Internships

ActionAid works with poor people in over 40 countries across the world. Their goal is to end poverty. The organization believes in doing things differently. They know that with the right opportunities, poor people will find their own solutions - and build new lives.
In Ghana, ActionAid began operations in 1990, with its first Development Area (DA) in Bawku West District. and currently works with more than 1,000,000 people in six out of the ten administrative regions of Ghana namely: Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra and Volta Regions.

ActionAid uses a rights based approach (that is working within the human rights framework) to development to help protect the rights of the poor and vulnerable with the hope of eradicating poverty.
Ghana is the first country programme to become an Associate of Action Aid International with a local Board membership of 13, launched on 4th March 2005.

The African Global Sister Cities Foundation (AGSCF) serves as the West Africa Regional partner for the Sister Cities International (SCI), an organization founded in 1956 to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding by building global cooperation at the municipal level, promote cultural understanding and stimulate economic development. SCI is a leader for local community development and volunteer action. The organization motivates and empower private municipal officials and business leaders to conduct long-term sister cities programs. Sister Cities programs involve two-way communications and should mutually benefit partnering communities.

Agoro Mmutae (Creative Zone) is a community-based organization that is committed to giving opportunities to young people to develop their skills in photography and to express themselves artistically.

The organization’s activities include teaching young people how to use cameras, developing and printing of films, writing skills, how to make a story book, how to make a wall hanging, how to organize a photo shoot, and how to combine computer skills with photography. ‘Agoro Mmutae’ is an Akan expression meaning “learning with a purpose”.

Akai House Clinic is an ambulatory-care medical facility dedicated to maintaining and improving the health status of the residents of and visitors to Ghana specifically targeting preventive health services. Through the efforts of the medical staff, employees and volunteers, the clinic endeavours to meet health care needs through the direct provision of high quality comprehensive service at a reasonable cost, including home visits, emergency services and referrals, health maintenance services and community education.

BASICS International is one of our partners for the community service/internship program. It was founded in 2000. It is a New York based organization with an office located at Chorkor in Ghana. The organization’s area of operation covers child labor, child trafficking, illiteracy, hunger and helping to improve the quality of live for people in particular children living in horrific environments and engaging in harmful activities which hinder their growth and helping to mitigate the traumatic impact of poverty on children and families.

Beacon House is a home for biologically orphaned children (that is children who have lost both parents). Presently, there are 20 children living in the house and their ages range from 3 to 11 years.

It is not an institution and the atmosphere in the house is that of a home with many children. In order to provide the children with a warm, secure, and caring environment, the home has two house mothers (one for every 10 children), a cook, a housekeeper, a driver, a gardener, and security men for the night time.

CARE has been working in Ghana since 1994. CARE focuses on strengthening community organizations in Ghana, helping them work with government institutions and businesses to influence the decisions that affect their lives.

For example, they are supporting local parent-teacher associations, so that communities are able to influence educational policy and improve the quality of education.

CARE is reducing poverty in Ghana through savings and loans projects. These enable poor families to make investments, such as in tools or livestock, which can improve lives as well as increasing future income.

In the area of HIV/AIDS, they are working to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS in Ghana by raising awareness about the disease, particularly among commercial sex workers in mining towns and port communities. An example is using a popular radio soap opera storyline to reach people with information about HIV and AIDS.

CARE’s office is located at Osu, about 10 minutes drive from the academic center.

City of refuge Outreach was founded by Johnbull and Stacy Omerefe in 2006 with the main aim of reaching out to orphaned and abandoned children in Ghana and West Africa. The mission of the City of Refuge is to liberate children from modern-day slavery and give them a home and education. As well as to educate others about human trafficking and motivate individuals and groups to get involved in stopping this injustice towards the vulnerable.

The Dei Centre for the Study of Contemporary African Art is a partnership between the Seth and Carleene Dei Foundation and New York University’s Africa House. The Dei Foundation manages the conservation and promotion of the Dei Family collection. New York University’s Africa House hosts related academic and cultural events. Leading the Dei Centre are Co-Directors Lyle Ashton Harris and Nancy Barton, NYU faculty and Co-Chairs of New York University’s Africa House’s Arts Project.

The mission of the Dei Centre is to support and promote the creation, study, exhibition, and conservation of contemporary African art, with a special emphasis on the visual arts of Ghana.

