Media Centre for Volunteer in Ghana

Sharon Doughty

arrived at the Tzaneen facility late in the afternoon, after an all night flight from London-Johannesburg, so that I could catch the 1 translux bus a day to Tzaneen. This journey takes 6 hours, but the driver does make a rest-stop mid-way!

I was taken to the tent village where the volunteers live, and introduced to my new tent-mate, and given a tour of the facilities, 2 outside toilets (natural toilets complete with maggots!!), 2 showers, and a kitchen area with ice-block cooled chest fridge. The rules were explained by the other volunteers – mainly that water is in short supply, which was drinkable, and where to keep food. There were around 15 volunteers there at that time, mainly women in their 20's (18- around 50), from the UK, USA and Canada.

That evening I met Arthur Hunt - a real eccentric with his long white pony tail and tie around his head!! who runs the project - he's passionate about monkeys, and talks to them all the time, they love him! The next morning Arthur gives you a tour of the project and an induction to the work.

Dinner each night is served at the cottage a few minutes walk away from the tent-village, and is sometimes prepared by the staff, sometimes the volunteers. The food is vegetarian, pasta dishes with fake meat, fake burgers, veggie curry with rice,chips occasionally. In April it’s still hot in the day, and there were around 30 baby monkeys to look after, they need to be supervised in an outside caged area, and given milk Mon-Sat. Other jobs include making up the milk formula, going around the entire compound ‘monitoring’ the health of the 600 odd monkeys and helping prepare the food for the main feed.

You are expected to work 5 days a week, plus a couple of hours Sunday morning (just for the main feed) so you have one weekday off to go into town, for shopping and email. You are also given 4 touring days, in which groups of volunteers usually get together and travel (by hiring a car for a few days and splitting the cost - you need a driver over 21 for this) – usually to Kruger National Park for 2-3 days, which is amazing to see all the animals in their natural habitats, and to some other favourites such as the biggest baobab tree, other rehabilitation centres, a tea plantation, to the ethnic markets, or white water rafting.

I really bonded with the baby monkeys, they each have their own quirky personalities. You do get very dirty – they poo and pee all over you!, there really is no avoiding that – but everyone is in the same boat….I took ‘disposable’ vest-tops!

On days off you can get a lift into town, and someone can usually be persuaded to drive to the pub once or twice a week. And earplugs are a good idea if you fancy an early night - sociable as a tent village is, you can hear everything!