ARRIVAL
Before your departure form your country, inform VOLU by fax or E-mail telling us your date of arrival, the airline, the flight number and time of arrival. This will enable us organize to meet you at the airport. After going through arrival formalities and you are coming of the arrival Hall, look for a man with placard bearing your name and go to him. He brings you to VOLU Secretariat where we have a transit hostel to accommodate you.
IMMIGRATION
Visas are normally granted for 60 days when you arrive at the airport (irrespective of the visa you get in your country).
If you want to stay longer than the 60 days, you need to get an extension. Ask the officer for a covering letter and bring black and white passport photos to the Immigration Officers. Ask in the VOLU office for directions to Immigration Offices. If you want someone to accompany you, just ask the VOLU office staff to arrange it for you. Please take note that VOLU cannot arrange re-entry visas for you. Passports are kept for up to 30 days at the Immigration Office. If you go back before the date on your passport without the claim slip, you probably won’t get your passport back. Keep a record of you passport number – you need it to change traveller’s cheques.
CAMP PARTICIPATION FEES
Participation fee of €200 is paid when attending only one camp but additional €100 is paid for each additional camp. Make sure you collect official receipts for all payments. You then complete camp registration form(s) to your camps(s). You will be given VOLU identity card to identify you as our volunteer.
USAGE OF HOSTEL
You are allowed to stay at the Volu Hostel for no fee before you leave for your camp(s). You continue to stay at the hostel after your camp(s). However, the maximum period you can stay at the end of your camp(s) is four weeks.
FOOD AVENUES
There are no cooking facilities in the hostel. There are eggs and bread stands around the General Post Office (GPO) for breakfast. The road near the WATO Club has food stalls out at night. Number One, near Danquah circle, has pizza chips and Labanes food. It’s relatively expensive, but very good. You may also try “Bus Stop” on the Ring Road. If you want to buy food and eat it in the hostel, try not to eat in the dormitory. Eat in the kitchen. Good crumbs may attract mice.
CHANGING MONEY
Bank of Ghana, Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays are on the far side of the High Street. Barclays also has facilities for buying money on Visa Card. There are FOREX (foreign Currency Exchange Bureau) dotted around town. They are open longer hours than the banks and often have better exchange rate.
ALWAYS COUNT YOUR MONEY IN THE FOREX BUREAU and take a receipt.
TRANSPORT
There are two kinds of TAXI
CHARTERED : When you get the whole car for yourself and
DROPPING : where taxis follow a set path and drop you off along the
Route.
“Dropping” is less expensive than “ CHARTERED”.
Always ask someone in the office or on the street how much a taxi should cost to strengthen your bargaining position with the taxi driver. Their first price is always too high.
TROTROs small cars and busses, which transport passengers on all routes. They are the cheapest but not very comfortable form of transport. Ask around if you want to travel through Accra by Trotro.
DOCTORS
If you have a serious problem, contact the office or ring your embassy and ask them for a list of doctors.
(The Ghanaian embassy has their own). The Military Hospital and the Police Hospital are recommended. Otherwise, Castle Clinic and the Cathedral Clinic, a ten-minute walk left along the High Street, has been recommended by several volunteers.
AIRLINE TICKETS
Contact your travel agent if you have problems.
TELEPHONE
Regional Telecom Offices, P&T External are located right next to the hostel entrance on the High Street. They sell telephone cards for international calls, USA and UK, citizens can make collect calls, USA citizens also have a direct line to the AT&T operator.
The phone in the office has a wide connection. If someone is calling you from home, make sure it’s before6:00pm – when the office is open – or ask the office staff to get it open for you.
POST OFFICE
The main post office is a two-minute walk from the hostel. Letters for volunteers are collected. Monday to Friday from P. O. Box GP, 1540. Letters are kept in the volunteers’ post box at the main dormitory.
SECURITY
All valuable possessions (money, passport, etc) can be given to the VOLU Accountant, General Secretary of the Stenographer Secretary to put in the safe. There have been serious reports of theft at the hostel. Don’t leave valuables lying on the beds. The hostel is for foreign volunteers only and for local volunteers who have been given permission by the General Secretary.
The hostel is out of bounds to everyone else. Please entertain friends in the reception areas and keep the back door locked at night and closed/locked if there is no one in the room, if anything is stolen, report it to the office and have it recorded in the theft book. If you need a police report for an insurance claim, James Town Police Station is a 15 –minute walk down the High Street on your left
VOLU has warned volunteers that some of the people/visitors who hang-out on the benches in front of the hostel are not VOLU members. Don’t feel obliged to talk to them or give your name. We cannot give you guidelines on distinguishing them from genuine VOLU members. Just your use discretion and ask the office/camp leader for help if you are worried.
CAMPS
Foreign volunteers are required to choose their camp(s) before arriving in Ghana. There is a list of camps. The office will help you to get to your camp site. You are obliged to stay at the camp for 3 weeks. You will only be registered as a member of camp, and get a signature on your VOLU ID card. You stay for 21 days. If you will leave the camp earlier, inform the camp leader as soon as you arrive.
TRANSPORT TO CAMP
All VOLU members, both local or foreign are expected to pay their own transport fares to and from the camps. Direction will be on the notice board, otherwise ask.
PROBLEM
There have been a few complaints by foreign volunteers about local volunteers asking for money. As VOLU puts it, “if they can’t pay, then should not go”. At the camp, you may find yourself buying endless rounds of drinks against your will. You are not obliged to pay for anyone you don’t want to. If the problem becomes persistent, report to your camp leader. By the way: asking someone to join you for a drink/get something to eat implies that you are going to pay.
SEXUALY HARASSMENT
The “Culturally sensitive” Europeans may find it a bit hard to tell “warmth from “hassle”. Remember, if it makes you uncomfortable, ask the person to stop. If someone persistently bothers you, report to the camp leader who will deal with the situation.
THEFT
Be careful. Keep your valuables on you at all times or with the camp leader and do not leave things lying about the camp. Report any theft to the camp leader. If any VOLU member is caught stealing, he/she is automatically expelled – from the camp and organisation.
LENDING THINGS
Some people reported difficulty in getting things back when they “lend” something. Your action might be misinterpreted as a gift.
COLLECT VALUABLES
NOTE: Collect all valuables from the office safe two days before departure.
WHAT TO DO AT LEISURE TIME
This is not a guide – only a rough indication.
Makola Street Market is a short walk from the hostel (located at the end of Kojo Thompson road). The Crafts Centre/Centre for National culture is good to look around but expensive. Most of the stuffs can be bought for less money outside Accra. If you want to swim, the Shangri La (1 kilometer past the airport) and Novotel pool cost less. The greatest attraction is Labadi Beach Resort, catch a trotro/bus at Tema Station(a popular public terminus) or charter a taxi.
On Friday night, Novotel has a free Ghanaian dance/music show (the beer is a bit more expensive). The Tourist Office is located on Kojo Thompson road opposite British airways and Aeroflot. Street maps of Accra cost one cedis (Gh¢1). All prices are subjected to change.
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