time to deepen my wonderful relationship with my 17 year old daughter....it certInly did...
I feel blessed to have been able to be some small part of 'make a difference'.....to have met some wonderful people and to have reconnected with my home.

50 people found this review helpful.

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