Location
  • Ghana
    • Accra
    • Cape Coast
    • Kumasi
Length
1 to 52 weeks

Program Details

Age Min.
18
Age Max
70
Timeframe
Short Term Spring Break Summer Winter Year Round
Housing
Apartment Host Family Hostel
Groups
Small Group (1-15) Medium Group (16-30) Large Group (31+)
Travel Type
Budget Family Older Travelers Solo Women

Pricing

Starting Price
85
Price Details
This price is for a 1 week stay with us. Some education placements require a 4 week minimum duration with us to ensure a high social impact and chance for you to experience a new way of life. The longer our volunteers join our program, the lower the program fees reduce - dropping down to $70 per week.

This weekly program fee covers your pre departure support, accommodation, utility bills, support staff and orientation day.
What's Included
Accommodation Some Activities
What's Not Included
Some Activities Airfare Airport Transfers Equipment Meals SIM cards Transportation Travel Insurance Visa Wifi
Dec 29, 2024
Feb 01, 2025
29 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Atlas offers the lowest volunteering fees in Ghana and various volunteering placement types providing a high and meaningful social impact. Our projects are located around the Abetifi district which is based on top of the Kwahu mountain plateau and Akwidaa coastline.

The shared volunteer houses and surrounding rainforests offer breathtaking views. We focus our placements across Education, Sports Development, Renovation, Eco Protection and Sea Turtle Conservation.

Our placements run throughout the year and there's always a team of volunteers out with us, so you can plan when fits best with your schedule to join us. As previous volunteers in the local area we set this organisation up to remove the business element out of volunteering and work with the local community to assist in their development, one step at a time.

Ghana is often referred to as Africa for beginners and offers a safe, serene environment for your trip whilst experiencing new cultures and warm welcoming people.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Low Cost - Lowest available weekly fees in Ghana. Starting from only $65 per week.
  • Support Staff - A wide range of support staff will be on hand to answer any question you may have, from drivers to project coordinators.
  • Shared Housing - You will stay with your fellow volunteers in a shared volunteer house overlooking the rainforest - the perfect backdrop to create friends for life.
  • Sustainability - We work alongside the local communities in all our projects to ensure that our impact has a long and lasting affect.
  • Free Time - Weekends are free to travel the local waterfalls, national parks, safari and canopy walks.

Program Impact

You will be working directly alongside the local communities and authorities to provide assistance and further development where we can. Depending on your placement and area of focus we aim just a small travelling distance from some of the most remote communities off the beaten track. Projects and proposals are Ghanaian led to ensure that we are making as strong and relevant an impact as possible.

Related Programs

Program Reviews

4.98 Rating
based on 99 reviews
  • 5 rating 97.98%
  • 4 rating 2.02%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Impact 4.8
  • Support 4.9
  • Fun 4.95
  • Value 4.9
  • Safety 5
Showing 65 - 72 of 99 reviews
Default avatar
Antonia
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Three incredible months with Atlas

My time in Ghana with Atlas was incredibly nice and I would recommend such a trip to anyone.
I was there for three months and the time passed far too quickly.
I applied to teach, but I also helped on other projects.
Not all volunteers work at the same school. This means there is always something to do at your school and you can get involved very well. In the beginning I had some time to get used to everything before I started teaching.
For the weekends you could always plan small trips with other volunteers.
If you wanted to go on a trip a little longer, it was no problem to have a day or two off.
Atlas always gave me recommendations for excursions and also helped to organize them.
The weekends on wich I didn't travel weren't boring either. There is a large lake nearby, where you can swim or you can just go to Abitifi to spend a nice evening at the bar.
The house had a wonderful terrace from which you had a beautiful view.
Compared to the rest of the country, it wasn't that hot in our area. Pepease (the village in which you live) and the entire area feels super safe and it felt very like home.
The atmosphere within the organization was familiar and super relaxed. During my stay, I always had the feeling that Atlas is committed to you and your ideas. No matter what idea you had, Atlas was always ready to support you. You can tell that the team really wants to have an impact on the country and the people.
The only thing I missed during my stay was chocolate and coffee. But I was able to enjoy delicious Ghanaian food.
All in all, it was one of the best experiences of my life to take part in this project.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
The most unfamiliar thing I ate was Fufu.
It is a typical Western Africa dish. Fufu itself tastes like nothing. But you eat it with a soup and the better the Soup, the better will be your Fufu experience. Also you eat it with you hands and as a European person I wasn’t used to it.
It tastes amazing and you should definitely try it.
140 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Maria
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A truly impactful program!

