Discovery
Program Dates: June 13th – August 11th, 2010
Program Fee: $1999
(including all group meals, transportation, accommodation, excursions, etc.)
(excluding flight)
Fundraising Donation: $1000
Trip Highlights Include:
• Visit Ghana, Burkina Faso and MaliProgram Fee: $1999
(including all group meals, transportation, accommodation, excursions, etc.)
(excluding flight)
Fundraising Donation: $1000
• Volunteer in a rural village in northern Ghana
• Cruise down the Niger River • Explore one of Africa’s most ancient cultures in Dogon
Building off the enormous success of our first three trips to the region, Operation Groundswell is excited to announce OG West Africa Discovery 2010.The group will once again spend the volunteer section in the rural northern town of Sandema, Ghana. Participants will have the opportunity to rotate through several volunteer options and given the freedom to choose their own volunteer placements as well. Some volunteer options include:
- Mentoring at the Horizon Children’s Centre (HCC), a local orphanage for 25 boy
- Modernizing the Sandema Resource Centre and create income-generation program
- Volunteering at Radio Builsa, a radio station that reaches thousands
- Working with the Sandema District Hospital
- Assisting with creating a business plan for a local disabilities group
Along with the group volunteer projects, participants will also be urged to create personal projects. From computer classes to murals, benches to soccer nets, and organizing female leadership workshops and soccer tournaments, previous participants found the process of creating personal initiatives as one of the ultimate rewards of the trip. We urge all potential participants to consider areas of interest to them but understand that the spark of creativity often only comes when on the ground and listening to the community. Check out the fundraising page to get a better understanding of how the money you raise before the trip will be put to use in the community.
After spending one month volunteering in Sandema, the group will set off for Burkina Faso and Mali. Venturing through these former French colonies, highlights will include waterfalls, ancient mud-brick architecture and a two-day Niger River boat ride. The group will then travel to the Dogon Bandiagara Escarpment. Home of one of Africa’s most ancient cultures, the group will trek across this beautiful landscape for several days before breaking for Independent Travel Time (ITT). A staple of all Operation Groundswell programs, ITT will allow participants, depending on safety assessments at the time, the option of traveling to the historical city of Timbuktu, south to Burkina Faso or back into unexplored areas of Ghana.
All participants will be given detailed travel guides and information on the best places to see and how to stay safe. You can travel independently if desired but most participants choose to travel in pairs or in small groups. During this time, participants are not under the auspices of the organized program and are entirely responsible for themselves. Participants will be given emergency contact numbers of the trip leaders during ITT for advice and any safety concerns.
At the end of ITT, the group will reconvene at Green Turtle Ecolodge on the Ghanaian coast for a relaxing trip debriefing known as the ‘Disorientation’ prior to flying home.
For more info on how to apply, please visit the Apply page
