From Bomofo Densua to Muchia over three decades of humanitarian support in Ghana

Edmund Smith-Asante Opinion May - 15 - 2014 , 06:17

Nostalgia gets the better part of me anytime I recollect my time with an organisation many years ago, when as a young man who had just completed his national service in 1993, I was offered temporary employment as an assistant information officer.

That organisation was World Vision Ghana, and I was assigned to work with its Eastern Regional office and tasked with writing and submitting reports on ongoing projects every quarter.

My job entailed visiting very remote parts of the region which I never knew existed and my reminiscence comes from the adventures I always had on such trips.

Visiting communities like Bomofo Densua, Muchia, Gyaha, Anweabeng and others, was always a different experience altogether, in view of their location and their peculiar nature.

For instance according to Bomofo Densua’s history, that community was first sighted by a hunter (Bomofo in Akan), who always used water from a tributary of the Densu River that runs through the community when he went on his hunting expeditions, hence the name.

Anytime I was there, I had to take my bath before 6pm in a roofless bathroom or risk the bite of small insects referred to as “six-to-six” and which always caused itchy swellings on my body.

I was always forced to stay at Anweabeng for a week because a vehicle only went there on market days which fell on Fridays.

Muchia has been so named because it is situated between three hills that look like the three moulds of an earthen cookstove which is known by that name.

None of the communities visited were connected to the national grid, which meant I always had to arrive early to start work before nightfall.

World Vision Projects in Ghana

But these are the distressed, neglected and underprivileged communities, most of which lacked basic social amenities like potable water, improved toilets and school blocks that World Vision and its partners had identified with since it started operating in Ghana in June 1979.

With the “vision of a country where everyone has access to potable water and improved sanitation, regardless of societal status” spurring it on, World Vision Ghana (WVG), a humanitarian, advocacy and development organisation, has provided water, improved sanitation, education and health facilities, vocational training and livelihoods to millions of Ghanaians through several projects.

These include the Ghana Rural Water Project at Savelugu near Tamale, which is now the Ghana Integrated Water Project, the “For Every Child water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme” and West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI) among others.

The Ghana Integrated Water Project

Since 1985, more than 1.3 million people in over 1,600 communities and 150 schools and clinics throughout the country have gained improved access to water and sanitation facilities through the Ghana Integrated Water Project, which was provoked by the severe drought of 1982/83.

The project has drilled over 3,000 boreholes, rehabilitated 100 old boreholes and constructed over 40 alternative water supply systems (limited mechanised systems, rooftop rain harvesting and dug-out ponds).

Almost 10,000 households have their own latrines as a result of the project, while 19 Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP) latrines have been constructed for clinics and schools. Also, 4,500 community pump maintenance volunteers have been trained to maintain and repair the pumps to ensure continuous provision of water.

A six-year programme aimed at providing 540,000 Ghanaians with clean drinking water has also been initiated by WVG. It took off in October 2012.

As part of a global project aimed at investing $400 million to address the global water crisis and reach 7.5 million people in six years, 16 Area Development Programmes (ADPs) have already started across Ghana in the Upper East, Northern, Brong Ahafo and Volta regions with a budget of $30 million.

Already, 237,100 people have been provided with clean drinking water in Ghana since the project took off, overshooting the original fiscal budget of $1,744,734 to $2,311,620.

For improved sanitation and hygiene, $1,911,811 has been spent out of a budget of $3,198,552 in the first year of the project from October 2012 to September 2013.

A total of $14,767,238 has however been invested in the Ghana component of the project since it took off and 224 new and rehabilitated wells and water points, 726 sanitation facilities and 110 hand washing facilities have been provided for communities in just the first year.

Programme impact – An indigene’s account

Speaking about how the project had improved the lot of the people in Talensi in the Northern Region, Madam Mary Ayamga said before help came, community members in Goriko struggled to collect dirty water, sometimes after one and a half kilometres journey, which often made them fall ill.

She noted that the situation had changed as a result of the assistance received from World Vision and its partners. “The borehole has helped us tremendously. Our families and children do not fall sick like before. We now have clean water for our domestic chores. No more long distance walking to get water and no long queues.

“Now when I go out, I don’t have to worry about coming back early to fetch water since the water is just close by and I can always fetch. Our children now stay in school to learn because the borehole is on their campus. We hope they will grow to be useful to us and our community,” she said.

Writer’s email: Edmund.Asante@graphic.com.gh