Volunteer Abroad Application for G-lish Foundation
Please email this application at least 60 days prior to your intended departure date.
A note on filling out this application: You can type over the lines, save and send us your application as an attachment.
Alternatively, print the document, hand-write your answers, scan and attach your scanned application. If handwriting,
please write neatly!
Your Contact Details:
Surname:
First Name(s):
Legal Address:
City/Suburb:
Postcode/Zip:
State/Region:
Country:
Phone:
Mobile/Cell:
Emails:
Nationality:
Gender (Please Underline): Female / Male
Country of Residence (if different from nationality):
Current Address (if different from legal address above):
City/Suburb:
Postcode/Zip:
State/Region:
Country:
How did you learn about G-lish Foundation? (E.g. Google search, friend):
Volunteer Abroad Travel Planning
Volunteer program duration (in weeks). Please indicate how many weeks you wish to volunteer for. Most
projects last 3-16 weeks, depending on your interests and time:
Preferred start date:
Preferred end date:
Have you volunteered before? Please provide a short summary of your volunteer experience:
In which countries have you traveled outside your home country? (This helps us anticipate your support
needs in Ghana):
Have you traveled on the African continent before? If so, where? For how long?:
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 1
Skills Self-Assessment
This self-assessment helps us identify volunteer positions that suit your skills and experience. After receiving
your application, we will contact you to discuss your volunteer project preferences. This helps us plan our
projects and helps you prepare for your volunteer experience. We appreciate your time and commitment on
this section.
Instructions
Please write the number that best suits your skill level next to each item in the fields below. Your hobbies
and life experience are of as much interest to G-lish as your professional skills. Please be honest about your
skill levels so we can best match you with our projects for a productive volunteer experience. If you have no
skill/experience, don't worry. We're interested in what you can do and what you prefer to do.
On a scale of 1-5, please rate your skill level in each of the following Skills Fields:
1 = Beginners skill/experience
2 = Beyond beginners, but not fully developed
3 = Competent skill/experience
4 = Regularly practicing professional standard
5 = Expert: more than 5 years experience
Please type the number that reflects your skill level in the box next to each item. If you
have no skill/experience, leave it blank and only fill those in which you do.
Business Support Skills Sets
Accounting
Monitoring and evaluation processes
Developing annual reports
World Fair Trade Org principles
Small business basics
Fair trade monitoring
Teaching small business to others
Fair trade evaluation
New market research
Import/export planning and process
New market access strategies
Supply chain analysis
Business consulting
Organizational development
Eco-tour and Environmental Skills Sets
Tour planning and guiding
Cultural travel research
Travel market research
Environmental economics
Horticultural skills
Climate change science
Nursery (seedling) operations
Climate change impact in West Africa
Forestry planning skills
Recycling and waste management
Knowledge of Sahelian soil conditions
“Cradle to cradle” design philosophy
Environmental impact assessing
Climate change adaption strategies
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 2
Health, Youth and Education Skills Sets
Nutrition and diet
Working with children (bonus if you
have raised your own children!)
Herbal medicine
Teaching children or teens
Yoga/osteo/chiro/physio
Summer/school camp leader
Communicable disease prevention
Learning disabilities educator
Hygiene and sanitation
Learning disabilities assessment
Tropical disease knowledge
Educational counseling skills
Health workshop training or teaching
General personal organizational skills
Conflict Resolution Skills Sets
Mediation
Train the trainer workshop delivery
Group conflict resolution workshop
facilitation
Traditional African conflict resolution
practices
Teaching anger management techniques
Establishing anti-violence networks
Teaching active listening techniques
Liaising with external support
networks
Domestic violence counseling
Domestic violence prevention
Intra-cultural conflict resolution
Teen violence and abuse counseling
Cross-cultural conflict resolution
Alcohol/addiction counseling
Creative Skills Sets
Visual illustration: digital
Art/design teaching
Visual illustration: non-digital
Gallery operations
Digital photography
Business report writing
Digital film making
Blogging and online/SEO writing
Digital film editing
Creative writing
Weaving and/or fiber arts
Grant writing
Any other artistic medium*
Social media strategies
* Please type which artistic mediums:
Software Skills Sets
MS Word
Windows systems
Ms Excel
Adobe Photoshop
Apple Mac Applications
Adobe Illustrator
HTML
Other illustration software **
CSS
Video editing software ***
Wordpress
Other photo editing software ****
Other software specialization ****
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 3
** Please tell us which other illustration software you can use:
*** Please tell us which video editing software you use:
**** Please tell us which other photo editing software you use:
***** Please tell us of any other software specializations:
Other Skills and Abilities: General Teaching and Training experience which
may support your key skills above
Group workshop facilitation
Primary (elementary) school teaching
Personal tutoring
High school teaching
Workshop planning and development
Technical college teaching
Creating teaching manuals
University/college teaching
Please list subjects taught, if applicable.
