Frequently Asked Questions

Ikando volunteers are generally placed with local organisations and projects that have very limited resources, with volunteers a means for them to secure additional skills and expertise they would otherwise be unable to afford.

Ikando is an intermediary between the volunteer and the organisation, with our fee calculated on a per week of placement basis and covering research and administration costs; transfers to the host organisation; regular ‘health check’ visits by your named Ikando volunteer coordinator (the regularity of visits to be determined by the volunteer); accommodation for the length of placement and a donation to the host organization if they are a public sector or charity organisation.

Each individual placement will be priced differently according to the research required, the location and accommodation type. We aim to keep the cost to the volunteer to a minimum so that Ikando placements are affordable. Please be aware that the cost of flights, visa to Ghana, food, travel and medical insurance and vaccinations is not included in this price.

A more detailed explanation of why a fee can be necessary for international volunteering comes from this book, except below:

From HOW TO LIVE YOUR DREAM OF VOLUNTEERING OVERSEAS

by Joseph Collins, Stefano DeZerega, and Zahara Heckscher (2002)

Prospective volunteers are surprised to learn that many programs charge their volunteers a fee to participate. At first, this can seem ridiculous - Why should you pay money to work for free? Aren't you already forgoing income you could be making? Here are a few things to keep in mind while trying to understand why the vast majority of programs charge international volunteers a fee:

• The local organisations and projects with which you volunteer overseas have limited resources and are seldom able to subsidize your trip or cover the costs of hosting you. (These costs include housing and transporting you, among numerous other things.) If they did have the financial resources to pay an international volunteer, it would almost certainly be more beneficial and cost-effective to hire a local person instead, someone who already knows the language and culture and is likely to stick around.
• Identifying appropriate host organisations overseas and working with them is time-consuming, takes resources, and requires an experienced and professional staff.
• The process of preparing, training, transporting, housing, feeding, and supervising volunteers is not cheap.
• The costs of recruiting volunteers, producing literature, answering the phones, sending mailings, developing a website, and interviewing potential volunteers are significant.

I am having trouble paying through paypal. What should I do?

To avoid problems paying through PayPal please ensure you do the following:

• remember to read the instructions carefully
• ensure you have enough credit to make payment
• remember you do not need to be a PayPal member to make a payment through PayPal, just click “use your credit card or bank account” below the login section.
• if you still experience problems please contact PayPal directly.

If people or companies wanted to contribute to the cost of my trip can they pay you directly?

We can provide your donors with letters confirming your receipt of their donation, but they cannot pay part of your placement fee directly to us. We can only receive whole payments. Please remember to include your name on the payment reference.

I cannot afford to volunteer. What can I do?

Unfortunately we need to charge volunteers to be able to continue the work we do. We do however have a limited number of free volunteer placements available. Click here for more information on these placements.

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