World of Difference 2010
Meet the 2010 winners on Facebook and follow their progress as they go out into their communities to make a world of difference!
Weeks after the launch of the Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference programme, the first batch of country-wide volunteers have been introduced to the public as they prepare to begin their nationwide projects in various communities for social good.
The first batch of thirty volunteers was introduced on Thursday 19 August in Accra. The volunteers are from varied professional backgrounds; they include medical doctors, university lecturers, teachers, broadcasters, journalists, football administrators, nurses and social workers. They are expected to use their experience and knowledge to impact positively on the lives of the people within the various communities where their charity projects will be undertaken.
The Vodafone Ghana Foundation’s World of Difference project is a unique community programme that aims at taking corporate philanthropy to a new level where individual professionals step out of their regular jobs and voluntarily engage in projects that will impact positively on the lives of the less privileged in selected communities across the country.
The thirty volunteers, including Kwami Sefa Kayi of PeaceFM and Nana Aba Anamuah of TV3, will devote their time to different community projects including cervical cancer and autism awareness creation, assisting leprosariums and orphanages, helping to set up solar gadgets for water distillation in deprived communities, non-formal education for girls in correctional institutions, empowering the disabled, giving palliative care to the aged, etc.
These volunteers will be given monthly allowances by the Vodafone Ghana Foundation ranging from GHC 1, 000 to GHC 2,000 including other facilities to assist them while on their respective projects; but the essential aspect of the World of Difference volunteerism programme is that the volunteers are driven by the quest for social good and their passion to contribute to solving social problems instead of complaining about them.
The World of Difference programme is an annual community charity programme. It is one of the key activities of the Vodafone Foundation Group and it currently runs in 17 Vodafone operating countries. It has seen individuals from varied backgrounds make a huge difference in the lives of communities and NGOs across the world.
The World of Difference project which was launched in May this year received about 600 applications indicating the huge interest by Ghanaians to offer their expertise and knowledge to communities that need them.
Mr. Whitehill explained in an interview with Peace FM that the volunteers will be spending a period of two months with a chosen NGO or charity and get paid by the Vodafone Ghana Foundation for the duration. The Vodafone Ghana is spending some GHC 150,000 Ghana cedis to pay the allowances of the volunteers and their host NGOs.