If you come to volunteer in Ghana with Atlas you can expect one of the best experiences of your life. You will meet the poorest yet happiest people you have ever meet. You will be received everywhere with a smile and you can expect being welcomed every morning by the kids at school with hugs and huge smiles. Having friendly farmers as neighbours. The house was good conditions, you would miss anything. Wi-fi, Shower, Toilets, Bed,Kitchen, Birds singing in the morning and the most beautiful view from the balcony. On weekends we explored Ghana: Cape Coast, Accra, Lake Volta or chilled at home. I always felt safe, day or night. The food is amazing, I was vegan during the whole experience and it was so easy. Drinkable water is cheap and good. You can get a big delicious meal on the way to school for 5 cedis. The team is super friendly and genuine. If you are looking for a genuine volunteer program in Central Africa, Atlas is the best. During my weekend away trips in Ghana I got to meet other volunteers in other organisations and realised Atlas really is special with the close help they give in school, football academy and housing. They are a really great volunteer organisation.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
I would stay longer. Everyday brings so much joy and the day to day life on place is very cheap.
110 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Florentine
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A wonderful experience!

I had a wonderful time in Ghana and I wish I could've stayed longer. The Atlas staff members are super nice and supportive all the time. If you have any issues before the arrival, they answer your e-mails super fast and on site they will help you with arranging your weekend trips, planning the lessons and everything else you may need assistance with.
Working with the kids was so much fun, they are passionate to learn, especially when you show them new teaching methods such as quizzes to repeat what they learned in the lesson. Especially during the vacation classes you are very flexible in what you teach and how, so that you feel comfortable with what you do. Also it helps a lot that you just observe and support other volunteers on your first days, that way you can settle in, see how the placement works, how the school situation is (it's very different to western school systems) and get some input on how you could organize your classes.
The tree planting placement includes growing seedlings and then planting them in public space such as schools. You work together with other volunteers and support staff so that it gets a fun way to do something good for our climate.
The volunteer houses are located really nice in the rural area, you have a big garden and a wonderful nature view. The villages and small towns around are not too overwhelming and after a few days you will get more and more comfortable with shopping, grabbing delicious local food and going out in the evening. The people are super friendly and welcoming.
In your free time you can explore the region around Pepease, spend time with your fellow volunteers or take part in other volunteering programs such as ecobricking. During the weekends you can always go on trips to see more of the country, it has so much to offer. The landscapes are beautiful and this way you will learn more about the culture.
All in all it was a precious experience and I was more than happy to work with Atlas Volunteers.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
I would most definitely stay there at least 2 or 3 months and I would try to work more with the kindergarten kids, they are just too lovely.
108 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Angela
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

An unmatched, authentic experience

Atlas Volunteers provides you the resources and opportunities to create an experience of a lifetime! I cannot stop telling all my friends and family about how truly amazing this experience has been. It offers full immersion into the local culture with the opportunity to create an impact in whichever way you would like. As a volunteer at the school placement sites, I was able to teach independently and implement my own lesson plans to engage students in new learning strategies.

Not only that, but I had the opportunity to collaborate and teach side-by-side with the wonderful Ghanaian teachers at the school site. As a school teacher in the United States, I was able to implement my own teaching strategies AND learn so much from the Ghanaian teachers and students.

I think the BEST part about Atlas is that they offer you the flexibility to pursue whichever project/program you would like. There is plenty of flexibility and NUMEROUS ways to achieve impact here. The staff within Atlas, as well as the local staff at schools, is very supportive of allowing volunteers to implement special projects/programs during and after school. For those who may not have a clear vision of what they would want to do, there are still many ongoing projects to choose from! Sam, Frank, Gem, and the rest of the Atlas staff are extremely helpful and supportive in making sure each volunteer is comfortable at their placement site. The staff goes above and beyond to ensure you are able to create an impact in the way you would like! I can only sing praises of how wonderful, meaningful, and authentic my overall experience in Ghana with Atlas Volunteers has been. You will not regret the decision to join Atlas Volunteers!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Make the most of your time at the school sites! There are plenty of opportunities to join other volunteers in after-school club activities or start your own activity for the students.
149 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jo
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Incredible experience- could not recommend it enough

I simply could not recommend going to Ghana with Atlas Volunteers enough. I had one of the greatest experiences of my life. I really felt looked after and that Sam, Frank and Libby cared about me. The support and kind words that they would offer me was always appreciated. I loved living in the small town of Pepease. I definitely recommend staying a minimum of two months. It is Ghana and things take a bit of a while to get the ball rolling so it takes about a month to get into a routine. I initially booked to be in Ghana for only 5 weeks but after being there for a week I immediately extended my stay to two months. I wish that I could have stayed even longer but I had to return home to begin my studies. It was an experience that changed my life and I left Ghana with new life long friends.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Spend a minimum of 5 weeks there to get the full experience!
146 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Emma
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

AMAZING time as a Volunteer

My time in Ghana was simply incredible and I am very glad that I chose the Atlas organisation.
Everything is very familiar and I felt right at home.

