If you’re into pre-packaged, sterilized travel, then what Wildland Adventures and Friends of UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) are putting together isn’t your cup of chai. If you want to engage with the world, wrestle with her problems and come away energized to do something about them, drink up.
You might start by booking a position in October’s Ghana Leadership Delegation foray to Africa. Learn how UNFPA is working to improve the lives of women and children in this precinct of the planet. Come away with something more than a souvenir. Return home with insight. Meet tribal leaders, government ministers, ambassadors, United Nations executives and UNFPA field workers. Visit Achimota Hospital’s maternity wards, Bolgatanga Midwifery Training School, Agbobloshie market and traditional Dagomba villages. Put things in larger perspective with a trip to the National Arts Centre and National Museum.
“Our delegation will see firsthand how UNFPA is working with the country’s government to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled,” says UNFPA President Valerie DeFillipo.
There’s room for tourism too on this Ghanaian trek. You can explore Elmina Castle, a white-washed former slave-trading site on the edge of the sea. Then, tour a harbor replete with brightly-painted boats. On the edgier end, see Accra’s famous coffin makers at work as they fashion fantasy coffins to mimic animals, cars, airplanes or whatever the client desires.
If what you desire is something far beyond a week at the beach, this might be the ticket. The tour runs Oct. 13 – 21 of this year. A significant slice of the price counts as a tax-deductible donation to Friends of UNFPA.
(Image: Treeaid)
