Health & Safety

Safety

Ghana is generally a very peaceful and stable country. In the Global Peace Index it is ranked above both the United Kingdom and the US. It is the perfect introduction for first time volunteers to Africa.

Most visits to Ghana are trouble-free, provided sensible precautions are taken, like anywhere else in the world.You should avoid carrying large sums of money or valuables as these may attract unwanted attention. You should exercise vigilance, particularly after dark and avoid traveling around alone.  If possible, you should avoid traveling alone in taxis after dark because of attempted robberies.

You will have a named in-country volunteer co-ordinator and a named contact within your host organisation, both of whom will be contactable 24 hours a day by mobile telephone. Your contact will not be a travel rep arranging daily entertainment (sorry!) but someone who will meet with you regularly, as required by you the volunteer, to ‘health check’ your placement.

Your Ikando co-ordinator will be happy to discuss any concerns and to give advice should you want to travel outside of your placement. While in placement you will also have be shown to the nearest place when you can access both the telephone and the internet, enabling you to maintain contact with home.

All Ikando staff will be at your disposal to help you have a great experience. We currently have 10 members of staff in Ghana who will be your extended family for the duration of your stay.

We do not expect anything to go wrong while you are in placement, with our research and the Ikando support network in place to ensure your trip is as successful as possible. However, should something go wrong, you will have coordinators both from Ikando and from your host organisation who are contactable 24 hours a day.

Before arrival you will be provided with an orientation package including mobile telephone contact details for your Ikando co-ordinator, and for your nominated liaison within your host organisation. These people can be contacted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer any queries or discuss concerns.

You will have regular ‘health check’ visits at the start of your placement, you will also be visited by your Ikando co-ordinator where any concerns can be discussed. The orientation package will also include contact details for the nearest 24-hour emergency health care to your placement. It is essential that you have fully comprehensive health insurance and we would highly recommend that you bring a basic first aid kit with you.

Health

We advise you to contact your doctor 4-8 weeks before departure to consult on which vaccinations and boosters you will need for Ghana.

Courses or boosters usually advised: diphtheria; tetanus; poliomyelitis; hepatitis A; typhoid; yellow fever.

Vaccines sometimes advised: hepatitis B; rabies; tuberculosis; meningococcal meningitis; cholera

For more information on travel health issues to Ghana please visit Fit For Travel.

Here are our six golden rules on how to avoid being bitten and more importantly avoid getting malaria:

• Visit your doctor 4–6 weeks before travel for an anti malarial drug. (There are no vaccines against malaria.)
• Take your anti malarial drug exactly on schedule without missing doses.
• Apply insect repellent to prevent mosquito and other insect bites. Your insect repellent should contain DEET as its active ingredient. To prevent malaria, apply insect repellent if out of doors between dusk and dawn when the mosquito that transmits malaria is biting.
• Wear long pants, long-sleeved clothing and socks (our managing director swears by socks!)
• Sleep under a mosquito bed net (preferably one that has been treated with DEET).
• Spray your bedroom 30 minutes before you sleep with Raid (easily available in Ghana).