Project Preferences
This is where it all comes together. In this section you tell us which Fields you would most like to work in, and
which specific skills you would like to use during your volunteer experience.
Please list your preferred Field, e.g. Business Support. 1st is your favorite, 4th is your least favorite. Then
name a Specific Skill, e.g. accounting/finance. Feel free to list the same Field, e.g. Business, for each
preference if you're really keen on volunteering in that Field. Alternatively, feel free to list any Fields
according to your interests and abilities, from 1st - 4th preference. This helps us match you with the most
suitable volunteer position. And sometimes we receive a number of applications in the same skill area so this
helps us better balance project flow as well.
The six main Skills Fields, as per the Self-Assessment above, are:
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Business Support / Eco-tour and Environmental / Health, Youth and Education / Conflict Resolution /
Creative / IT
Order of
Preference
Skills Field
Specific Skills You
Wish to Use
Any comments about this
Example
Business
Support
New market
research
I work in international business and this is my
main area of expertise.
My 1st
preference
My 2nd
preference
My 3rd
preference
My 4th
preference
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 4
Any Other Skills We Have Not Mentioned?
If you have skills that we have not listed here, but you think might fit one of our program areas, please let us
know in a few lines and we will consider how we can match this with our core programs and volunteer
positions.
Employment
Please attach a separate CV with your application. If you rated yourself a 5 or 6 in any of the skills above,
please explain your professional or expert experience here.
Education
Please give brief details about your education
Level
Name of School
Core Subject/s
Graduated
High School
Technical
College
University
PostGraduate
Motivation
Please write a short description about your main motivation for traveling to volunteer in Ghana:
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 5
Personal Attributes
This part helps us understand your natural strengths so we can try and match volunteers with each other and
with project managers. Please be honest; the better we understand your strengths and inclinations, the
better we can cater for your volunteer experience.
On a scale of 1-4, please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with the statements below. Please
type the number that best reflects your position in the box next to each item.
1) Completely disagree
2) Mildly disagree
3) Agree
4) Hell Yeah, I Agree
I like to lead groups
I'm a good listener
I prefer to work alone
I prefer to work in a group
I don't mind if I work alone or in a group
I can live with power cuts (common in developing countries)
I have first-aid training
I can manage bucket baths (water shortages happen from time to time in Ghana)
I'm willing to work outside my volunteer position scope if needed
Most people would call me patient
I like working under the guidance of more experienced folks
I am able to finish projects on time
I prefer to work unsupervised, but I get the job done
I enjoy collaborating with others
I enjoy teaching others
I enjoy learning from others
I enjoy leading group discussions
Leading group discussions is not my cup of tea
I don't know if I love or hate leading group discussions, but I'd like to try
I can speak another language besides English? Which?
I plan to spend time traveling around Ghana during my time off from volunteering
I am good at picking up foreign languages
I enjoy traveling by myself
I enjoy traveling with others
I'm not fussy about food
I'm a little fussy about food (please be honest about this)
I prefer to cook for myself
I would like to try Ghanaian cuisine
I am good at concentrating on one activity for long periods of time
I don't have much travel experience, but I'm open to new ideas and experiences
I like to overcome obstacles to get things done
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 6
Volunteer Abroad Fees
Table of Fees
G-lish Volunteer Abroad Fees
Why volunteer fees?
