Jolinaiko Eco Tours - Experience West Africa!
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Benefits for the village

The benefits for the village of bringing in tourists, consist of the following:

Community fund

Every traveller who comes to Atsiekpoe-Vume with Jolinaiko Eco Tours pays a small community tax of 5 GhC (about €2.50) which goes into the community fund.

The community fund has been established in February 2008 as an initiative to generate money from tourism for the development of Atsiekpoe. In this way, the whole community profits from the visitors brought in by Jolinaiko Eco Tours. The community - in its turn - offers community labour and as much materials as possible to achieve their development goals. They also generate funds during their yearly festive fundraising rally. In the last two years they were able to fund electricity poles and wiring in this way.

Village meetings have been organized by Jolinaiko Eco Tours to generate discussion about the main needs for development. The main priority set by the community leaders is building toilets since there are no toilets in the village. Other priorities are access to clean drinking water and first aid care and the construction of a community center. Besides the community funds, Jolinaiko Eco Tours seeks financial and technical support through the Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation for achieving these basic needs. The first eight toilets will be completed in 2011.

Community experiences

Jolinaiko Eco Tours coaches the villagers in the development of excursions and workshops for the visiting tourists. This generates an income for those involved. Examples are a traditional drumming-dancing performance by the youth association, a visit to the blind story-telling elder of the village, a fishing trip on the Volta with a local fisherman or learning to weave mats. See the 'Experience Jolinaiko Eco Village' page for more details.

Community volunteering

Jolinaiko Eco Tours is working together with the Dutch organization Meet Africa and the Atsiekpoe Youth Association for the placement of long-term volunteers at the primary and junior secondary school of Atsiekpoe-Vume. The first volunteers will be placed from the second half of 2010.

See our volunteering pages for more information.

Jolinaiko Eco Lodge

The fourth way in which the community benefits, is the lodge we are building. The lodge will create work for the village, in the building process as well when it is receiving guests. The lodge will create a demand for toiletries, food and souvenirs. A kitchen- and cleaning staff will have to be hired. Jolinaiko will stimulate and coach villagers in setting up their own businesses that provide services for the lodge or create experiences - like workshops - for the tourists. The money from the room rent will be used to maintain the lodge.

See our Jolinaiko Eco Lodge page for more information.

Stepping Stones for Africa

In Africa there are a lot of ambitious and dedicated people, but most of them find it difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish their dreams and goals. In rural areas, there is a lack of education, knowledge, services and financial means. In 2005, Apollo Panou was one of those people. A Dutch foundation, the Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation, was his missing link in realizing his ambitions with Jolinaiko Eco Tours. The foundation helped him create a steady flow of clients by building this website and offering advice.

Now, three years later, Jolinaiko Eco Tours acts as a partner for the Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation. Together we hope to be able to be a 'stepping stone' for more dedicated people. By listening to the village and its inhabitants, Jolinaiko hopes to make a difference and to be able to be a catalyst for positive developments in the village aimed towards a higher quality of life.

“ We received a warm welcome. People carried our luggage on their head to our house, everybody greeted us with 'Woez' and people were smiling. Children were running after us screaming 'yevu, yevu!'.

It is a lovely place to live. Living with the sun. The villages are not really developed and isolated from the 'civilized world' (no electricity, mud houses, cooking on a fire etc.). Still the villages are rich in what they have. You don't need electricity, because there is a breeze from the river and water is close by. We thought it was wonderful to walk outside and see the goats and chickens walking freely. The people live from the natural resources like fish and cassava. They make baskets out of plants and eat mangoes when it is the mango season. On Sundays you see everybody in their beautiful traditional clothes going to church. Although the villages are little, they have five churches! God plays an important role in these communities.

We hope that you will enjoy the people and the nature as much as we did. Yevu, woez! ”

Annemarie van Alphen & Irene Poortinga ,
The Netherlands. sankofa
Annemarie and Irene lived in Atsiekpoe-Vume for 3 months and taught at the local primary school.

Teaching in Atsiekpoe-Vume is a unique experience. If you have a teaching background and are interested in spending some time doing voluntary work, please see our volunteering pages.