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1. GYANKUFA,
JAAMAN
BRONG AHAFO REGION
2. ABUTIA KPOTA,
HO
VOLTA REGION
3. WA,
WA
UPPER WEST REGION
4. BOAKO,
SEFWI WIAWSO
WESTERN REGION
5. TEREBO,
GA
GT ACCRA REGION
6. ABIRA,
SEKYERE WEST
ASHANTI REGION
7. AKONTOMBRA
NKWADUM
SEFWI WIAWSO
WESTERN REGION
8. DWENEASE
KWAEBIBIREM
EASTERN REGION
9. NKWANTA
(Gomoa Fetteh Kakraba)
WINNEBA
CENTRAL REGION
10. AKIM TEKYIMAN
KWABIBIREM
EASTERN REGION
11. JUKWA TWIFO
HEMANG
LOWER DENKYIRA
CENTRAL REGION
12. BECHIWA
SEFWI WAIWSO
WESTERN REGION
13. KORDIABE
DANGME WEST
GT. ACCRA REGION |
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ORIENTATION
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.
REGISTRATION
Registration fee of €200 is paid when attending
only one camp and €300 when attending multiple camps.
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 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
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. There are
FOREX (foreign Currency Exchange Bureau) littered
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 the theft
form the dormitory. Don’t leave valuables lying
on the beds. The dormitory is for foreign volunteers
only and for local volunteers who have been given
permission by the General Secretary.
The dormitory 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 boys who hand out on the benches in front of
the hostel are not VOLU member. 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 use discretion and ask the office/camp
leader for help if you are worried.
CAMPS
Foreign volunteers are required to choose
their camps before arriving in Ghana. There is a list
of camps. There is a list of camps. The office will
help you to get to your camp. 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 you VOLU
card. You stay for 21 days. If you want to leave the
camp earlier inform the camp leader when you arrive.
TRANSPORT TO CAMP
All VOLU members, whether local or foreign
are expected to pay their own transport to and from
the camps. Direction should be on the board, otherwise
ask.
PROBLEM
There have been a few complaints about foreign
volunteers asked for money by local volunteers. 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, tell 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,
tell the person to stop. If someone persistently bothers
you, tell the camp leader who will deal with the problem.
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 from VOLU.
LENDING THINGS
Some people report 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 bottom of Kojo Thompson road).
he Crafts Centre/Centre for National
culture is good to look around but expensive. Most
of the staff can be bought for less money outside
Accra.
If you want to swim, the Shangri
La (1 kilometer past the airport) charges one thousand
cedis (¢1,000.00) to use their pool for a day.
The Novotel pool cost two thousand, five hundred cedis
(¢2,500.00). The greatest attraction is Labadi
Beach Resort, catch a trotro from behind Novotel or
charter a taxi. It costs six hundred cedis to get
in.
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 thousand cedis (¢1,500.00).
(all prices keep changing due to inflation
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