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Setting up Shop in Gbong

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While Peter has been hard at work in Cheko, Shak and I have been working to set up a water business in Gbong. Gbong is a large village (about 800 people) located about 40 minutes south of Tamale on the Salaga road.

boys "doing laundry" at the Gbong dugout

As I mentioned in a previous post, our meeting with the Gbong elders a few weeks ago was one of the most formal village meetings that I have had in a while, and that formal trend has definitely continued.  For example, in most of our other villages, we will meet with the chief of the village a few times at the beginning of the implementation process, but once he gives us his blessing to work in the village we are pretty much given free range. We can come and go as we please and concentrate on getting our work done. In Gbong, however, we have to greet the chief every time we come to the village and say goodbye to him each time we leave. While this may not seem like a big deal, the time spent traveling to the chief’s palace (which is in the opposite direction of the dugout), then greeting/saying goodbye, definitely adds up. Many times we will also have to stop and greet another elder (who sits by the side of the road all day long). The formal-nature of this village also slows down their decision-making process quite a bit, which in turn slows down our implementation process. We had our initial meeting with the Gbong elders the same days as the Cheko elders, but we probably won’t open the water business in Gbong until Monday,over a week after the business in Cheko opened!

Even though all the greeting and good-bying adds time to our day, I do enjoy getting to know the chief of Gbong. He can speak english very well, which is really fun for me! The village has been very receptive to our team and seems really excited about their water treatment center. We are planning to open the center tomorrow, on World Water Day, and I’ll make sure to capture it all on film. Later that day, we are planning a party at the CWS office for the women working at all 5 of our water treatment businesses. It will be the first time that they all meet  each and we can’t wait! What a great way to celebrate World Water Day!

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks at Gbong:

Putting our truck to good use- building the polytank stand in Gbong!
Fati and Amina cleaning out the blue tubs and then filling them with dugout water
First day of water treatment training with Fati and Amina: Amina treating the dugout water with alum.
Day 2 of water treament training: Fati and Amina scooping the water (now clear from the alum) into the polytank where it will be disenfected using chlorine
Distributing safe storage containers. Peter came to help out me and Shak since Gbong is so big (almost 90 families!)

The water treatment center at Gbong is sponsored by iContact. Thank you iContact for helping us to provide a safe drinking water for over 800 people! Your contribution has really changed the lives of the people in Gbong!

Opening Day at Cheko

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Today was opening day at Cheko and it was a great success – 80% of the village showed up to buy water! Out of the 7 households that did not come this morning, 2 of them are Fulani families. The Fulanis are a nomadic ethic group in the Northern Region of Ghana that move from village to village and takes care of cattle. Fulanis usually do not stay in a village for more than a year, but we always make sure that the Fulanis that are around get safe storage containers and have access to the water treatment center. We’re guessing the two Fulani families that did not come this morning were probably out in the bush with their cattle.

This week Peter will conduct household visits in Cheko. He will take water samples so we can make sure that our safe storage containers are doing their job of preventing the water from being re-contaminated in the home. During these visits, Peter will also chat with members of the community to see what they think of the water, the water business, and CWS in general. He’s going to be on the look-out for the 5 remaining households that did not buy water this morning and see if he can figure out why. I’ll keep you posted on his findings!

Unfortunately, I forgot to give Peter my camera this morning so we don’t have any pics from opening day. I’ll make sure that he has it the next time the water business is open so we can post some good pictures!

Cheko!

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Both Cheko and Gbong, the two prospective villages that I blogged about last week, have not only agreed to work with us, but have been VERY excited about their water treatment centers! The entire CWS team has been very busy this week getting things set up in both locations and we are hoping to have both water businesses up and running early next week. I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the village of Cheko and will update everyone on Gbong this weekend.

Cheko is a small village of about 34 households (approximately 300 people) located about 35 minutes outside of Tamale and right next door to Jarigu (another CWS village). Like most other CWS villages, the only source of water in Cheko is shallow, stagnant pond (also called a “dugout” or “dam”) that fills with water during the rainy season.

Children collecting water from the Cheko dugout

Our Project Manager, Peter, has been in charge of implementing the water treatment center in Cheko and he has been doing a great job! Last week, he worked with our friend Soufoo from Nyamaliga (who is a mason) and some men from the village to build the stand for the polytank.

Soufoo hard at work

Over the past few days, Peter has been working with the “woman organizer”, Samata, in Cheko to select the two women who will be working at the center. They decided on two hard-working, dedicated ladies names Kukuna and Abiba. This morning, he had his first training session with these women. First, they collected the contaminated water from the dugout, and transported it to the water treatment center.

