The Ultimate Voluntary Organisation is located in a small town called Kwahu-Tafo, situated in the Eastern Region of Ghana, in an area called Kwahu Ridge. Kwahu Ridge lies roughly three hours drive north of Accra, Ghana's capitol, and is home to 15 towns with a combined population of 200,000 people. The majority of people living here are peasant subsistence farmers and, as a result, very poor. Due to this poverty, many parents are unable to pay for their children's education. These children end up dropping out of school and going out onto the streets. Here unemployment is rife, and the children are exposed to various problems including AIDS, child labor, and lack of education, continuing the poverty cycle.

We saw this trend here in Kawhu-Tafo, and decided to do something for these children. Since our inception in 2003, we have grown from catering for roughly 20 underprivileged children in a small hostel and fledgling football academy, to a much larger organisation in 2008. We now cater for roughly 100 children, all active in our

Football Academy or Cultural Centre , for whom we sponsor their education and healthcare, as well as feeding and housing 60 children in our hostel. This increase in size, and a widening of the scope of our goals, has required us to go through a recent restructuring in 2008, resulting in the formation of the Ultimate Voluntary Organisation.

UVO is a non-denominational, non-political, and non-governmental organisation. Our vision is "to see to it that the youth and their communities, irrespective of their social or economic background, are provided with good education and heath, and to develop their talents and skills through sports, performing arts and non-academic education, in order that they can avoid poor health, child labor and youth unemployment and become economically self-reliant and an asset to their society and to the nation of Ghana." For more detail, download our

constitution.

We are a home-grown organisation, and our Board of Directors is made up of entirely Ghanaian citizens, with the majority being from Kwahu-Tafo. To find out more about us and our particular involvement in UVO, browse the photos below.

Christian Ansah

The General Director of the Ultimate Volunteer Organisation, and co-ordinator of the Cultural Centre, is Christian Ansah. Christian is a professional Social Studies, and English teacher at the local high school, and Twi teacher at the Ultimate Primary School. He is passionate about providing children the opportunity to enjoy, and to develop their talents in, the Performing Arts, and organises tours for the Cultural Centre children to visit and perform at cultural festivals, schools and other institutions in and around Kwahu Ridge. You will also be living together with Christian and his wife, Patience, and their family in their house, where they will help you settle into the project, and cater for your food and accommodation. In addition to these roles, Christian is responsible for the running of the Ultimate Volunteer Organisation, in which he overseas and administrates the direction and all activities of the UVO.

Eric

The Assistant Director of the Ultimate Volunteer Organisation, and Football Academy Co-ordinator, is Eric Djane. Eric is a professional Mathematics and ICT teacher at the local high school, and Twi teacher at the Ultimate Primary school. Eric loves working with the children and volunteers and supports the project with his own time, money, and expertise. His commitment for the project has caused him to move from his personal apartment in Kwahu-Tafo, into our hostel to live with the boys. He lives day in and day out with the boys, and is a constant teacher and mentor. He is also skilled in African music, dance, and drumming. As of March 2008, he has been working with the project for almost four years, and over this time has worked closely with many volunteers. Eric welcomes and encourages volunteer input towards helping the organisation achieve its goals, and can help volunteers with any problems and queries they may have during their stay at the project.

Kofi

Kofi is one of the original founders of the UVO, and the Head Coach of the Football Academy. He has managed the growth of the Academy from its small beginnings as a single U12 team, to its current state with an U12, U14 and U17 squad. Kofi also has plans to begin an Open Division team soon, which will compete in the national league, and to start our first girl's football team. In addition, Kofi runs the football training sessions each afternoon, and welcomes and encourages input about any new ideas or training techniques that you may bring to the academy.

George and Mr Ofosu

Mr Ofosu and George are assistant coaches at the Football Academy. They help in all aspects to do with the running of the Academy, including supervising football training sessions, organising matches within and around Kwahu-Tafo, and looking after the equipment. In addition, Mr Ofosu is a keen Twi teacher, and will gladly give you lessons to get you up to speed with the local dialect.