PMGY - Volunteer in Ghana from $375

I've just returned home after spending an amazing 3 weeks in Ghana. This was my first time travelling alone, which was quite daunting. However, as soon as I was greeted at the airport I immediately felt like part of the family. I spent my 3 weeks at the orphanage which, despite being a challenging experience, was 100% worthwhile. Seeing the smiles on all the kids faces and hearing their infectious giggles when we took them out to the park or sang their favourite songs made up for how tough it was. One thing I really appreciated during this experience was he support of my fellow volunteers. I met so many amazing people who filled my 3 weeks with so much joy and laughter and who were always there to talk to about anything. Thank you to Seth and Florence who consistently went above and beyond to help us out, listen to our concerns and make our stay in Ghana the best it could be! To anyone who is considering volunteering with PMGY Ghana, just do it! Ghana is such an amazing country and I will always look back on this experience with fond memories. The only thing I regret is that I couldn't have stayed longer!

I have recently finished a 2 week Orphanage placement in Ghana, it was a very eye opening and amazing experience. When you go on this placement you really need to go in with an open mind and with no preconceived expectations, this will make your experience even more worthwhile. As well as this, I got the privilege to go on one of the weekend trips to Mole National Park, which really allowed me to experience the culture further. Additionally, when in the volunteer house, the staff and other volunteers are very supportive and help you with anything, especially if you have specific dietary requirements they will go out of their way to accommodate you. In terms of safety during my Ghana placement, I did not feel like their were any safety issues, as you would either by with a group of volunteers or a member of staff in the volunteers house will guide you and keep you safe wherever you need to go.

I have just returned home from a four week stay in Ghana and I cannot even put into words what an amazing and life changing month I had. I was able to do two placements while out there, in the morning I would go and teach at Divine International School and in the afternoon I went to Kumasi Children’s Home and helped out there.

It was refreshing being able to do two placements as it gave me the opportunity to really help out as much as I could. There was also a really nice difference between the placements, as in the morning it would be hard work trying to keep the attention of 6 year olds while you’re trying to teach them the difference in pronouns and adjectives, while in the afternoon at the orphanage, it was more relaxed and you got to play, feed and bond with the children which was a nice change compared to the busy morning. However, there was nothing more rewarding than when a child came up to you to get their work marked, and it all being correct. The hard work definitely paid off and I wouldn’t change it for the world. There was a culture shock with discipline and the children but going there open minded, being able to adjust and remembering you’re in a different country where they do things differently will help. This should 100% not put you off if you are worried.

As well as the placements being amazing, the opportunities involving doing weekend activities and excursions was amazing. It allowed me to travel around Ghana and see what a beautiful country it actually is, as well as giving me the opportunity to do things I would most likely not get the chance to do in the UK. I would definitely recommend the weekend trips not only because they are fun but it gives you a chance to explore and really find out about local culture and lifestyle. In regards to safety, I never had an issue, all of the locals are very welcoming and I felt safe the whole time I was there.

I would like to thank all of the local team for all the hard work they do, they made my time in Ghana outstanding and I can’t thank them enough. I found that after the first couple of days I actually realised that the local team were more like family which was lovely. A special thank you to Seth and Flo for always going the extra mile, nothing was ever too much trouble and they bought nothing but fun and laughs to the house constantly. Food was always so tasty so a massive thank you to Christy and Cindy and also a big thank you to Dennis, Prince and Roland, I love you all very dearly. I also found out that Ghana is a very lively country, I went out every weekend to bananas, one of the clubs and not going to lie it was probably better than here in the UK so honestly don’t miss the opportunity to go out I guarantee you’ll have a jokes time. From returning home, I realised how lucky I was to meet lifelong friends, not only is it nice to go independently to a country but having those few you can share those memories with is once in a lifetime. So glad I got to share this unforgettable adventure with them.

Returning home was a sad time, this programme has made me realise how lucky, thankful and appreciative I am for everything I have. Even though many of the children have nothing, you would never see them without a huge smile on their face which would brighten up my day. I would recommend PMGY Ghana to anyone and everyone without hesitation, the whole four weeks was better than I expected and could have hoped for, I was able to fulfil a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.

I have just returned from 4 weeks in Ghana volunteering in the orphanage and at a special needs school. My time there has allowed me to grow as a person and i have come out the other end feeling humbled, with the confidence to continue travelling and throwing myself into new experiences.
I applied to be on the special needs project in Ghana, however what i got was so much more. In the orphanage the children with special needs live amongst all of the other orphans, which automatically gives you the opportunity to get to know all of the children in the unit you volunteer in. Although it is very hard to spread yourself around, as the children require so much attention, i was able to find a nice balance of focusing on the children with special needs in the morning when the others were at school, and then being involved in the orphanage as a whole in the afternoon. The orphanage was a big shock for me, and no day there was the same. However, seeing that the children could live in such poor circumstances and yet still have a smile on their face warmed my heart and taught me to appreciate everything i have. I cannot describe the bonds that you can form with these children in just four weeks and i will genuinely miss them.
Throughout the program i learnt about the special needs school up the road from the orphanage and Seth kindly arranged for me to spend some time there. After knowing about the stigma attached to special needs in Ghana, i was apprehensive about what i was going to walk into. However, i am so pleased that i asked to do it, as i learnt much about their education system and even about Ghana as a whole. My volunteering there was not as hands on as it was in the orphanage, however it gave me a massive insight into the world of special needs there and i was able to exchange knowledge with the other teachers.
Attending the special needs school was not something mentioned in the hand book or that needed to even be offered to me, however when i asked about attending there Seth was more than willing to set it up for me. This was just one of the additional experiences that Seth set up throughout my time there to ensure that we had got the most out of our time in Ghana. The hard work and effort put in to organising and running a volunteer project such as this is very much appreciated, so a big thank you to Seth, Flo, Cindy, Christy and Dennis! Living in the volunteer house can give a taste of what living in Ghana is like, trying out the food and washing my clothes by hand ect. I feel like this allowed me to have a more realistic experience of the culture, whilst still allowing me to feel safe in an unknown country with someone to turn to if i needed help. In addition to this, living in the volunteer house gave me the opportunity to make some friends out of the pmgy team and other volunteers, listening to their experiences of life and supporting each other in the experiences we were having at the time. This social element of the program made for the perfect balance, as whatever challenges you may have faced whilst volunteering, you know you can go home and let of some steam.
All in all i feel that everyone needs an experience such as this, allowing you to venture out of your comfort zone with the knowledge that you have a second family supporting you the whole way.

