Young Spanish aid volunteers flee Ghana

MORE than 130 Spanish volunteers hoping to help the impoverished in Ghana were yesterday evacuated after being threatened by a group of armed men – allegedly sent by the summer aid programme they eagerly signed up for via Instagram.

Yes We Help, founded by Yago Zarroca, a self-styled Barcelona-based entrepreneur, signed up 1,000 young people for summer programmes in farflung destinations such as Ghana and Sri Lanka – or so the group claimed.

But volunteers, mostly aged between 16 and 24, complained they had arrived to find the projects either in disarray, or nonexistent, without leaders and without beds or even food.

Those in Ghana mounted a protest with a banner denouncing “fraud” but were approached by armed men. Several volunteers said they believed Mr Zarroca called in “the mercenaries”.

Yesterday, Spain decided to evacuate their young citizens. Catalonia’s Small and Medium NGO Alliance, which has taken up the case, told The Daily Telegraph Yes We Help was a profitmaking business facing allegations of questionable practices. Neither Mr Zarroca nor Yes We Help responded to repeated requests from The Telegraph.