Atlas Volunteers offers volunteering programs within Abetifi of the Eastern Region and Cape Three Points of the Western Region of Ghana. Our programs are operated by our flagship award winning NGO, where the Atlas journey began with the vision of creating meaningful, affordable volunteering programs whilst helping the rural communities we volunteered in ourselves.
We arrange meaningful, affordable volunteer programs helping out on; Education, Environmental Protection, Sea Turtle Conservation, Sports & Community Development.
Ghana is often referred to as Africa for beginners. It offers the perfect mix of independent adventure off the beaten track surrounded by friendly faces.
We believe that every volunteer trip should be a special experience and personalised to each volunteer so our Ghana program fees cover the basic needs of your stay. We will then work with you to tailor your trip to ensure a balanced impact and affordability.
Environmental Protection
Reforestation
Plastics Recycling
Wildlife
Sea Turtle Conservation
Community Development
Construction & Painting
Community Farmer Support
Protect endangered sea turtle populations along Ghana’s rural coastline. Working on beach patrols and nesting sites while taking in the stunning surroundings and tropical views in rural a truly off the beaten track location.
Cape Three Points, Ghana
September – March
From 1 Week
Wildlife Conservation
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Offer a supporting role in rural schools. Running tutoring sessions, creative & engaging lessons as well offering a teaching assistance role to an Education service with a severe lack of materials and resources.
Abetifi – Kwahu, Ghana
Available Year Round
From 4 Weeks
Education
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Tackle the effects of deforestation and climate change by cultivating seedlings, planting trees, and collaborating with nearby communities on educational outreach programmes.
Abetifi – Kwahu, Ghana
Available Year Round
From 1 Week
Environmental Protection
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Work as a farm hand on small scale vegetable farmsfarms, offering support to genuine rural farmers that need a helping hand and often living below the poverty line.
Abetifi – Kwahu, Ghana
Available Year Round
From 1 Week
Community Development
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Providing assistance to nursery/creche classes where teachers struggle with large numbers of students. Supporting the basic foundations of education for the local children.
Abetifi – Kwahu, Ghana
Available Year Round
From 4 Weeks
Education
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Run a variety of sport focused programs from physical education lessons in school, after school sports clubs to coaching at out own children’s sports academy.
Abetifi – Kwahu, Ghana
Available Year Round
From 2 Weeks
Education | Sports
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Help the fight against plastic waste by community cleanups, producing ecobricks and creating upcycled products from plastic waste.
Abetifi – Kwahu, Ghana
Available Year Round
From 1 Week
Environmental Protection
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Improve local schools and clasrooms by renovating unsafe structures and creating positive learning environments through painting and creative wall displays.
Abetifi – Kwahu, Ghana
Available Year Round
From 1 Week
Community Development
18+
Shared Volunteer House
Self Catering
Optional Airport Collection
Are you trying to find a special way to support meaningful work while also pursuing your love of overseas travel? Ghana is regarded as one of Africa’s safest and most welcoming nations. Learn more about the various opportunities to volunteer in Ghana and support our local communities. Your assistance is needed for educational programmes, environmental initiatives, community development, building projects, and conservation efforts.
You’ve found the best resource for meaningful volunteer opportunities in Ghana!
In Ghana the main international airport with flights from Europe & USA is Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
Volunteers on our Abetifi program – the closest airport is Kotoka International Airport.
Volunteers on our Cape 3 Points program – the closest airport is Takoradi Airport (usually only domestic flights from Kotoka International Airport is possible if flying in from outside of Africa).
click to view flight search toolWe always recommend travel insurance for your trips for your own peace of mind.
Click to view insurance quoteOur Abetifi programs are based in the Abetifi / Kwahu East district where our volunteers live together at our house in Aduamoah. This area is perched on top of the Kwahu mountain plateau where you’re surrounded by stunning views of the surrounding mountains, peaks and forests.
At this location our volunteers work on our Education, Community Development, Sports and Environmental programs.
Our Sea Turtle conservation volunteers are based at the coastal village of Cape Three Points with views overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Guinea and surrounding forest reserve. Our volunteers are based together at our beach camp, located directly on the beach surrounded by lush forests and nature.
On our Ghana programs you are able to arrive any day of the week and we can schedule your collection to any flight arrival time if needed.
Abetifi – Our Abetifi programs are available all year round. Airport transfers from Kotoka International Airport in Accra usually takes around 3 – 4 hours.
Cape 3 Points – Our sea turtle program is available only during the nesting period from September to March. Airport transfers from Takoradi Airport usually takes around 2 hours and we usually recommend to do some grocery shopping on the way.
For both locations we are able to arrange an airport transfer with our partnered local taxi drivers. These guys have worked with us for a number of years and will know where to stop to show you if you need some shopping or a bathroom break. Due to fuel price fluctuations, please get in touch for up to date pricing of this.
Once arrived to our volunteer house, our support team will welcome you in and show you to your room. Most of our Abetifi volunteers will arrive late in the night so you’ll get to sleep and rest for the night to start fresh in the morning.
You will then get a welcome breakfast prepared by our support team to set you up for the day – our support team will then take you on an explore of the local area to see some of the important sights. Once back and rested, we will then run through the different projects going on at that time so you can have a better view of what the rest of the team are involved in at that time.
Our international support team are available before your trip if you have any questions to help prepare for your trip.
Our award winning support team is a mixture of Ghanaian and foreign individuals ensuring you have the best mix of understanding the local culture and customs whilst experiencing a mixture of travellers from around the world.
