Possible Ghana Trip

Check prices first…I’m sure you can do a month long Ghana trip for less than $3K if you go on your own…and you’ll have a more interesting cultural experience not being with other Americans, and you could find something to shoot that interests you more…AND it’ll be a lot cheaper.

If you believe in their cause and want to support them by paying for a trip and building for them, then you should do that. But, if doing photo work there is what you’re interested in, then I don’t think it’s the best option…especially considering the cost.

Hey Mark, I’m sure that everything you said is spot on, but there are a few other things I’m taking into consideration. First, I have a good job that pays the bills, and I couldn’t take a month off. But more importantly, that money also includes travel, and all the arrangements. This being my first such trip, this allows me to dip my toe in the water first.

I think there is an interesting story in Iowans on a missionary trip to Ghana. The fact that people are going to be helped in the process is a giant, glorious cherry on top, and what attracted me to the idea in the first place.

I’m going to contact the Iowa Arts Council to a grant. Any other ideas?

Brian, will the church be willing to cover the cost of malarone (the french anti-malarial drug)? because it is expensive(it must be taken daily) but for Ghana ESSENTIAL. I was there five years ago- in July and didn’t know about Malarone and didn’t take Larium because I heard about the awful side effects. I used repellent only, it was inefective and I came back with malaria. I was hopitalized in Brooklyn for eight days, they had no clue how to treat this disease and it turned into cerebral malaria. I came out of the hopital anemic unable to drive, or work for nearly two months as it affected my balance and spatial relations.
I was invited to stay with at the home of a colleague from work who has a house in Accra, but it was not a difficult place travel on your own. Ghanaians are incredibly good natured, kind people, and as Mark said that is alot of money for a month and you would do better making your own arrangements and then just photographing the Iowa church, and moving on. There are Christian missionaries all over the country, but also plenty of other stories which you will find with a bit of research. Just wanted you to be aware that malaria is endemic in Ghana ( maybe a story on that, since it kills millions of children worldwide and doesn’t get nearly the attention it should.) As far as funding, arts councils take months to make their decisions so you usually have to fund these trips yourself. Good luck, and be very vigilant with the anti-malarials.

Hey Nancy,

The church provided us with a full list of vaccinations we will need, and a Malaria prescription was one of them. I was told that insurance might cover most if not all of these drugs. To be honest, going out on my own for my first trip like spooks me a bit. With the church group, I know they have been there/done that, so there won’t be any surprises. I’m looking at the airfare costs, and that’s making up 75% of the total trip.

I found requirements on the Arts Council website. Since it is a government agency, they won’t give grants to projects that follow a religious group. So that throws a kink in that whole idea.

Thanks for the stern warning on the medicines.

Brian,

I’m based in Accra and I’ve travelled extensively throughout the country, let me know if you have specific questions about Ghana.

As for malaria, what happened to Nancy here is not limited to Ghana, and could have happened pretty much anywhere in tropical climates. If you’re only coming for a short while, it may be worth it getting the meds, but none of them are %100 efficient, and the only real way to avoid malaria is to not get bitten by mosquitoes.

Based on several stories from people I know, and Nancy’s, the worst thing that can happen to you is having the malaria symptoms develop only AFTER you return home. Hospitals and clinics here are used to dealing with malaria on a daily basis, but in North America or Europe, they most likely don’t even have a clue what it is.

Thanks Oliver. Will definitely keep that in mind.

you’ve got to jump through the fire if you want to get to the other side. best bet is to fund the trip yourself, if you believe in the worth of the story, and then push the work, if you believe in the strength of the images.

Hey Brian C… gotta be quick as Im on the run… but wanted to shoot ya my 2 cents…

For me, for my first NGO gig… I offered to do a multimedia piece for their website in exchange for expenses being covered on the ground (food, lodging, transportation). Often NGO’s can cover things like this, because they have hookups of their own, so it doesn’t cost them anything. I was already going to be in the country, so the flight price wasnt an issue… Often working for NGO’s isnt a profitable experience (money wize) but you can gain invaluable access to the community for other stories that you can sell and add to your book….