Volunteer fees help cover G-lish Foundation’s operating
costs so that we can continue to carry out projects and
activities in our main program areas. Fees help cover
programs such as tree planting and the Tree Bank
Project, and programs that don’t generate their own
income such as conflict resolution and health training,
working with schools in Green Clubs projects and with
special needs children.
Volunteer Fees help cover the cash-flow gap in
production, which can last several months. Fees
therefore allow us to cover costs, to produce more
baskets and to work with more rural families and more
weaving communities. Volunteer fees help us better
fulfill our mission to create income generation streams
for women and youth in impoverished rural
communities and to regenerate the degraded
environment.
Please check www.oanda.com for currency
conversions. If you are checking Ghanaian currency,
use the “Ghana New Cedi” option.
Your volunteer fees cover:
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Airport pick up and drop off in Accra
In-country orientation which takes place
during your first week in Ghana
Transport to your project
Accommodation in a dedicated volunteer
house with a comfortable bed, mosquito
net, cupboard and your own shared
bathroom
Drinking water at home and in the office
A G-lish basket of welcome goodies
In-country support with G-lish staff and
team leaders throughout your project.
Our popular travel guide to Ghana
You will be responsible for your:
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Airfare, visa, and travel insurance
Vaccinations and medicine
Personal travel within Ghana
Own meals. This makes for easy budgeting as you can
eat quite cheaply in Ghana, and this helps vegans,
vegetarians and anyone with special dietary
requirements.
Acknowledgment of the need to acquire medical insurance coverage
I acknowledge that I must obtain an insurance policy specifically for travel and medical emergencies
before I come to Ghana which covers the duration of my volunteer stay in Ghana. This is compulsory and
important in case I should need emergency travel or medical emergency services while in Ghana. This is a
standard requirement for international volunteer programs.
Signature:
Date:
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 7
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Email your signed application form to [email protected], [email protected] and cc:
[email protected] (our back-up in Australia). You do not have any obligation to make any
payments when you send your application. You can send your form with a digital signature, as is. Or you can
print it your application, sign it, scan and email your application. Please make sure we can read your writing in
the scanned document. We will always confirm that we received your application. If you do not get a
confirmation email within 24 hours, please let us know.
We will inform you whether your application is successful within the next two weeks. During that time we will
contact you to discuss volunteer positions with you or to clarify any part of your application.
G-lish Volunteer in Africa Package
If your application is successful, we will request a deposit of US$150 to keep your volunteer position since
places are in demand and limited. This deposit is non-refundable and this amount will be deducted from your
total fees balance.
Once we receive your deposit, we will email your G-lish Volunteer Package. This includes:
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Project Outline: A 1-2 page document detailing your volunteer position.
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A confirmation email showing key planning dates and fees schedule.
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A budget planner in Excel showing 2 typical budgets, item costs and cost breakdowns to help budget
for your volunteer experience.
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A fund-raising guide should you be planning to raise funds to cover your journey with fun and
achievable strategies and activities to help you achieve your goals.
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A medical check sheet to help you plan your medical needs before you depart for Ghana.
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A check-list for things to do and remember during the 3 months before departure, in the week before
departure, and during your flight.
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Our Volunteer Terms and Conditions Agreement which you must sign and return before or when
you make your full payment of fees―which should be no later than 60 days prior to departure.
And When We Receive Your Volunteer Fees Payment in Full we will confirm your payment and send:
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An emergency contact form, which you must sign and return to us no later than 15 days before
departure.
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Your Ghana travel guide. We wrote a popular, digital (PDF) travel guide to Ghana (see: Ghana
Guide page) which covers culture, history, language, travel preparation, festivals, nightlife, Ghana's
major sites and a number of lesser known locations, climate and weather, a lengthy guide to Ghana's
unusual public transport system, timetables (no other guide or transport company provides this), and
much more. Our travel guide is now exclusively for volunteers.
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We will ask you to send your flight schedule so we can arrange to pick you up.
Thank you for taking the time to apply to G-lish Foundation. We know it’s an extensive application and we
appreciate your time and effort. We'll be in contact with you shortly. Visit our Volunteer in Africa page for more
information on volunteer abroad projects and our volunteer in Africa brochure.
Http://g-lishfoundation.org/volunteer-in-africa Volunteer Abroad Application Form Page | 8