The Fellows didn’t miss any Ghanaian World Cup games while they were in Tamale. They made sure to work their schedules around watching the big games!
On one of their free days, the Fellows trekked out to Kintampo Waterfalls for some hiking, lounging, and cooling off.
As a going away gift, and a thank you for all of his help, James and Ben gave Shak a beautiful baby goat!
During the downtime, James also introduced baseball to some children from the village.
Calling all runners and walkers, the second annual CWS 5K road race will take place on July 31st at 9:00am in Nantucket, MA. We had such a great time at this event last year and are excited to hold another race this summer!
The race starts and ends at the Delta Fields on Nobadeer Farm Road. Please visit our event site to pre-register! The race fee is $20 if you pre-register or $25 for the day of the race. Each runner will receive a CWS water bottle and have the chance to win great prizes!
Please email: info@communitywatersolutions.org if you have any questions!
Last Monday was a big day for the CWS Fellows; the culmination of all their work. The newly established treatment center (assembled by the Fellows) was opened for business and the villagers all came out with their new CWS storage containers (given to them by the Fellows) to fill them and start drinking clean water. The center was run by Abiba and Monera, the two women the Fellows had trained to run the center. Shak, Peter and the Fellows all made sure things ran smoothly and monitored the opening day sales.
The Fellows survived the long day and left with smiles on their faces. Almost the entire village had come to fill their containers and so began their permanent access to clean water!
After an intense week, the Fellows have officially set up a new treatment center and prepared their village, Wambong, for its grand opening! The village, originally thought to have had a maximum of 35 households, turned out to have over 104! So they’ve definitely had their hands full.
The week started with testing the water from the Wambong dugout.
* Next, the Fellows, met with the chief and elders of Wambong (55 village leaders were present in the meeting!) and explained that the village’s drinking water was dirty. They proposed working with Wambong and explained CWS’s approach. This meeting is the most important part of the process. It’s the initial contact with the community and establishes the relationship between the village and CWS moving forward. Ben did an excellent job leading the hour long meeting. Unfortunately, out of respect, we never allow photographs during these meetings.
The village leaders were excited to work with CWS and the Fellows set to work on building the new treatment center.
With the treatment center built, the containers distributed, and the women trained, the Wambong treatment center was ready to open!
Thank you to everyone that donated to CWS during Global Giving’s Match Day on June 16th – we raised over $4,000 for CWS! We are so grateful for your continued support!
Give a Day Today, June 16 – and earn a 50% match!
Community Water Solutions is reaching out to our friends and supporters because today, June 16, our partner Global Giving (www.globalgiving.org) offering a 50% match on all donations to CWS made through the Global Giving website.
We’d like to use this special opportunity to invite you to join our new ‘Give a Day’ program. You can make an immediate positive impact on the health and prosperity of rural village communities in Africa by contributing your compensation from a day of work.
By Giving a Day, you’ll have a chance to participate in the hard work and team spirit that our partners and colleagues at CWS enjoy week in and week out.
Here’s what the CWS team in Ghana can achieve in a day:
What can you achieve in a day?
By contributing your compensation from a day at your regular work, combined with the 50% match from Global Giving, you’ll be moving us closer to our goal of bringing clean, safe water to eight new villages in 2010. We’d be thrilled to have you join us!
How to contribute
Visit the Community Water Solutions Page on Global Giving [http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/community-safe-water-solutions-for-ghana/] (not the CWS website!) TODAY, June 16 and donate with a credit card
Thanks so much for you continued support!
The CWS Fellowship Program kicked off without a hitch! Amaia Noguera, Ben Powell, James Little, Molly Barrett, and Sarah Britz, our first team of CWS Fellows, spent the week learning about the global water crisis, the water treatment process, the CWS Approach for bringing clean water to its communities, as well as getting to know Tamale and the various CWS villages.
DAY ONE:
The Fellows began their program in the “classroom”. For the first half of the day, after introductions and some review of the program itinerary, we settled in to review the history of the Global Water Crisis, the various approaches to water treatment, the background of Community Water Solutions, and the CWS approach for village implementations. For the second half of the day though, we let the fellows loose to explore Tamale through a little scavenger hunt! What was on the list? Various items that one can find in the open market and surrounding stands and stores, if one has a sharp eye that is. A price cap of 25 Ghanaian Cedis was given to make sure the Fellows had to negotiate appropriate prices and truly have a Ghanaian experience. They were dropped off in downtown Tamale with the 25 Cedis and enough money to take a taxi to find their way to the restaurant where we were all meeting for dinner.
The Fellows returned successful! (Though they did have to settle for Nescafe rather than ground coffee.)
The following items were on the scavenger hunt list:
DAY TWO:
The next day, the team started off with a hands on lesson in the CWS water treatment process, starting with rolling alum balls and removing the turbidity in the same manner in which they would be teaching their village when we sent them into the field. We even had them use actual dam water from one of our villages. (Jerigu)
Following the simulation of the treatment process, the Fellows saw their first villages. They visited 3 treatment center sites, Jerigu, Cheko, and Nyamaliga.
DAY THREE:
Day three began with visits to other water-focused organizations working in the Tamale region.
The Fellows took the remainder of the day to explore Tamale a little more and rest up for the long day they had coming.
DAY FOUR:
Saturday, the Fellows embarked on the journey to Gidanturu to visit a treatment center in action. We began our day, and the long drive ahead of us, with the greatest treat Ghana offers, and the highlight of many of our days at CWS. A delicious egg sandwich, or as the Ghanaians call it, “eggs and bread”. Delicious.
The Gidanturu treatment center was busier than ever! The Fellows watched the clean water flow as they got to know the children, the women, and the monkey of this lively village!
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After visiting the treatment center, the Fellows learned how to make household visits and take water samples.
Later that day, the Fellows learned how to test the water samples they took in the CWS lab!
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The 2010 CWS Summer Fellowship Program has officially begun! The 5 Fellows arrived in Accra yesterday and we are heading up to Tamale today! More pictures and updates to come soon….