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Sunyani, Ghana

Safety

Safety in Sunyani, Ghana
What do other Racers need to know in order to be safe? Current safety protocols/precautions in place? Any relevant issues/concerns? Any precautionary suggestions?

People’s Opinions

  1. Sunyani felt very safe! We were able to go around alone, but generally tried to only go out at night with at least one other person. The people were very friendly and the area we stayed at (Elenda Guest House) was very safe, we walked quite a bit, going out to the gas station for snacks, or the nearby Hotel for swimming or WiFi.
  2. We felt pretty safe around where we were staying. We walked a lot around our guest house and within the city itself. Very rarely did we go out after dark, but if we did, it was in pairs or more. The guest house we stayed at was outside of the main city so it was a quiet neighborhood.
  3. We felt safe in Sunyani. People regularly walked in pairs to the gas station on the corner and around the city without issue.
  4. We felt very safe in Sunyani and would regularly take long walks on the village dirt roads outside our hostel (Ellenda Guest House). People were very friendly and we never once felt threatened or unsafe.
  5. Sunyani was very safe. We were able to walk around in pairs and take taxis everywhere. There were no real safety concerns.

Ministry Summary

Ministry Summary in Sunyani, Ghana
Breakthroughs? Suggestions? Concerns? On a scale of 1-4 (1 being not at all, 4 being absolutely) how strongly would you recommend another World Race team go to this ministry location & why?

People’s Opinions

  1. This month in Sunyani was our all squad month! We worked with Elim City church.They have had World Racers before, and so we came and they already had a general schedule made for us ready to be discussed or changed accordingly. They were extremely kind and accommodating! Each team was assigned a different section of the city, and we spent most days evangelizing. It was wonderful to see my and my teammates perspective change on sharing the Gospel with others. We were able to create personal relationships with people and actually sit with them, helping with cooking or laundry. Evangelizing went from being a presentation in our minds, to being a beautiful personal conversation with others. We also had two physical labor days, which were extremely fun—cleaning the church, and going to the new church land to help dig some holes. I fully recommend this ministry location, I give it a FOUR. It was clear what was expected of us through ministry, and we were able to get to know the people of Sunyani and love them as well as be loved by them, and Elim City Church was wonderful.
  2. We worked with Elim City this month as all squad month. We loved our ministry here! They changed it a little bit for us from previous groups. Each team from our squad was assigned to different community areas for the month and we spent 4-5 sessions a week in those communities evangelising and forming relationships with the people who lived there. We adored getting to know people so well and sharing the Gospel with them. On the last day we went and did a free Lemonade stand with notes and scripture and LOVED it.
  3. We had an all squad month working with Elim City. We did street evangelism and visited a few schools to sing songs and visit with the children.Pastor Eben was passionate about ministering to the Muslim population as well.
  4. Elim City is the best! It felt like home. They loved us well and sought to get to know us, to point us to the Lord, and to seek His kingdom in Ghana together.Most of our ministry was walking around the city and college campuses, talking to people and inviting them to church.
  5. This month we worked with Elim City. It is a large church here is Sunyani. We worked with Pastor Gospel and his team here. We worked mostly with the Youth Pastor, Prince, and the Missions Pastor, Eben. We did mostly evangelism to various colleges near-by, the local community, and close by villages. We also put on a concert for the community. We had the opportunity to visit two schools.

Lodging

Lodging in Sunyani, Ghana
Where did you stay? What were the accommodations (sleeping arrangements, toilets, showers, etc.)? Cost (per person per night in USD), Contact info.

People’s Opinions

  1. The entire squad stayed in the Elenda Guest House. We mostly stayed three people a room. There was AC and a ceiling fan, so it was always quite cool in our rooms, except midday it sometimes was shut off. There was a giant bed, a comfy chair, a big desk, a giant dresser. The Bathroom had a flushing toilet AND a shower head 🙂 I am not sure the cost per person so this post is probably not very helpful at all but yet here we are. So all that to say it was very wonderful and we absolutely loved it and were quite spoiled.
  2. Ellenda Guest HouseThe guest house is owned by one of the church members of Elim City. His name is Mr. Koefe and was really nice. It was just our team and we had a total of 6. So we split up into pairs and took 3 rooms. The price was 60 Cedis per room which it came out to about $6.66 USD per person per night. Rooms are really nice with king size beds. Bathrooms are great with running water. Big ceiling fans and A/C in all the rooms. Small desk and chair as well. Rooms were cleaned almost every day for us by the staff. Very safe as there was a security guard at night. Could easily put 3 to a room which would make the price per person go down. But we had 4 girls and 2 guys so got an extra room.
  3. We stayed at Elienda Guest House. We had 3 people per room and it was 35cedi per night/per room. The rooms were nice and had their own bathroom. It was safe and had a guard that was there all night. The windows had bars. Also there was a large gate around the compound that was locked each night.
  4. A lovely lady from Elim City Church, the church we worked with this month, prepared meals for us every day. She was so extremely kind and we were blessed to eat the most delicious of breads that were increadibly soft and I am sure was not too far off from being similar to manna from heaven, as well as plantains, black-eyed peas, delicious sauces with boiled yams, noodles with hotdogs, delicious meat, and lots of fan ice ice cream 🙂
  5. Our host (Elim City) had a woman from the church prepare all of our meals. It was really nice and we all were able to make a relationship with her. We were served chicken, beef, noodles, rice, eggs, beans, plantains, salad, and fruit. We really didn’t “eat out”, other than maybe on our off days. The guest house is next to a hotel (Tyco City) and some of us went there to eat from their restaurant. They had some fairly good food at reasonable prices. The market is filled with different stands and vendors selling fruits and vegetables. We would go buy fruit a couple days a week.
  6. We ate a lot of rice, red sauce, chicken, and a salad that had tomatoes, tuna, mayonnaise, and ketchup. The food was prepared by a catering company through the church.
    Note: If you have allergies make sure to communicate with anyone who possibly will come in contact with making the food. By the end of the month allergen friendly food was more constant, but it was a challenge all month to communicate allergen needs for people on our squad.
  7. Every meal was prepared for us by a church member. There is a gas station close to the guest house that you are able to get snacks. There are no real grocery stores here in Sunyani, so getting food was limited.