Through the observation in the first few days, you are really integrated into the place and can slowly let Ghana take effect on you.
You were free to work on all kinds of projects in the schools and the Atlas coordinators were happy about every idea and helped you organise them. They also have very progressive projects that you can do as a volunteer, helping local people and also showing them recycled examples, like a mural made from recycled glass bottles for schools.

They were always very open and helpful with travel tips and made our trips wonderful and memorable.

In Pepease, the place where we lived, and the surrounding area, I always felt very safe and the local people were very friendly and welcomed us immediately.
There you could also taste the incredible Ghanaian food or take a taxi to the next town to end the evening in a bar.
This gave us many opportunities to get to know the Ghanaian culture, to taste the delicious food or to listen to the amazing Ghanaian music in the local bars.

The volunteer house had a beautiful view of the tropical nature of Ghana and in the big garden you could just pick a mango or play football or volleyball with the other volunteers.
Meeting volunteers from all over the world gave me the opportunity to experience different cultures and meet incredible people.
By cooking together and being together in the house, everything was very familiar and you got to know each other. We also had amazing barbecues, games and film evenings together.

I can only recommend the Atlas organisation, as I had an amazing time in Ghana, they always offered help no matter what was needed, I have gained incredible experience, made amazing memories and always felt at home.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
On my first day in Ghana we went to an incredibly hospitable family who prepared fufu, a Ghanaian specialty, for us.
Fufu is made from cassava and fried plantain, which are pounded together in a wooden vat. The stomping together is quite time consuming, because the cassava and fried plantain are very hard. In the end, the result is a sticky and mushy mass, which impulse eat together with a delicious peanut soup or a meat soup.
The unusual thing about fufu, however, is that you can't chew it because of the sticky and mushy mass, you have to swallow it straight down. At first, it was very wired, because you always had the desire to chew. But you quickly got used to swallowing, because chewing fufu was simply not possible, because everything got stuck in your teeth.
However, once you get used to swallow it tastes just incredible. You can also eat it with meat or fish, which is also very delicious.
130 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Pippelijn
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Unforgettable experience!

I have been lucky enough to spend almost five weeks with atlas volunteers and I absolutely had an incredible time! I loved every minute of my stay in Ghana and I would recommend going there to everyone! I have been taken under the wing of atlas volunteers from the moment of my arrival until the end of my stay. The combination of teaching during the day and exploring the area in the afternoon or in the weekends with the other volunteers is perfect. The house where the volunteers are staying is located in a truly beautiful environment. Therefore, going for a little walk to get some bananas, eggs or avocados is always a fun activity to do during the afternoons. In other words I loved living in the volunteer house in Pepease! Concerning the teaching program; working at the school was a challenge in the beginning since the children’s level of English was not as good as I expected it to be. However after a week I found myself getting more comfortable teaching and together with one of the other volunteers I started focussing on stimulating the creative side of the kids. So we started giving music lessons, creative arts classes and PE lessons. Doing this was heart-warming and really fun to do. I loved how the children and even the teachers got excited when for example making music with a cup. The freedom that the organisation offers you makes the volunteering special and unique and gave me the idea I actually made an impact. The support given by atlas volunteers proved itself again when I asked them to help me purchase new uniforms for the school with money I fundraised at home. They guided me throughout the whole process making sure everything was taken care of. So once again thank you atlas volunteers! Hopefully I will be able to come back in the future because I am missing life I Ghana already!

120 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jolanda
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Thank you for such a lovely time! :)

My time at Atlas was one of the best experience in my life. The accommodation and the environment was just amazing. Everyone was really helpful and supportive and whenever you have new ideas you will definitely get good support. You will get help from day one and whenever you need help or you have unanswered questions Frank, Sam or Libby will always be there to help you out as much as their can. I really loved how relaxed everything was and how everything worked out at the end. Even if you work a lot and you are busy you still have enough time at the weekends to explore the area and Ghana. You can plan some nice weekend trips to Accra, Kumasi or you can explore Abetifi and the whole area. If you have any questions about travelling Im sure one of the lovely coordinators can help you out. All in one it was more than worth it to go and experience the culture and learn more about the way of teaching and learning. All the kids are very lovely and all of them are really excited to meet you and have you as a teacher. So I highly recommend to join Atlas Volunteers :)

127 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers