P.Y.V.O-GHANA EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL EXCHANGE PROGRAM.
Start Date: Ongoing throughout the year
Arrival/Departure and End Point: Accra – Ghana
Language Requirements: Basic knowledge of English
This Program is Open to: Worldwide participants – High Schools, Colleges/Universities, Clubs, Organizations, Individuals, etc.
Age Ranges: 15 and over
Typical Living Arrangements: Group living – Hotels during travelling
Participants Travel to Ghana: Groups (5 – 20).
Accommodation: Hotels
Food: 3 (three) times daily African dishes/continental meals.
Activities: 14 Day Travel (See details below)
Special Needs: Participants need to be in good health.
Cost:
2-WEEKS – $2200 PER PERSON
3-WEEKS – $3600 PER PERSON
PLEASE E-MAIL FOR DETAILS ON FEES AT info@passionateyouthvoluntarygh.org
DAY 1 
Day 1:
Welcome to Ghana, your journey to Africa begins when you are met at the airport by P.Y.V.O Ghana staff and transferred to your hotel. Settle in and later you will receive a brief orientation before enjoying a welcome dinner at the beach. Pass the night in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
Lodging: 4 star hotel
2nd DAY
9:00 AM Breakfast
10:00 AM Introduction of PYVO-Ghana Guides, language teacher and other staff.
11:00 AM PYVO-Ghana staff escorts group to Ada beach resort for refreshment.
1:00 PM Pack and board the bus
1:30 PM Depart Accra for Kumasi
5:00 PM Arrive in Kumasi
7:00 PM Ghanaian dinner
8:30 PM Stories about the Asante people
9:00 PM free time and relaxation.
3rd DAY
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Set off from hotel (Kumasi) to Adum (the central place of commerce in Kumasi) for Drumming and Dancing lessons at the Cultural Center
9:30 AM Drumming and dancing lessons at the Cultural Center
12:00 PM Group Discussion with the Exchange Partner School in Ghana:
1:30 PM lunch and tour the Cultural Center
2:30 PM Group depart for the Manhyia Palace Museum. Field lessons would be conducted by our staff during shopping and touring. (And all throughout the trip) Use of Twi the local language will be encouraged while making purchases and interacting with people at the
Central market-the largest market in Ghana and then visit Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
5:00 PM End tour and back to hotel.
6:00 PM Dinner
7:0O PM Family Time
7:30 PM Free time and Relaxation
5th DAY
8:30 AM Depart for kumasi Children’s Home.
9:00 Arrive at the kumasi Children’s Home
10:30 AM Program:
Staff of the kumasi Children’s Home will host a meeting between the group and the orphaned children.
Discussion: Challenges of the orphaned child and efforts to enhance a brighter future:
Presentation by students
Group presents gifts
12:00 PM Lunch with the kids at the kumasi Children’s Home.
1:00 PM Group play games with the kids.
1:40 PM Tour around the orphanage farm and school project.
3:00 PM The groups depart for kumasi to visit a batik tie and dye center.
At this place the group will learn the art of making batik and tie and dye cloth.
Discussion
5:00 PM Depart batik center for kumasi fort and military museum.
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Relaxation and free time
6th DAY
8:30 AM Visit any naming ceremony or funeral in Ghanaian clothes.
2:00 PM Return to host family for lunch.
3:00 PM Depart for a village called Bonwire and Ntonso village to share how to make the adinkra cloths and various traditional symbols.
3:30 PM Arrive in Bonwire at the home of the King and Queen Mother.
Bonwire in the Ashante kingdom is said to be the village where Kente was born. The group will reside in the compound of the King and Queen Mother of Bonwire, one of many sub-officials in the Ashanti kingdom
5:00 PM Get settled and prepared for dinner with King and Queen Mother’s family.
7:00 PM History of Bonwire and Kente.
8:00 PM Storytelling by an elder of the palace.
9:00 PM Group will pass the night at our staff member’s house in Bonwire
7th DAY
bathing. The well is about ½ mile away from the house. They will be instructed in how to successfully carry water on their heads from the well to the house.
8:30 AM Breakfast.
9:00 AM Depart for local church service. Group will have the opportunity to observe a Christian worship service delivered entirely in Twi. (Optional).