Food / Meals

Food / Meals in Sunyani, Ghana
What did you eat? Where did you get the food? Cost (per person per day in USD)? Contact info (if applicable).

People’s Opinions

  1. Comment

Transportation

Transportation in Sunyani, Ghana
What transportation did you use to enter the country? Where were you coming from? What transportation was used to move throughout the country? Be sure to include the cost per person in USD and contact info if applicable.

People’s Opinions

  1. We came from Abidjan, Cote dIvoire on a bus into Accra, Ghana. It was a very Bouji bus for the cheap price and I doubt I shall ever sit on as fancy of a bus as this ever again. IT took about thirteen hours. From Accra we took a VIP bus to Sunyani, for about eight hours. While in Ghana, our mode of transportation was taxis. It cost about 1.60 Cedis per person going one way, up to 2 cedis going the opposite. Generally for four people a taxi, it cost 6 cedis one way and 8 cedis the other direction, depending on the route. The VIP bus is a good one to travel from Sunyani to Accra, or the opposite.
  2. All of our transportation during the month was by taxi. Taxis in Sunyani charge by person and the typical rate is 1.60 Cedis. Most taxis will go by this rate, but some may charge 2 Cedis per person. There are also “drop ins” which is when the taxi will take you directly to a place. These cost 8 Cedis total, whether there is 4 people or 1 person in the car. Because our guest house wasn’t on the main road, we typically just walked to the road to catch a taxi. We would sometimes take drop ins coming back home and the taxi would take us directly to our guest house instead of dropping us on the side of the road.VIP Bus is a good company which runs routes from Sunyani to Accra and Accra to Sunyani. The bus station is actually across the street from Elim City. VIP would be a good option to take when leaving Sunyani.
  3. Most places we were taken by our host in their church vans. If we went somewhere alone it was using taxis. The taxis were easy to take and they will let you pile as many people in them as you want. To get to the middle of town was about 10cedi.To get to Sunyani from Accra we took VIP bus. Since there was 18 of us we rented out the entire bus. It was super nice and about 1900 cedi for all of us one way.

Medical

Medical in Sunyani, Ghana
Information on local hospitals / doctors / pharmacies. Where would someone go in a medical emergency? (addresses and contact info).

People’s Opinions

  1. Our squad ran the gamut of skin infections, bacterial infections, malaria, parasites, and a literal host of other things while staying in Sunyani. Trips to the hospital/doctor were an almost daily occurrence. Before heading to the clinic, make sure they are open. On multiple occasions our squad went only to find the clinic was closed. Dr. Gospel has people in the congregation he can refer anyone with an ailment to and treatment will be available.
  2. Our ministry host gave us the number of a doctor in their congregation. He worked at Sunyani hospital. There are a lot of clinics in Sunyani. The pharmacies carry most of the basic medications you’ll need. Ask your host where to go but we didn’t have problems getting treated. Our ailments consisted of sinus infections and a couple upset stomachs.

Communication

Communication in Sunyani, Ghana
Did you have cell reception / Internet service? Where? Carrier / Provider, where did you get phones / SIM cards, cost? Country code?

