These all activities that involve annual labour, directed towards rural infrastructural development such as the building of health centres, market stalls, latrines, and the construction of dams, roads and drainage systems. Also included here are agricultural projects such as work on cocoa and coffee plantations, clearing farmlands, transplanting seedlings and harvesting. These projects are organized at four main levels: weekend, Christmas and Easter camps, long vacation / summer camps, and long term projects.
Weekend camps are mainly organized to benefit volunteers who because of the nature of their occupations cannot avail themselves of the longer camping periods of Christmas, Easter and summer. Another reason for such camps which normally operate for a single day is that they enable the Association to speedily tackle lighter or urgent projects without having to wait till the peak camping period. Thirdly, they kill the boredom that volunteer undergo between peak camping period. These camps are well patronized by student during the school term.
Christmas, Easter and summer camps last at least three weeks. As their names suggest, Christmas camps are run during the Christmas season (i.e. between November and January), Easter camps during Easter and Summer camps during the long vacation period of students: between July and September. Camps for long-term are usually for agricultural purposes or special arrangements are made for interested person(s) to work with government agencies. Due to the exacting nature of these projects which demand frequent attention, camps on all levels, that is, week, Christmas, Easter and summer, are organized for them. This is in addition to the permanent attention provided by locals and extension officers of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Sefwi Amafia-Volu oil palm project in the Western Region, which was commenced in 1978, is a good example of such projects. |
