GMAD Eye Mission
Application and Program Fees

March 31 - April 10, 2023

Being an Eye Mission Volunteer is a simple 4 step process.

Step 1 -  Review the Volunteer Handbook

VOLUNTEER HANDBOOK

Step 2 -  Fill out a volunteer application form

VOLUNTEER APPLICATION

Step 3 -  Complete your background check

BACKGROUND CHECK

Multiple Ghana government agencies that oversee the operations of our children’s home in Ghana require a criminal background check for all GMAD volunteers. We cannot approve you to be a GMAD volunteer without a clean background report. You will need to pay for this background check as a part of your volunteer application. The base cost of the background check is $11.49 and is for US Citizens only. If your background check yields no records, there will be no additional fees. The background check is provided by TruDiligence and includes a social security number trace, a national criminal search, a national sex offender search, and a Homeland Security search. If a record is found with a possible name and date of birth match, regulations require TruDiligence to request the real time record from that particular court. If this situation arises, TruDiligence will reach out to you to obtain permission to charge you the costs associated with the records found. You can decline to accept the additional charges and the background check will be closed as “Unable to Complete”. If you have any questions about the background check, please feel free to start a live chat via the TruDiligence website, send an email to support@trudiligence.com, or call TruDiligence at 1-800-580-0474.

Step 4 -  Pay your program fees

PAY YOUR PROGRAM FEES

Once you have completed steps one through three and after your application has been approved, in order to reserve your bed at the volunteer house in Ghana, you will need to pay your volunteer fees before your departure to Ghana. Your application is NOT FINALIZED and we cannot guarantee a spot for you in Ghana until you have paid ALL of your volunteer fees.

What your volunteer fees include

• Lodging at the GMAD home in Ghana
• Food
• Meaningful service opportunities (within the Winneba Trauma Hospital and the GMAD Children's Home) 
• Two nights in Cape Coast with meals and transportation
• Entrance fees to Slave Castle and Global Mamas workshops
• T-shirt and water filtration bottles
• Airport pick-up and drop-off

What your volunteer fees do not include

• Passport and visa 
• Immunization and malaria medication
• Flights (in almost all cases for medical missions you will pay for your flight through this webpage and GMAD will book your flight)
• Snacks
• Travel insurance

Possible 10 Day Itinerary 

DAY 1 ​- Friday, Depart USA
DAY 2 - Saturday, Arrive in Ghana. Visit the Ghanaian Art Market. Travel to GMAD Children's Home.
DAY 3 - Sunday, Spend the day at the Children's Home
DAY 4 - Monday, eye care and project work
DAY 5 - Tuesday, eye care and project work
DAY 6 - Wednesday, eye care and project work
DAY 7 - Thursday, eye care and project work
DAY 8 - Friday, Canopy walk through the rainforest, beach and lodge the Coconut Grove Village
DAY 9 - Saturday, Beach, Global Mamas, Elmina slave castle. Back to GMAD.
DAY 10 - Sunday, to the airport. Depart Ghana.

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Enjoy this short video of one of our combined surgical/dental mission trips!  This video may give you an idea of what your volunteer trip will look like!

TRAVEL ADVICE
Here are some links to up-to-date Ghana travel advisories.
​We encourage you to check these out before traveling to Ghana.
U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention
U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs
Embassy of Ghana, Washington DC