Canada World Youth/Student and Youth Travel Organisation (CWY/SYTO) volunteer Youth Exchange Programme

Worried about what to do after your WASSCE? Being part of the CWY/SYTO youth volunteer exchange programme could be the ideal thing to do!!!!
The CWY/SYTO volunteer exchange programme is designed for young people between 17 and 22 years and is to participants with skills in inter cultural, leadership, community development, work experience, conflict management among others.
Participants spend half of the time in Canada and the other half in Ghana or another African country involved in the exchange.

Core Programme
The core programme is six to seven months in length – half happens in Canada and the other half overseas. During the programme, you and your counterpart (a young person from Canada) get involved in your host community through volunteer service and you live together in a host family. You also participate in educational activities with members of your group, permitting you to enrich and increase your understanding of global and local issues. You soon realize just how much you can learn by becoming active in your community! It’s an unforgettable intercultural and educational experience that enriches your knowledge and helps you develop new skills.

Africa-Canada Eco-leadership Programme
The Africa-Canada Eco-leadership Programme has the same structure as the Core programme. The only difference: it includes participants from Canada and from two African countries. Therefore, each team consists of 18 participants (6 from Ghana, 6 from one African country and 6 from Canada).

South – South Programme
The south-south programme is between countries in the West African sub region tailored towards particular themes. Currently, we are running an exchange in agricultural production and processing in Burkina Faso and it involves Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo.

Number of participants
Each year, SYTO recruits about 30 young Ghanaians to take part in the Core, Africa-Canada Eco-leadership and South – South Programmes.

Interested in these programmes?
Applications are advertised at the beginning of each year, so look out in the dailies and also ask about it from your SYTO Club executives and Patrons in your school!

Age 
17-22 years of age

Length
6 to 7 months

Team members (Core programme): 
9 Ghanaians
9 Canadian
2 supervisors

Team members (Africa-Canada Eco-leadership Programme): 
6 youth from Ghana
6 youth from one African country
6 youth from Canada
2 supervisors (1 from Canada, 1 from one of the African countries)

Cost
Programme cost is taken up by Canada World Youth. Administrative cost including insurance and medical is about $250

Partner countries
Canada, Senegal, Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso
Unique characteristic:
Half of the programme takes place in Canada and the other half in one of  the African countries

To apply, you must be a Ghanaian citizen between 17 and 22 years of age and should either be in final year at Senior Secondary School (SSS) or must have completed SSS. In addition, we are looking for youth who:

Programme Calendar

Components of the Exchange Programme
Your Counterpart
From the start of the programme, you will be paired with a Canadian (Core) or another African (ACELP) - this person is called your counterpart. You will live and/or does your community service work with your counterpart. Through your counterpart relationship you develop your ability to communicate in another language, you learn to appreciate another culture, and you develop your interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills.

Host Communities
During your programme, you will get to know two host communities: one in Ghana and another in Canada or another African country. By living in host communities, you learn to adapt to another culture and way of life. You also experience and investigate development issues and concerns of that community.

Host families 
You and your counterpart will live with a host family during the length of your programme. These families are selected by Canada World Youth, and you will meet them when you arrive in your host community. By sharing in the day-to-day life of your host family, you learn how to adapt to another way of life, you more easily learn the language of your host country and you develop your interpersonal skills.

Volunteer Work Placement
You and your counterpart volunteer with a local organization or business for a certain number of days each week. Given that you will be asked to complete various tasks and projects, we try to place you in an environment that interests you. Through your volunteer work placement, you learn new job-related skills and more about your community

Non – Formal Education
We want you to learn a lot, but in a very different way than school. Non-formal education refers to guided learning and teaching through experience in real-life settings. Non-formal education includes having a set of planned learning objectives that are met through your involvement in your programme. Non-formal education also includes the existence of an educational plan, a "map" of sorts that helps make sense of the experiences you have during your programme.

Group Educational Activities
Approximately once a week, your team comes together for group educational activities that focus on issues related to intercultural communication, development issues in your host community and larger issues related to international development. During the Educational Activity Days, you develop your ability to guide and facilitate your own and your team's learning. You take personal responsibility for your own learning and build on your analytical, leadership and teamwork skills.

Team Evaluation
By participating in team evaluations, you learn the role of analysis and evaluation in project development. You learn the importance of constructive criticism and communication skills in sustaining positive group dynamics.

Project Supervisors
During the entire programme, your group will be under the supervision of two educators (a Canadian and a Ghanaian or someone from another African country) hired by SYTO and Canada World Youth. These supervisors ensure that all aspects of the programme run smoothly and guide the participants in their learning. The supervisors are also the key contact people in the community for the programme – if there are problems or questions related to participants or the programme in general, the supervisors are the people to speak to.