Help build a non-profit yoga and meditation centre for community development in Mampong, Ghana

Infos

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  Description

  Hi, I’m Meg, the founder of a non-profit yoga & meditation centre in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. I moved here from Canada in 2021 to start this project. Mabel is my sweet doggo who adores everyone who comes by.
  
  My vision is to offer by-donation classes, workshops, and retreats, to generate funding for different community development projects in the area.
  
  Work will be flexible and depend on the projects we’ve got going on at the time. I hope that Volunteers can get an idea of my vision and help to determine the work best suited to them. I like to start work by 8am (the earlier the better) to beat the afternoon heat.
  
  What I am looking for:
  
  -- Handy People
  First and foremost, I really need help with renovating the building and giving it some life! I’ve rented an 8-bedroom house, which desperately needs a more rustic and earthy feel to it. In particular, I’m looking for creative and innovative woodworkers who can help build some furniture, doors, and decor items, as well as plasterers/masons (ideally with some experience using lime and/or other types of natural building materials). I also have a small tiling project that needs attention.
  
  I have a certain amount of tools on hand, but resource availability is wildly different here in West Africa than it is in North America or Europe, so if you’re interested in coming for this, we’ll be sure to have a chat first about what to expect! Previous experience building in WA will be a huge plus.
  
  I could also use some help with sewing, painting, decorating, and cleaning in general. If you are a self-starter, independent, and have a strong attention to detail and organization, let's talk about this option.
  
  -- Yoga Teacher or Retreat Coordinator
  Next, in the coming months I should be ready and able to begin planning yoga and meditation workshops, but I would then love for someone to be behind the scenes - or vice versa. Someone who can manage the kitchen, timetable, cleaning, etc. OR a yoga and meditation teacher who wants to lead the classes, while I manage the rest. Anyone with other types of healing offerings (massage, reiki, acupuncture, etc) who would like to coordinate a retreat together, I’d love to talk!
  
  -- Community Development Project Coordinator
  Finally, if you have some ideas of community development mini-projects, I’m all ears! I’m not in the position to start anything on my own at the moment, but it would be great to start engaging with the community. So if you have something you’d like to run, send me your idea and we’ll see if we can make it happen together.
  
  -- Other Skills
  As a growing centre, I’m open to any suggestions or offers! I will eventually need to design a bookkeeping system and manage my online presence, so if you have skills in either of those departments, that would be great. Anything else, just send a message and let me know what you want to bring!

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Aide à la maison

  Accueil / tourisme

  Entretien général
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  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

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  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  - You’ll get the chance to explore Mampong, including the Wednesday market, and practice your twi in town.
  - Opportunity to take weekend trips:
  - Kumasi, to visit the cultural centre and kejetia market
  - Banko Guesthouse, maybe take their nature tour, or check out the pool nearby
  - Lake Bosumtwe and see the meteor-crater lake and go horse-back riding
  - Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary
  - Evenings can be spent playing board and card games, sharing a beer, talking about life in Ghana and other travels.
  - You can climb the nearby “prayer mountain” with a great view.
  - Yoga and meditation practice can be offered if guests are interested during work periods, and guests are can discuss about joining for organized workshops and retreats when they are happening.
  - I spend a lot of time in the kitchen so guests can learn about vegan cooking and baking, including bread. I’ll show you how to make seitan and we’ll prepare our own chilli oil. I can also show you how to make vegan versions of a few local dishes. Volunteers should be clear about their interest in this and coordinate with me to take part.
  - If you’re a non-native English speaker, you can get lots of practice. We can practice speaking French as well, and twi lessons can be arranged.

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  Aide

  - Carpentry
  - Plastering/Masonry/Building with Natural materials
  - Painting/Plastering with clay paints/roman clay
  - Tiling
  
  - Yoga teacher or retreat coordinator
  
  - Community development programming
  - Other: if someone also can create some bookkeeping/accounting systems for an NGO, or wants to do some social media content creation, those would also be greatly appreciated
  
  4-5 hours per day, 4-5 days per week. 2-4 weeks stay would be best. Longer is possible depending on the scope of the work and if it’s a good fit.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Intermédiaire
  Italien: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  I'd love to practice French or Italian! I'm a certified ESL teacher so if you want to improve your English, I'll be a great help.
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  Hébergement

  For now, each volunteer will stay in the house and will have their own bedroom with a ceiling fan. Until we build the beds, the mattress will be on the floor though! No A/C and no TV, but there is wifi and we can watch stuff on my laptop. I love popcorn, so I’m always down for a movie night.
  
  The house is well-connected to town, on a paved road, with tons of “Okadas” (tuk-tuks) passing by to take you into the town centre. There’s a popular bar just five minutes’ walk away, if you like to listen to outrageously loud afrobeats!
  
  Ideally, we operate as roommates and find a routine where we share the cooking and cleaning and make vegan meals together, but otherwise, basic staples are available for you to prepare your own food. You’re also welcome to buy food outside and bring it back to eat.

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  Autres infos...

  Reaching Mampong is quite easy. From Accra, you can find a VIP bus from Circle directly here in the mornings, or you can take any bus heading to Kumasi, get down at Ejisu, and find a shared taxi to Mampong. From Kumasi town centre, you can take a trotro from Kejetia, or trotro to Ejisu and a shared taxi to Mampong (my preferred route).
  
  You can get shared taxis from here to Techiman if you are heading further north.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  There is wifi at the centre. It can be subject to occasional power outages, but is typically fairly reliable. You may also buy a personal hotspot, or stream from your device. We can help with getting you a SIM card if you need.

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  We can accommodate 1-2 pets, so long as they will get along with my female dog, who can be hit-or-miss with other dogs.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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