More than 10,000 people in three communities in Ghana are receiving
safe drinking water from a mechanized system built through the efforts
of the International H2O Collaboration, an alliance between Rotary International and USAID. (click below to read more)
The water system is part of a US$2 million project that is
providing boreholes, hand pumps, and mechanized pipes, as well as
ventilated pit latrines and showers, across Ghana’s Volta, Greater
Accra, Eastern, and Central regions.
During a ceremony on 21 August in Abutia Teti, RI and USAID
representatives joined Ghanaian government officials in handing over
responsibility for the completed system to the communities of Abutia
Teti, Takla Gborgame, and Nyive.
RI President Kalyan Banerjee took part in the event, along with
Laurel Fain, chief of the USAID Ghana Health Office, and Mustapha Ahmed,
Ghana's deputy minister for water resources, works, and housing.
"This project is a great example of public and private partnership
at its very best, to improve not only the quality of life, but life
itself, immeasurably," Banerjee said.
"This innovative partnership between USAID, the Ghana Ministry for
Water Resources, and Rotary International saves lives by reducing these
communities’ use of unsafe open water sources,” Fain said. “Today, the
community and the government of Ghana take responsibility for
maintaining these facilities and for continuing to educate children and
citizens in proper hygiene, creating conditions where our assistance is
no longer necessary.”
The International H2O Collaboration is in its third year. As part
of the efforts in Ghana, Rotarians are also working with villagers to
change their sanitation practices and provide training to maintain the
new equipment.
The collaboration is also funding hygiene training and bio-sand
water filters in the Dominican Republic, and a project in the
Philippines to improve sewage collection and treatment that will help
more than 150,000 people.
According to USAID officials and Rotarians who have been involved
in the initiatives, the collaboration has provided valuable insight into
best practices for water and sanitation projects. These include an
emphasis on monitoring and evaluation, taking a long-term approach to
meeting needs, and increasing sustainability by ensuring community
ownership and management.
The collaboration also has demonstrated the value of conducting a
needs assessment at the outset of any water project, identifying
potential barriers to the adoption of new practices, gathering
information about the project site, and assessing the community’s
ability to pay for water and sanitation products.
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