You will meet our support team once arriving at the house and they will welcome you into your new home. Part of our team actually live on site in the volunteer accommodation so you will always have someone closeby should you need any guidance.
Abetifi – Our Abetifi programs are available all year round.
Cape 3 Points – Our sea turtle program is available only during the nesting period from September to March.
You are able to arrive any day, date or time to our programs in Ghana and we will help schedule you into the work plans.
We are lucky that the two areas we operate in Ghana are generally free from crime. Although we can never guarantee experiences to be 100% trouble-free, we have taken all necessary precautions to ensure our programs are as safe as possible. We actually started our volunteering journey out in this same area of Ghana so have grown to love the place over the years and been welcomed without any major issues. On a whole in Ghana, where a large percentage of the population live under the poverty line, petty crime such as theft and pickpocketing can be an issue when items are left unattended or within reach particularly in the tourist hotspot areas where you may travel to. Generally a sensible approach to your belongings will help create a trouble free trip throughout your stay – only taking valuables out when necessary and ensuring your items are packed away properly or away from external windows.
In the unlikely event that something was to happen, volunteers have various layers of support available to them:
• Project Site Supervisors
• In Country Coordinators
• International Coordinators
Listed below are some general safety tips:
• Be modest with the amount of jewellery worn in public
• Keep valuables away from external windows in the volunteer accommodation.
• Pack your valuables away securely when not in use
• Do not drink tap water
• Be cautious of beggars or crowds. Incidents can occur when is confusion to distract you.
• Be cautious about removing money in public
• The recognised tourist areas can be considered potentially high-risk areas for pickpockets and thieves
• Leave your valuables behind before a night out in the town
• For traffic safety, always keep looking to the left and right and walk slowly when crossing the road
• Do not accept drinks when outside of your trusted circle
• When travelling to tourist hotspots at weekends, do not walk on the beaches alone at night away from the hotel grounds.
Ghana has a tropical climate. The temperature is generally warm with temperatures between 21-35-degrees Celsius throughout the year. There are two rainy seasons: March-July and September-October. These rainy seasons are separated by a short cool dry season in August and a relatively long dry season from mid-October-March. Although over the past couple of years we are experiencing a shift in the variations of the seasons so please don’t plan specifically relating to a season.
The most moderate weather comes during December-February when it is dry and relatively cool. The worst of the rain comes between April and June. However, when the rains do come, it’s usually in short, sharp bursts which quickly clear-up. So you shouldn’t let the rainy season put you off coming to Ghana!
Our Ghana programs are self catering. Volunteers will benefit from a kitchen inside the volunteer house where you can cook with your fellow volunteers and buy fresh produce from the local market. There are also local street food options and restaurants if you’re looking to get an authentic taste of Ghanaian cuisine.
When buying groceries and cooking together, volunteers most commonly make; rice, pasta, sandwiches, soups, curries, barbecues, salads, omelettes, fruits and chips.
Our Abetifi volunteers live in a large shared volunteer house in Aduamoah. The house has 15 shared volunteer bedrooms and our long term volunteers can sometimes benefit from private rooms. The house is securely walled and gated although the local area is peaceful with a mixture of township development but surrounded by the local mountains and forests.
The house is a large traditional Ghanaian compound style setup with the bedrooms encircling a central compound area. The bedroom entrances are secured by a central hallway meaning the house can be securely locked up overnight and when departing for the day. The central compound is where most of your free time at home will be spent, there are two large seating areas where we host group meals and our family meetings. However the compound is large enough so you can get a quiet corner to call loved ones back home or soak up some of the tropical sun.
There are 3 shared bathroom blocks within the house providing individual toilets and showers. Showers are cold water. To try make the acclimatisation as easy as possible for our volunteers, we do provide running water (most but not all of the time!) at the volunteer which is very rare in our area where we struggle with access to water in the local area. (Our local coordinators at their personal homes even have to usually use bucket showers etc) Due to this, a large portion of the accommodation fees can go to purchasing water tanker deliveries so we ask that a sensible approach to water is taken otherwise it may be required to operate without running water for part of the dry season.
There is a living room where volunteers can watch TV or host movie nights so if you’re a film fan, it may be worth bringing a USB flash drive with your top picks to share! The kitchen has basic equipment such as gas stove, fridges, toaster, kettle and microwave.
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Abetifi
Most of our volunteer programs are based in Abetifi which is a short car ride from Aduamoah where the volunteer house is located. Generally volunteers will jump in shared taxis together to their project site. Taxi costs vary due to unstable fuel prices here in Ghana but budget around 30-40 cedi a day.
Volunteers in the summer months on Education or Reforestation may be placed a little further afield in other rural communities such as Abetifi or Hweehwee where there is a slightly higher taxi fare. This is due to sharing the volunteers across the district to ensure as many schools benefit from our team and the reforestation planting site located between Tafo and Kotoso.
Cape Three Points
Volunteers live directly in the village where we work and right on the beach where we carry out some of our patrols and hatchery work so no transport is needed on a baily basis. When numbers permit, we do try reach a number of the other beaches in the village so a walk of 20-30 minutes before starting your patrol may be required.
– 18 years old minimum
– Comfortable level of English
– Five working days a week
– Ability to work in a hot and humid environment
– CV / Resume (for our Education programs)
Discount applicable when applying to volunteer during January 2025.
Visit program listing by clicking here.
Offer Code: ST0125