Eve’s Foundation is a non-for-profit non-governmental organization that seeks to help people promote and maintain sound reproductive health. The organization empowers parents through childbirth education program with the goal of helping government efforts in reducing maternal/infant morbidity and mortality in Ghana

GHANET is a group of non-profit organizations, community-based, public institutions and individuals living with HIV/AIDS. They have come together to form what is known today as the Ghana HIV-AIDS network (GHANET). The idea of a network was conceived in May 1996, when stakeholders in HIV / AIDS prevention in Ghana felt a gap in the co-ordination of HIV/AIDS activities, funding and program planning, with the result that there was gross duplication of efforts and waste of human and material resources. Access to information was also very difficult at the time. GHANET, as it is constituted now provides a forum mainly for information and experience sharing towards effective programming planning especially at the grass-root level. Members are encouraged to also share their human and material resources.

The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (G.M.M.B) is the legal institution charged with the management of the Nation’s material cultural heritage through preserving and interpreting the past for the future. Established under National Liberation Council Decree 387 of 1969, the Board has responsibility over Museums, Monuments and Historical sites of the country. The Board has Museums in Accra, Cape Coast, Elmina, Ho and Bolgatanga.

Global Media Alliance Limited is an International Communications Company founded in 1998 in South Africa. GMA is a corporate member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA). The company is specialized in the provision of a broad range of communication services to clients including:
Public Relations, Political Analysis and Positioning, Corporate Affairs Public Affairs, Events Management, Media Relations, TV Productions, Corporate Documentaries, Program Distribution, Media Consultancy Services, Community Relations, Publishing of Marketing and Promotional Materials, CEO Reputation, Management and Crisis Management.

GMA promises exciting vacancies for interns/volunteers in events organization, newsletters/publications, CNN monthly reports on Africa, a new TV production dubbed “The Nation Builders” etc. 

The Human Rights Advocacy Centre is a not-for-profit, independent, non-partisan, research and advocacy organisation set up to advance and protect human rights in Ghana.

The National Governance Programme works in collaboration with the donor community, NGOs involved with governance as well as government institutions eg. The Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, The Serious Fraud Office, National Commission on Civic Education, The Parliament of Ghana, Centre and Federation of African Women Lawyers etc.

Volunteers have the opportunity to work with most of these organizations to better understand how their work enhances democracy and governance in Ghana. 

The Legal Resource Centre (LRC) is a non-profit, non-governmental human rights organization with significant community-based initiative and national level policy influence. The LRC is the conceptualization of two Ghanaian lawyers who saw the need to demystify law and promote human rights awareness at the grassroots level in Ghana.

Informed by the Millennium Development Goals for health, including maternal and child health, the Longevity Project for Africa (Longevity Project Africa) seeks to evolve as an effective umbrella organization for individual countries' efforts to increase the life expectancy and quality of life of their respective populations. The Longevity Project in Ghana, registered under the laws of Ghana in November 2004, will serve as a pilot for similar initiatives throughout Africa.

Micro-Finance and Community Development Organization (MFCDO) is a non-governmental organization committed to poverty alleviation, community development and small-scale entrepreneurship through micro-finance services. It works in collaboration with its Community Based Organizations (CBOs) involved in various forms of community work. Our principal implementing partner is the Open-Heart Solution Agency (OHSA), which has been practicing micro-finance and community development programs and seeking to promote the culture of savings through what is known in Ghana as ‘Susu’. ‘Susu’ is a savings mobilization from the informal sector in Ghana.

The Morning Star School was founded in 1965 by the late Mrs. Esme Praah Siriboe. It began as a pre-school with seven pupils and has blossomed over the years into one of the best first cycle Christian Schools in Ghana. It is located in the serene Cantonments-Labone suburb of Accra on four acres of land and currently offers an excellent quality of education to pupils from Kindergarten to Junior High School Levels (KG – 9th grade). The academic year begins in September and ends in July.

Nyaho Medical Centre was established in March 1970 as a clinic (i.e. Nyaho Clinic) by the late Dr. Kwami Nyaho Tamaklo, and ever since 2001, the current Managing Director, Mrs. Janet Tamaklo has maintained its legacy through a continued mission statement and increased vision.

Everyday the clinic subscribes to the core values of the Nyaho Way while individually striving to continually improve facilities, standards and technology.

Nyaho's system of practicing medicare attracts specialists in every medical and surgical field. These specialists are able to use their skills efficiently and work cooperatively with a team approach to patient care. This team approach is the key to Nyaho's success. Nyaho Medical Centre was founded upon the premise of group medical practice and today the centre boasts of over thirty regular specialists working together for the benefit of the patient.

