WATER in Ghana: Courtney's Notes

WATER supporters,

I just finished my first week here in Ghana and I’m getting acclimated to everything.  I arrived in Accra Friday night and then made my way north to Tamale over the weekend.  What an incredible chance to see almost all of the country in just two days:  the lush coastal vegetation, bright red dirt, and the green savannah in the north provided by the recent rains.  The atmosphere has been very friendly and welcoming, and the people I’ve met are wonderful.

This week I’ve been stationed at the Guinea Worm Eradication Program’s office, located in the Ghana Health Service complex here in Tamale.  Before I start the process of gathering information on the impacts of the boreholes where WATER and CRS have partnered with communities, I need to get a general understanding of the water and health situation in the area.

My first day I was able to visit the World Vision offices where WATER is able to test for fluoride in the water from a recently-drilled borehole and will work together with the World Vision lab to figure out how to treat the source to ensure the water quality for the community.  I also had a chance to meet with an engineer from one of our Ghanaian water and sanitation sector partners, the local Community Water and Sanitation Agency, which works in rural communities to address issues of water and sanitation.  To finish the day, I had the opportunity to attend a weekly meeting with the staff at the Guinea Worm Eradication Program office.  In the meeting, I heard the great news there are very few cases left in the endemic areas, and that the disease is very close to being eliminated from Ghana.

The next day I met with the head of programs at the Tamale Catholic Relief Services office, where I will be spending much of the summer in order to go into the villages where they have been implementing the WATER projects.  They just finished drilling the 2010 wells and I am excited to go with their water and sanitation team to do the final inspections so that the communities can start using the new, clean water sources.

I’ve also been able to sit in on the mid-term review conference for the Integrated Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program for the northern part of Ghana.   I-WASH, a four-year program funded by the European Union and UNICEF, is a collaboration of many NGOs and agencies in the area that work to coordinate efforts for water and sanitation projects.  It has been fascinating to hear about their progress toward improving marginalized communities access to these basic services.  They have been sharing the common challenges and successes in order for the whole sector to be more effective at working with communities to meet their needs.

The end of the week is something of a realization for me, when I am able to experience first-hand what the work of WATER truly means.  First, I went out to visit a couple villages close to Tamale, only 30 minutes from the city center to learn a bit about their water situation and needs.  The differences from Tamale city center are pretty stark, and the biggest difference to me was seeing the water sources.  Even in the start of the rainy season where there are more options than the dry season here in the north, the water hole is a stagnant pond.  The village’s health surveillance volunteer showed us where the community members were gathering their water, and I saw as they walked back balancing large pans on their heads full of their only water source to their homes.  The worst part for me was recognizing that this is unfortunately not a unique situation, but rather too common.  However, the next two days I was able to visit communities that have participated in a water and sanitation program and see that it is possible to attain safer drinking water for families.  I saw household filter systems, innovative pump and filter systems directly from the water source, as well as hand-dug wells and hand pump boreholes that have been drilled.  I really enjoyed visiting the villages and look forward to spending more time throughout the next couple months getting to know the community members’ perspectives on water and sanitation and finding out what the impacts of these programs can have on reducing guinea worm, diarrheal disease, and improving the chances that children will attend school.

I should also mention that the World Cup tournament has overtaken Ghana; every night we go for dinner a game is always on.  So it was no surprise that Wednesday when Ghana played Germany and squeezed by into the next round that everyone here was celebrating, cheering and waving their red, yellow, and green flags.  I cannot even describe to you the excitement on Saturday night in the restaurant where we watched the U.S.-Ghana game projected on a big screen.  Everyone was on the edge of their seats ready to jump up and cheer at any moment, and when that last whistle blew I couldn’t help but smile.  All of Tamale took to the streets Saturday night celebrating for hours with shouting, drumming, and dancing.  There was nowhere else in the world that I wanted to be at that moment!  The Ghanaian and African pride is running high right now, and it is an honor to be here and take part in their joy.

What a fantastic, whirlwind way to start my summer here in Ghana, and there’s much more learning left to come.  Thank you for letting me share this WATER experience with you and please feel free to email me (plummerc@uw.edu) or post to the WATER facebook page any questions or comments.

Courtney