For the 6 weeks I was in Ghana I had the best time of my life. I honestly feel like Ghana is my second home, I did more in those 6 weeks than I have to show for my entire life, being my first time travelling for a long period alone, Ghana will always be really close to my heart and i'm so certain that i will be coming back every year until I die. I was so lucky to go at a time that I met people who I know I'll be friends with for the rest of my life and even my mum said this would happen and I didn't believe her like I can't wait to go back and see Seth, Flo, Cindy, Christy, Roland, Dennis & Prince, the local team who have been nothing but amazing friends to me, they are so helpful with whatever you want to do they will make you feel at home and will give you the help you need to have confidence to do what you want on your own. Food was delicious by the way, I would only eat fat British food at home and now I'm looking up recipes for Red Red & craving pancakes for breakfast. I have so much to thank you all for and I love you all so much. Placement was unreal, most of the children I wanted to take home with me and felt like they were my actual friends. As I did the teaching placement in the mornings and orphanage in the evening, I felt like I was making a real difference at the school and really helping out at the orphanage. The culture shock is real but if you go into it with a closed mind you will never truly enjoy yourself, just remember it's not just a different country it's a different world and if you treat it like that then you will be a changed person when you get back I promise. If you're worries are safety, forget it because you will be around the team who are like eagles when it comes to spotting anything that could be slightly dangerous & care so much about you that you don't even think about it. I actually can not recommend going enough, I can't put into words how amazing it was, thank you SO much my friends in Ghana and my fellow volunteers, until next time xoxo

I've just completed 4 weeks in Ghana with PMGY, volunteering at both Divine International School and Kumasi Children's Home. Whilst both placements provided me with completely different experiences, they each taught me so much. I have come home inspired by how happy and grateful children who have so little are and how people are thankful for the simplest of things. It's no lie that the orphanage especially was challenging at times, due to a culture shock and the Ghanaian attitude on how to discipline children. Despite this, it only makes it more inspiring and eye-opening, providing you with the experience of a life time and for me, a completely new way of approaching my life at home: making sure I take nothing for granted; enjoying the health of my family and taking full advantage of my education. I cannot emphasise enough how amazing the children in Ghana are. Spending your time with them teaches you so many values you perhaps otherwise wouldn't have.

As well as how fantastic the projects are, the support from the coordinators whilst out there is brilliant. Seth and Florence welcome you to Ghana as if you are already part of the family. They are available for anything you could possibly need and they really do care about you. Travelling by yourself to a foreign country is definitely daunting, but everyone who works for PMGY Ghana (Cindy, Christie, Dennis, Prince and Kwami) all make you feel as if their home is also yours. In the evenings we all sit around together chatting, watching movies, listening to music and laughing. It makes the intensity of the projects so much easier, as you know you have your own little Ghana family waiting for you when you get back from project.

I would recommend this placement to anybody who wants to step out of their comfort zone, learn something about themselves and give back to people who are less fortunate. PMGY Ghana will always be one of my fondest memories and I am so thankful to everyone who made it so special!

Although I was only able to do 2 weeks with PMGY Ghana I have loved every minute and wish I could have done many more weeks! The staff are so welcoming and supportive and I would like to thank christy, cindy and dennis and also a big thank you to seth and florence for being so helpful and being there anytime. I have met the most amazing friends along the way which I hope to keep for life! My placement was at Kumasi children's home which I loved so much. I have never met more loving, amazing kids in my life and saying bye to them was one of the hardest things I've had to do. They are truly amazing and appreciate and value you so much for spending time with them. I was based in the nursery unit with all boys which I really loved. The mothers there were always friendly and helpful towards us. They are really flexible if you would like to explore other units or get stuck in with washing, feeding and changing the children. I also volunteered in mornings at the day care which is based in the children's home where I tought the children their letters and colours in English. This was really fun and also an advantage becasue I already knew most of the children as they lived at the home so I knew all of their names and had good relationships with the kids.
Overall this has been the best experience of my whole life and I would recommend this to everybody!!

I was sure I wanted to travel abroad to volunteer but I was undecided on where I wanted to go. It wasn't until I came across Plan My Gap Year that I came to an immediate decision - Ghana. This expereience has truly been the most life-changing, humbling, fun and thrilling time of my life. Before I set off I was unsure of what to expect as this was my first time volunteering alone abroad but the staff before hand were so helpful and easy to get hold of. The staff in Ghana were AMAZING - any time of the day which you need them they are always there. The experience has truly made me so grateful for everything and I've met the most big-hearted people along the way. Plan My Gap Year Ghana has truly kickstarted a life of travelling for me and I'm so excited to go to more of their destinations in the future. I would recommend them as I couldn't have had a better experience - you will always feel safe, never be hungry, always be laughing and always have people to talk to. Ghana is such a beautiful country with the most amazing children and happy people, I will miss it so much and cannot wait to return.