Ghana: Nka Foundation announces a new program for sustainable rural development by social service

Sept. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- SOCIAL SERVICE INTERNSHIPS
(Short-Term Volunteer or Gap Year in Africa)

Are you looking to just lend your skills to a village in Africa, or to immerse in a new environment to put yourself and professional practice to the test and contribute to human progress? Join us! All students, recent graduates and teachers of social work, psychology, sociology, theology, education and African studies are welcome to our project. The project offers international participants a unique opportunity for cultural immersion through working with children, the elderly and young adults to improve rural livelihood skills, to alleviate health, to inspire decent housing, to enrich education, or to research a local condition that perpetuates abject poverty to look for remedies. The empowering questions may therefore be: How do you engage people who are culturally different? How do you create permanent long-term change in light of the rural conditions that perpetuate poverty?

One way to begin is to see the people as a people to be known. And keep in mind that community participatory questions are the key to the local door: What can we do to work with you on this...? Why? Thereby, they bring their gifts to the question and we bring ours to the question. Empowering them to be successful in leveraging the abundant local resources for community development may entail training and counseling in mutual respect and trust. We anticipate the result will be permanent long-term change.

DATES: Year-round and lengths-of-stay from 1-6 months.
WHERE: Abetenim village, 20 kilometers from Kumasi in Ashanti Region; and Sang Township, 50 kilometers from Tamale in Northern Region of Ghana.
COST: All international participants pay at the weekly rate of €35 towards accommodation and €60 for food (3 meals a day) at the arts village or homestay for cultural immersion. We suggest that participants apply for travel grants through their school, or other sources to cover their airfare, food and project.
CONTACT: info@nkafoundation.org for application form.  www.nkafoundation.org.