People’s Opinions

  1. Our whole squad purchased Airtel sim cards. These seemed pretty good and not too expensive. I maybe put on 20 Cedis worth of minutes on my phone for the entire month. As for internet or wifi, we didn’t have any at our guest house. The hotel next to us offered their internet service for 10 Cedis for 24 hours. Most of us went there to get wifi. Elim City also had wifi, so we would go to the church as well.
  2. The most reliable internet was from squad members who purchased SIM cards while traveling through Accra. We used their hot spots and refilled the data plans on their cards, which can be purchased on almost every corner of the city. There is a stand at the end of the road by the guest house, as well as Tyco City Hotel.
  3. As for Internet, originally we were given a couple of small wireless routers to pass between teams, but we quickly found out that it wasn’t going to work because we ran out of data too quickly. There is a hotel very close (Tyco Hotel and gas station) you can walk to and pay a few cetis for some hours of wi-fi to use in their lobby. It wasn’t very strong and some days we went they told us it was down, but it was definitely better than nothing!
  4. English is the national language so communication is amazing here. The locals speak Twi and English. For the most part, everyone spoke both but we found a couple people that only spoke Twi. Our ministry partner stepped in on those circumstances. Not a problem. Enjoy speaking to people without exaggerated hand gestures!

Financial

Financial in Sunyani, Ghana
Location of banks or ATMs, notes about transaction fees, best places to exchange money, and other money related advice.

People’s Opinions

  1. There are a ton of ATMs and banks in the city. There are some by Elim City Church, the Ghana post office, Sunyani Polytech, and the Coco building. Many of the banks in the center of the city have transaction rates posted on the wall. During our stay here (9/16), it was around 3.90-4.00cedis to 1 USD.

Translators

Translators in Sunyani, Ghana
List any local translators – name and contact information, languages spoken

People’s Opinions

  1. English is widely spoken in Ghana as it is the official language. Ghana’s main language is Twi. Most people spoke both. It was so easy to talk to everyone and people were incredibly friendly. At times, a church member would be with us to translate if needed but you most certainly can get by just grande without any translators.
  2. When we went out in the community, most times one of the church members would go with us to help translate if we ran into anyone who didn’t speak english. But in Ghana, English is the national language and most people speak it. The other language is Twi.
  3. There was not much need for translators as English was the primary language in this country, however, on the occasions that we did need to speak to locals in Twi our pastors/church members would translate for us.

Off Days / Fun Activities

Off Days / Fun Activities in Sunyani, Ghana
What activities did your team experience? Recommendations? List locations/contact info. Any locations to be avoided? Any extra safety tips for off days?

People’s Opinions

  1. For one adventure day, Elim City church worked with our coordinators to plan an epic adventure day. We took a two hour bus ride from Sunyani to Monkey Sanctuary, walking along a jungle trail, feeding monkeys and becoming best friends with them as they landed on your shoulder while you attempted to keep them there so you’d have a constant shoulder friend as you continued your walk. We rode another hour or so to the Kintampo Waterfalls which were so much fun! We walked a short ways from the parking area and passed a couple baby falls. The main waterfall was beatiful, we could not “swim” as the river at the bottom was too shallow but we lounged in the water, and climbed to the rocks behind the falls and it was magical. An hour more and we made it to a Catholic monastery. We were there only a short time, but we got to wander through the beautiful land and rock structures, admiring the unique and giant trees that surrounded.

    Also fun to do, any day, was to walk from Elenda Guest house to Tyco City Hotel for swimming, wifi, laundry, or PIZZA —all costing a little bit of money, it is very cheap to use any of these, and the hotel restaurant had reasonably priced foods.
  2. We had an “expedition day” through our ministry host. We visited Kintampo Falls and a monastery(Techiman area). The monastery was really cool. We took a tour around the area and saw some impressive views. If you like the water, I highly suggest going to the Falls! You can swim at the 3rd waterfall and its amazing. There is another waterfall around 30 min drive away and its beautiful as well. It was a pretty safe swimming situation. Travel doctors don’t recommend African bodies of water but we all came out unscathed and without parasites(as far as we know). The whole day was around 60 cedis/person.

Other Important Contacts

Other Important Contacts in Sunyani, Ghana
Additional ministry opportunities, local pastors, etc. Relationship & follow up suggestions

People’s Opinions

  1. Across from the Melcom there is a shop selling African souvenirs. The woman who owns the shop is named Sarah and we spent the month pouring into her. When my team first met her we asked where we could find fabric, and she took the time to walk with us all over the city. If you get the chance, stop by and continue loving her in the name of Jesus.

Tips

People’s Opinions

  1. Also. The supermarket we used is called Melcom. It has the basics! Not a grocery so no produce.
  2. The Sunyani Post Office is a pretty cheap option to send items back home! They give you a tracking number and estimate around 10 business days back to the States. My package was around 1kg and it was around 70 cedis or 17.5 USD. Other options are FedEx or DHL. The DHL is in the Coco Building. FedEx is in the center of town.

Additional Info

Additional Info in Sunyani, Ghana
Anything we’ve left out? Any additional suggestions to make travel easier for others?

People’s Opinions

  1. There are a lot of fabric shops and sewing shops in the area if you want to have clothes made. A woman in the church, Maybel, knows a man named Frances who does a quality job. Almost our entire squad had clothes made by him. Would recommend.