swash 1 - GrowthAid

Sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project (sWASH 1)

In July 2019 there an outbreak of yaws, a neglected tropical disease, in some rural communities in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The disease outbreak was found to be linked to inadequate access to improved water, poor sanitation, and hygiene in these communities. Through our fundraising efforts, GrowthAid was lucky to receive funding from Latter-Day Saints Charities, INC to implement the Sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Project. The project covered the period from November 2019 – August 2020. Over 6,200 residents in nine rural communities namely, Oborpah, Ayermasu, Gyakiti, Buenye, Tsledom, Anumako, Korm Yonguase, Wawase, Puengua Oblemanya in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality were provided with new basic water, Sanitation and Hygiene services.

Map of Eastern Region of Ghana highlighting Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly where the project was implemented.  

STAKEHOLDER ENGEMENT & PROJECT OWNERSHIP:

As part of our stakeholder engagement and project ownership efforts, we signed an MoU with the MCE of Lower Assembly

 

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

⦁ Central to sWASH1 project was our Capacity building for sustainability initiative. We pioneered an innovative model where;
⦁ we acquired and installed water sensors on all AFRIDEV pumps in our project communities.
⦁ WATSAN committees were trained on how to use the sensors to monitor the performance of their community boreholes, report and get them repaired
⦁ The sensors were used to end short messages with spoiled pump parts codes into the national system operated by Sky Fox Limited for the parts to be delivered to communities. This worked to reduce the down time of boreholes.

⦁ Operated Iron Removal Plants for Rural Water Systems”. This model is a departure from previous iron removal plants that depends on external stakeholders for routine maintenance and repairs. This dependency has often led to abandonment of boreholes with high iron levels. Through our approach, skilled artisans were integrated in WATSAN committees in project communities and trained on the construction, operation, and maintenance of iron removal plants as a business

PROMOTION OF SANITATION AND HYGIENE BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

As part of our sanitation and Hygiene promotion efforts, latrine artisans and hygiene volunteers were identified and trained to support their respective communities in building improved toilets and hand washing facilities as well as promoting acceptable hygiene behaviors

SUCCESS STORIES

“Our lives restored”

My name is Paul Teye. I am a farmer and also the Assembly member for the Obarpah electoral area. I live in this Anomako community. Access to clean water has been a major problem in this community and the neighboring ones for a long time. In this community, we have three boreholes that were provided by an NGO some years ago but for a very long time (about 10 years) now only one of the boreholes is working. Even the one that works, smells badly so we don’t use it often and it is also very far from a lot of households. Most of us therefore fetch water from the stream and some-times when we are lucky, we get to buy water from tanker operators who come from the District capital. When we were informed an NGO called GrowthAid had come to support us, we were extremely happy. Now all three boreholes have been rehabilitated. We know that once they are released to us for use, life will become normal for most of us again, especially our women. May God richly bless GrowthAid and the donors Latter-Day Saints Charities for coming to our aid and as they continue helping the deprived in society.

“Ayermasu has good water at last“

I am the queen mother of Ayermasu and my name is Ladje. I am also a trader and a farmer. This community has suffered for a long time to get good water. Because of the nature of our land, many attempts to get us boreholes have failed. One contractor after the other have come and left without getting water for us. We try digging wells which also dry up frequently. Our only hope is a stream in the valley which is very far away from us. We walk for a long distance before we get this water. So if today this NGO called GrowthAid has come to help us, we can’t be more thankful. The new borehole they provided is also close to the school so, the children can have easy access to drink good water and wash their hands in school. We are very happy and so grateful to GrowthAid and their sponsors.

 

“My household will be free from Yaws“

My name is Mabel Tetteh.  I am a native of this community, Tsledom and I live here with my husband and children and other extended family members. Before GrowthAid came here, we never had hope of getting clean water. Our community is far and the road is very bad so we do not get much help. Our only source of water was a hand dug well which was located somewhere in the bush. Because of its location, we had frogs and all sorts of worms, inserts and dead weeds and animals in the water. We had no option so we continued to use it until we began falling sick and having yaws in the communities. My husband was even a victim of the yaws outbreak. We were very excited when the NGO heard of our plight, came to see for themselves and promised to provide two boreholes for us. True to their words, the project came on. I opted to be a hygiene volunteer to help keep the water clean and educate the community on the need to drink clean water from the borehole and not the streams or the hand dug well. I know my family will not get the yaws infection again now that we have clean water. We are very grateful to GrowthAid and the Latter- Day Saints Charities for coming to our aid.