USA team inspects GWI projects in Region

Stories from Musah Umar Farouq

A delegation from the Global Water Initiative (GWI) and its partner organisations from the USA have visited the Upper West Region to inspect completed and ongoing projects in some communities.
The Global Water Initiative (GWI) and its partners, which include the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Care International, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), are engaged in the construction of boreholes, household latrines, dug-outs and provision of hand washing facilities for schools under the School Health Education Programme (SHEP).
Last Thursday, the Director of Hispanic Ministries for Oregon Catholic Press, Mr. Pedro Rubalcava, and the team held a durbar with the people of Zambogu, one of the beneficiary communities in the Nadowli District of the Upper West Region.
Mr. Rubalcava said the visit was to afford them the opportunity to inspect some of the projects and to see the need for more support.
He expressed satisfaction that people in the beneficiary communities were now very much conscious about personal hygiene, which, according to him, was the beginning of healthy living, and appealed to the people to take good care of the facilities.
The Global Solidarity Coordinator of GWI, Mr. Thomas Awiapo, said CRS operates in 100 countries around the world, and areas covered include health, water and sanitation, school feeding, as well as financial management training for people.
He said this year, 15 boreholes were provided for less privileged communities in both the Northern Region and Upper West regions to increase access to potable water.
The Upper West Regional Global Water Initiative (GWI) Project Coordinator, Mr. Attah Arhin, said the project was operational in the Nadowli and Lawra districts.

He said 32 communities in the Nadowli and Lawra districts of the region had so far benefited from GWI projects within the last four years.
He said Water and Sanitation Committees (WATSAN) had been formed in all the communities to ensure that the surroundings of boreholes are clean, and see to the immediate repairs of minor breakdowns by the people themselves.
The Headmaster of the Zambogu Primary and Junior High School, Mr. David Guori, commended GWI and its partners for providing the school and the community with boreholes and household latrines.
He said until the intervention of GWI and its collaborating partners, the community depended on guinea worm-prone water bodies and defecated openly, because of the lack of a toilet facility in the community.
Mr. Guori said through the GWI project, boreholes, household latrines, as well as hand washing containers, had been provided for both the community and the school, making the sanitation situation in the community the best in many years.
He said community members now drink clean water and wash their hands with soap under running water immediately after using the toilet.

 

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