Nyaho Medical Centre provides high quality health care services to the general public, and its client base includes individuals, corporate bodies, embassies and international agencies.

The first Osu Children’s Library was founded in 1990 under a tree in Accra, Ghana’s capital. Canadian Kathy Knowles was posted to Ghana with her husband, John, who worked as an accountant for Sikaman, a gold mining company. She enjoyed reading to her four children but noticed that Ghanaians did not have the same opportunities. So each Thursday afternoon, she carried a basket of books into their garden and offered story times to six neighbourhood children.

Word spread and more and more children came to the Knowles’ garden. To accommodate the increased numbers, Kathy transformed their garage into a library, filled it with shelves and small stools, and looked for more books. She hired Harry Lartey, a University of Ghana student, to read to the children and trained her housekeeper, Joanna Felih, to be the first librarian. She called her refitted garage the Osu Library after the street where they lived. Before long, 150 children were lining up each week to explore the magical world of books.

Right To Play began operations in Ghana in December 2001. The Ghana SportsHealth project was spearheaded by the Ministry of Health and primarily supported vaccination campaigns and community mobilization events.

The program works with local partners to implement regular activities with children in schools and communities. Since 2001, major changes include increased number of children and youth participating in regular sport and play and HIV and AIDS education activities in schools and communities positive behaviour change toward healthier lifestyle choices, increased RTP and Sport for Development profile in Ghana and increased geographic coverage to disadvantaged communities in both Northern and Southern Ghana.

State School for the Deaf is a public school within the Ghana Education service set-up. The School was established at Osu in 1965 by Dr. Seth Tetteh-Ocloo who is deaf and now resides in the U.S. The school was then known as Osu Deaf Mission Center. It was later taken over by the Government in 1969 and was renamed State School for the Deaf. The school is currently located at Ashaiman near Tema.

The school has as its objective the education of the deaf who for their severe hearing impairment, their educational needs, appropriate educational programs and other related services cannot be provided in the regular school. The State school for the deaf‘ program begins at the pre-school level and continues through Primary to the Junior Secondary school (JSS). Essentially, the academic curriculum is the same as that of the regular public school programs. Strong emphasis however is placed upon language and communication. The regular academic program is supplemented and reinforced by a pre-vocational program.

It a great site for students who wish to do their internship on deaf communication and other related learning activities with deaf students.

The West Africa AIDS Foundation (WAAF) is a registered NGO, and a partner of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC). WAAF has been very instrumental in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Ghana.

The West African Dispute Resolution Centre (WADREC) is a civil society organization established in 2000. WADREC seeks to promote Conflict Management and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the West African Sub-Region. WADREC is committed to encouraging the use of Conflict Management and ADR techniques in the early settlement of legal, business, traditional and community disputes in order to enhance the delivery of justice in communities in the Sub-Region, thereby promoting a peaceful environment for development.

United Way Ghana (UWG) is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to build community capacity for sustainable development in the areas of health, education, and income generation through collaborative efforts of all stakeholders.

UWG works with both donors and charities and is therefore, in a unique position to support the needs of both groups. For many corporate institutions, supporting communities in need is very much part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). United Way Ghana works through community based organizations to offer structured services to underprivileged communities. Through our Corporate Partnership Program, we custom tailor interventions to fit the level of community investment a corporate body wants to deliver.

UWG is a member of United Way Worldwide (UWW). Headquartered in the United States, UWW is a global network of 47 member countries with 4500 affiliate offices developing models for sustainability impact at the community level.

The Urban Associates Limited (TUAL) is a multi-specialist organization and business, incorporated under the Companies Code of Ghana and committed to the provision of innovative, client focused support, services and solutions in Ghana and beyond. TUAL offers consultancy serivces in:

• City Spatial Development Strategy
• Organisational Development and Strategic Planning
• Socio-economic Surveys
• Spatial Planning and Land Use Design
• Managing Urban and Rural Development Processes
• Decentralized Development Planning
• Management of Development Programmes, including M&E, and Beneficiary Impact Assessment
• Contract Document Preparation for Procurement of Civil Works
• Capacity Building and Training, using Adult Learning and Experiential Learning approaches
• Workshop Facilitation and Moderation of Participatory Decision Making processes
• Support to NGOs and Civil Society Organizations in Rights Based and Advocacy approaches to development and General Development Services