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Discussion
2:00 PM Kente weaving & Palm wine tapping; half of the group will be trained on how to weave the traditional Kente cloth. Half of the group will be trained on tapping palm wine, a traditional beverage from palm trees. The two groups will switch places so that they both have equal experiences
5:00 PM Assists host family in food preparation. Group will experience pounding and turning fufu. They will observe the methods of preparing traditional foods on an open fire.
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Conversation with the elders. Group will have the opportunity to ask questions of the elders of Bonwire (with the help of PYVO translator).
8:00 PM Relaxation and free time.
7:00 AM Fetch water for bathing.
7:30 AM Breakfast.
8:00 AM Depart for traditional farming with the local farmers.
8:30 AM Arrival at the farm; farming begins. The group will have the opportunity to participate in the farming. In addition to learning planting cassava used for fufu and others. They will also have the experience of preparing, cooking and partaking of the food that they pick while in the farm. After farming, group will cut and gather fire wood for the house. (Lunch will be cooked in the farm)
5:00 PM Return to village from farm, delivery of fire wood.
6:00 PM Fetch water for bathing.
6:30 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Snack will be provided
7:30 PM Discussion with members in the community.
9:00 PM Relaxation and free time.
9th Day
8:00 AM Depart for local School
8:30 AM School observation
9:00 AM Presentation of Gifts (school supplies, etc.)
10:00 AM Group and students play games together.
11:30 AM Group departs for hotel/hostel/host family.
12:00 PM Lunch
12:30 PM Depart Bonwire to Lake Bosomtwi 40 km south east of Kumasi and enjoy a natural scenic beauty. Participants will tour around the village, meet the king and queen and they will be told the myth on how the hunter and his dog created the lake.
10th Day
7:AM Depart lake Bosomtwi for a craft village in kumasi, Ahwiaa woodcarvers, who were bought to the village over 400yrs ago after the battle of Feyiase to carve stools for the king of Ashanti to sit on.
8: AM Group arrives at Ahwiaa Carving Center to observe the art of woodcarving. Masks and famous Ashanti stools are carved here. The group can pick out souvenirs for friends and relatives back home and later departs for another craft village Ntonso.
Group arrives at Ntonso a craft village to learn how to make the adinkra cloths and various traditional symbols.
12:30 PM Group departs for Northern region – Ghana.
7:30 PM Stop over at a restaurant for dinner
Arrive at Mole hotel.
11th Day
8:00 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM Group tour around the Mole National Park/Elephant Dome
Mole is a wildlife observatory. Here you can watch creatures in their natural habitat from observation centers. The group will use paths that expose them to the ancestral art of tracking and approaching animals silently early morning. (with a guide and our staff member). Wildlife to be encountered in Mole Game Park includes antelopes, warthogs, baboons, blue and black columbus, elephants, buffalo, the occasional lion, scads of leopards, hippos and hyenas.
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Group depart for Daboya cultural village outside Damongo
2:00 PM Arrive at Daboya cultural Village.
The group will be passing the night at the local structures in the village
ACTIVITIES:
Live band performance by the locals and group would participate in the drumming and learning of their traditional dance.- The group will prepare a local meal by using the traditional way of preparing food on fire.
- Group will be guided in washing clothes by hand
- Cultural performance at the king and queens house by the group.
- Communication in the form of drumming.
- The group will be using the twi language where ever we go as part of their practice (assisted by our staff)
- The group joins the local people in the village for conversation.
- Wearing of traditional dress and traditional body paint.
- Physical challenges of strength and tests of intelligence.
- The group will observe the societal hierarchy
- The group will be exposed to traditional spiritual practices.
12th Day
Daboya cultural village stay continues and Ends with a completion ceremony
Depart Daboya cultural village for Kumasi.
13th Day
6:00 AM Breakfast
6:30 AM Depart Kumasi for Cape Coast (we will stop over for snacks on the way).
9:00 AM Arrive at their hostel/hotel.
9:30 PM Discussion
12:00 PM Lunch
12:30 PM Depart for Kakum Forest Canopy Walk
1:00 PM Arrive at Kakum Forest. Kakum is a forest reserve and canopy walkway 30 km north of cape coast. Up on the bridges, you have a total view of Kakum forest with all its aesthetic looks. Its walkways which are about 100m above the ground will prove a bravery and confidence test for participants who engage in walking on this pathway.
