Useful tips for volunteers
Packing list
List of vital/useful things to take on a trip to Ghana:
• A sturdy backpack or suitcase (if flying with Ghana international airlines 2 x 23 kg luggage and 1 x 10 kg hand luggage is allowed)
• An everyday backpack or travelpack with room for a bottle of water
Vital documentation
• Passport, make sure this does not expire until six months after you return
• Plane tickets
• Visacard, do check when it expires
• Alarm numbers of your insurance company
• Insurance information, check before departure if your insurance covers everything and what papers you need to take with you
• International driving licence
• Passport photos, for visa, permits etc.
• Vaccination certificates
• International Student Card
• Copies of your tickets, you may have to buy a new one if you lose it and you don’t have any kind of proof
• Copy of your passport
• Copy of your insurance information
• Copy of your policys
• Copy of your yellow fever vaccination certificate
• Take a lot of cash and change it at the airport in Accra (before customs in the luggage hall). It might be advisable to sew your money in your trousers or bra
Clothing
Ghana has a very warm climate so you sweat a lot. You do want to be able to change into something dry and clean then so it is advisable to take two pieces of certain things, for example bras. Do keep in mind, however, that your laundry is dry the same day.
• Fleece, for chilly nights and to/from the Netherlands.
• Lightweight shirts/blouses - long sleeves – respecting local dress codes, against mosquitos and getting sunburnt.
• 2x Light weight travel trousers, long legs, for trekking, mosquitos after 6 pm and local dress codes. Take at least one pair of zip off trousers/pants that turn into shorts.
• Two or three Tshirts that don’t get dirty easily
• Long skirt/dress
• Socks against mosquitos
• Cotton underwear
• Lightweight poncho for tropical showers
• Shoes - designed for hiking/walking
• Sandals
• Swimsuit
• Sunhat, sunglasses and a scarf against getting your neck sunburnt
• Plastic slippers - known as thongs, flip flops as well, for use in showers. It decreases the risk of several illnesses
• 2 towels, lightweight high-absorbant camping towels dry fast
• 1 swimming towel, are also for rent at pools
• Detergent (preferably a travel size)
Sleeping
• Cotton sleeping bag - for the occasions where you don't have bedding provided, or you don't trust it.
• Take cotton bed sheets if you stay in Hanukkah for a longer period
• A big impregnated mosquito net (for sale at shops selling camping equipment) plus it’s attachment kit. In most cases this will be included
• Pillowcase, is lightweight and always useful
• Inflatable travel pillow, to sit on, lie on or to be used in the plane
• Eye-mask & earplugs
Toiletries
• Toilet bag that is easy to close
• Toothbrush, toothpicks, dental floss
• Protecting cover for your toothbrush (for hygiene)
• Toothpaste
• Soap
• Shampoo
• Leave-in conditioner
• Deodorant
• Razors
• Tissues
• Little mirror
• Nail clippers/ file (never in your hand luggage!)
• Bodylotion, lipcare with UV protect and skin moisturiser
• After sun
• High-factor sunscreen
• Make-up
• Tampons and/or sanitary pads may not be easy to find
• Condoms, are available, but not necessarily the same quality
• Pill strips/contraception
• Toilet paper, most hotels provide it but it is worth taking your own to make sure you don’t get caught short
• Cleansing and storing fluids for contact lenses
• An extra pair of contact lenses
• Glasses in case the intense sun and dry climate irritate your eyes
• Spectacle case
Medicines
• First Aid Kit - bandages, tape, tweezers, iodine, soda, disinfectant wipes, antiseptic cream, pain killers and tick tweezers,
• Anti diarrhoea pills. Don’t take to many at a time because you will get seriously constipated.
• Salt tablets
• Disinfectant gel
• DEET (Mosquito repellent) preferably a spray with 40/50% DEET, about one bottle per ten days. Take one in your hand luggage for the first night. I personally like the DEET gel.
• Travel sickness treatment
• Pair of scissors, preferably a foldaway version (never in your hand luggage!)
• Throat lozenges, for example strepsils (are available in Ghana too)
• Eight day pillbox, in case you forget to take your medicines easily
• Sleeping aid pills (Kruidvat Nachtrust Melatonen)
• Vitamin supplement pills (in case you find yourself without fruit and nutritious food again)
• Something against scalds
• Zinc
• Malariatest
Other useful items
• International e-mail account
• Mobile phone working worldwide. Make sure it has no simlock and all your phonenumbers are saved on your phone (not on your simcard!) so that you can still use them if you have switched to a Ghanaian simcard.
• Alarm clock, for buses and planes often depart very early
• Flashlight
• Travel guide, a good option is the Bradt guide Ghana written by Philip Briggs
• Fiction book
• Pens and paper (diary, notes etc.)
• Stuffbags, those are nylon bags for laundry, keeping things free from sweat and rain, etc.
• Labels for your bags, to reduce the risk of losing them
• Moneybelt, a little purse worn underneath your clothes, preferably with a plastic bag inside it to protect the things inside from sweat
• Moneybelt, a belt with a little pocket inside to keep some spare dollars
• Padlocks for your bags
• Steelwire lock, to lock your hoteldoor with or chain your bags in trains, buses etc.
• Extra wallet for the money you take on daytrips
• Address book
• Sarong, to be used as a towel, sheet or skirt
• Needle, scissors & thread
• Paperclips, thumbtacks & string
• Penknife, or even better, a multitool (never in your hand luggage)
• Bottle you can fill with water. Water is available everywhere and is very cheap
• Camera with protective cover, extra memory card, battery and charger
• World plug or one that fits in a British socket
• Plastic bags
• Extra buckles, laces, belts and safety pins in case your backpack collapses
• Extra lights for your torch
• Business cards
• English dictionary
• Little gifts from home e.g. pens, paper, balloons, pictures
• Isolating cover for your waterbottle
• Mini binocolars
• Cards
• Sport bra that dries fast
• Lightweight meals
• Dextro Energy
• Charger on solar energy
• Handi wipes, also to be used for toilets
In the plane or in the bus
What to put in your daypack when travelling by bus
Travelguide, waterbottle, mosquito repellent (DEET), disinfectant gel, toilet paper, pens, paper, torch, something edible, sunscreen, sunhat and malariapills, First Aid kit
What to put in your hand luggage on the plane
All the things you put in your daypack when travelling by bus plus extra underwear and T-shirts, toilet bag and a book in case your luggage gets lost.
Hanukkah Children’s Home
When you are coming for volunteer work in Hanukkah, it is important to draw up an ‘activity plan’ together with Mariëtte and Moses. What are you going to do with kids aging 0 to 20? There is hardly any material so you will need to take paper etc. with you yourself. Try your local toystore or paperfactory. They might actually sponsor you with some paper if you tell them what you are going to do. Refer to the website!