Sorry to be so short… ill write more when I have a chance later…

Peace man, and good luck.

Brian C:

Oliver can be 10x the resource for you there than the church group could…and his info would probably cost you a fraction of the groups info (a bottle of liquor, a few beers, a meal in Osu at Providence…). And I’m sure that the group is not necessarily getting the best available price on their plane tickets.

Nancy is right on about the malarone…(Larium is useless). Malaria is easy to catch, and a gawdawful thing to deal with. If you’re only gone 2 weeks it probably wouldn’t kick in until you’re back, then you’ll need to find someone who knows how to treat it, etc. etc…just take precautions.

Brian F’s got the right angle on the NGO’s…a lot of them in Ghana have nice guest houses and transportation you can take advantage of, if you’re doing something for them.

It’s not my place to dissuade you, man, I’m just very leery of overspending on assignments…it can really leave you hobbled as a freelancer in the future.

The mission is going to Ho, Ghana in the Southeast corner of the country. Right now I’m in the early planning stages. I’m not counting out planning my own trip, but right now I am going under the assumption that I am going to go with the group. The $3000 includes the flight, a hotel with a shower and electricity, transportation, most meals, and the story built in, which is important since I can’t spend a whole lot of time putting together a story.

If I were to make my own arraignments, the cheapest flight I found was about $2200. I did some research and read the new Ghana currency’s exchange rate is not too far off the American dollar, so everything is going to cost a bit. Is there something I’m missing that would be a huge money saver?

BTW, I can’t express enough how much I appreciate the feedback. I never get over how the photography community continually offers help to those starting out. Gonna stop before I get all misty.

Just in case someone is interested, One.org has a large list of NGO’s, including one for the Lutheran World Relief. Since the church I’m going with is Lutheran, this is right in their wheelhouse, and will be my first effort. There are also many, many more on http://www.ngowatch.org/

Thanks for all the help!

I’m starting to make the final arrangements for the Ghana trip. I am trying to get the electrical situation figured out this week. Going to be going through some surgery, so I might be out of commission for a couple weeks following. I found several international plug adapters, but I am concerned about the voltage differences. My ultimate goal is to go from a plug adapter to a surge protector power strip so I can charge multiple items at once. If the different devices all read 100-240V, will I need a device to lower the voltage?

Thanks.

Brian,

As far as power goes, Ghana is at 230V, so if you want to use a power strip you’ll have to find one that’s rated for that (cheap ones won’t be) or buy a converter. If you don’t want to use a strip, anything that says 100-240V will just need a plug adapter, nice and cheap.

Also, with converters be careful, a lot of them can only handle a certain amount of amps, so plugging in a strip to it with a bunch of chargers and a laptop could blow the converter.

As an interesting aside… don’t assume anything with a power block is 110-240, I accidentally plugged my AA battery charger in when I was in Spain, took me two hours to find the circuit breaker that I had thrown, plus ruined my charger and cost me a bundle for the batteries I had to then buy, Cheers

-Christopher

I was looking at several outlet adapter/converter kits. The only thing I NEED to charge would be my batteries and laptop. I could probably do one at a time. I’ll bring my surge protector as a extra level of caution.

Brian,

Did you check the rating for the AC adapter for your laptop? I would think the AC adapter for the laptop is rated 100-240V. Both of those for my two laptops are rated as such. Otherwise traveling businessmen and photographers have to lug around chargers around the world.

Brian,

Your Macbook’s charger is fine, Canon chargers should be fine as well, just invest in the $5 plug adapters at the nearest airport or Radioshack. Don’t bother investing in a voltage converter unless you absolutely need it, they’re damn expensive, heavy, and, in my experience, tend to fall out of the wall a lot…

-Christopher