4:00 PM Depart Kakum for tour and shopping in Cape Coast formerly known as the Gold Coast; used to be the capital city of Ghana
6:00 PM Dinner at the Hans Cottage crocodile pond.
8:00 PM Return to Campus
9:00 PM Free time
14th Day
6:00 AM Breakfast
6:30 AM Depart for Elmina Castle the first European structure south of the Sahara.
7:00 AM Tour Elmina Castle and Slave Dungeons
12:00 PM Lunch and Discussion
1:00 PM Off to Cape Coast Castle and the West African historical museum
1:30 PM Arrive at Cape Coast Castle. Tours around the Castle The oldest castle in West Africa, these castles were constructed in 1652 and 1482 respectively. Touring around the Cape Coast and Elmina castles will take group back 400yrs in time to see the dungeons of the castles where African captives were in custody before they were shipped to the new world. at these castles group can explore the role Africans and Europeans played in the slave trade and the impact the trade has had on African society and the new world.
3:00 PM The group departs for the “Slave River” where slaves took their last bath before being sent into detention at the slave castles. We end the tour by relaxing on the silvery sands at one of the Central Region’s coconut-fringed beaches. This opportunity shouldn’t be missed.
4:30 PM Return to hostel/hotel
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Depart Cape Coast for Accra
9:00 PM Arrive in Accra
9:30 PM Group pass the night at a hotel.
15th Day
7:00 AM Breakfast
7:30 AM Depart for Accra city Tour that will include:
the National Musuem, Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Park, final resting place of the famous pan-African and the First President of Ghana. Black Star Square and the Independence Arch, Dr. W.E.B Du Bois centre for Pan-African studies, The University of Ghana, Legon and the Centre for National Culture where the group can enjoy African arts & crafts. Makola Market one of the continent’s most colorful, interesting and picturesque modern open market, where the group will admire the business insight of the Ghanaian women traders.
12:00 PM Lunch at the beach.
3:00 PM Return from Accra Tour
3:20 PM Group prepares for culminating ceremony. Recognition given for achievements throughout Rites of Passage.
5:00 PM Dinner and refreshment
8:00 PM Group pass the night at a hotel.
16th Day
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Reflection
10:00 AM Discussion among the group and our staff
12:00 PM Check out from the hotel.
1:00 PM Last tour at the Arts and crafts bazaar.
4:00 PM Check-in at the airport
5:00 PM Dinner at a restaurant around the airport.
Depart Accra for your Destination.
PLEASE NOTE: P.Y.V.O is more than open for ideas that the volunteers might have. Maybe they want to relax an entire day or maybe they want to have enough rest after a whole day of touring. P.Y.V.O also knows that it doesn’t have to be so scheduled all the time but the time is there to keep volunteers in mind what we would be doing after each session.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
-
- Airports pick up and hotel transfer – Participants rest the first night in Accra.
- Transportation from Accra to project site – All round transportation from the beginning to the end of the program.
- Accommodation from the beginning to the end of the program. Participants live with host family in a big house for the duration of volunteer work and hotel for the duration of tours.
- Three (3) times daily African dishes/continental meals
- In-country introduction/orientation
- Introduction to host family and program
- Placement and supervision in program
- Support/24 hour back up from PYVO
- Donation to project
- A letter of recommendation or certificate to participants after program
- Entrance fees to tourist locations (i.e. museums, wildlife parks, etc.).
What the fee excludes:
- Flight/Air transportation from homeland.
- Visa
- Insurance
- Vaccinations
- Drinks/smoking and clubbing
- Buying gifts/souvenirs for friends and family members back home.
- Internet access/ Phone calls
- Mobile phones/SIM cards
- Medical bills
- Damage to or loss of properties – luggage
DO I NEED EXPERIENCE
No experience necessary.
AGE LIMIT
We accept chaperoned school groups ranging from primary to university school. We accept other age groups for those whom find interest learning about Ghana and the culture of an African country.
ANYTHING EXTRA I NEED TO KNOW
Our minimum group’s size is 5.
If you would like to volunteer on your own or stay for an extended period of time, please send an email to director@passionateyouthvoluntarygh.org.