Transporting dugout water to the water treatment center. All the women from the village help the CWS ladies with this task.

Next, Peter showed them how to use alum – a locally available flocculant, to remove the particles from the water and reduce the turbidity. Tomorrow morning, Peter will return for the second training session with the women!

Samata and Kukuna treating the water with alum while Tuu-naa, the dam guard, looks on
Proud residents of Cheko by the water treatment center: Samata (the woman organizer), Kambona, and Dagbambina (two village elders).

In addition to running the water treatment center, Peter has been busy distributing safe storage containers to each family in Cheko. Tonight he told me that the water treatment center was the talk of the town! Many families had already heard about the safe storage buckets before he visited their houses and many of the women said that “their husbands have been telling them about the water business all week.” Peter also said that many children from Cheko followed him around all evening begging him to go to their houses next. He thought it was funny and promised them that he would get to every house eventually. The hardest part of his day? Explaining the safe storage containers, and the importance of safe drinking water to a “deaf and dumb elderly man who lives alone.” I really enjoyed listening to Peter explain how he overcame this challenge – its so rewarding to see how much he has learned in his year with CWS. Peter plans to finish up the distribution tomorrow and open the water treatment business on Monday!

CWS Project Manager, Peter, at the Cheko water treatment center after a long days work

The water treatment center at Cheko is sponsored by a good friend of  the CWS team who wishes to remain anonymous. We will be sending this sponsor frequent updates on the progress at Cheko, complete with pictures and videos from the water treatment center! If you are interested in sponsoring a village, please visit our website: www.communitywatersolutions.org/support.html

Thank you Village Sponsor for bringing us clean water!

Good News! You have 5 more days to submit your application to the CWS Fellowship Program!

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Good News!  The deadline for applications to the Community Water Solutions Summer Fellowship has just been extended to MONDAY, MARCH 15th at 5pm EST. While this is the FINAL deadline for the applications, you may receive a further extension for your letter of recommendation if needed. Please contact [email protected], if you need more time for your recommendation.

What IS the Community Water Solutions Fellowship?

The CWS Fellowship Program is a three-week water education and leadership training experience in Northern Region Ghana. The purpose of the fellowship is to teach individuals about the global water crisis, and inspire them to become leaders in the field of international development.

Fellows are grouped in teams of four and paired with a rural community in Northern Region Ghana. Each team works together to raise the $10,000/team ($2,500/person) fellowship fee before traveling to Africa. During this fundraising period, CWS will provide you with promotional materials, event ideas, a fundraising website and fundraising guidance to ensure that your team is able to raise the money needed for the trip.

On the ground, teams will spend the first week visiting CWS’s current sites where they will learn about the CWS water treatment methods and how to perform water quality tests. They then spend two weeks in the field implementing and monitoring a CWS water business in their partner village.

Learn more about the program and download the application at www.communitywatersolutions.org/fellowship.html

When will Fellows be Selected?

Although the application deadline has been extended, the final selection date has not changed. Applicants will be notified about the interview round on March 20th and the Fellows will be announced on April 1st.

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions!

Damba Festival

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Shak, Me, and Peter all dressed up for the Damba Festival

This Friday was the Damba Festival in Tamale. According to Peter and Shak, during this festival “all of the sub-cheifs from the villages around Tamale march into town and then dance outside the central chief’s palace.” I tried to find another description of the festival online but didn’t really have any luck. According to ghanaexpeditions.com


The significance of the festival is to commemorate the birthday of the Holy Prophet of Islam. Activities includes prayers and fasting and procession of people on horseback, amidst drumming and dancing.

Originally linked with Islam to mark the birth of Mohammed, the festival has gradually taken on a traditional rather than Islamic tone. The 2-day festival is full of pageantry and showmanship and is celebrated in the towns of Dagbon, Gonjaland, Mamprusiland and Nanumbaland

I didn’t see any more praying then was usual for a Friday, but there was a lot of drumming, dancing, firing gunpowder, and horses. I can’t figure out how to upload the videos that I took – anyone have any suggestions? For now, here are some pictures

crowded streets - everyone marching to the Tamale Chief's Palace

The Community Water Solutions House/Office

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Here are the pics of the house that I promised!

The house
My Room (before)
My Room (after)
My Room (after)
Living room/office (before)
Living Room/Office (after) - still waiting on big dining table
Living room/office (after)
Hallway (before) - the first door on the right is the store room, the next door on the right is the lab, the door at the end of the hall is the kitchen
Hallway (after) - taken from the kitchen, the door at the end is to the living room/office
Kitchen (before)
kitchen (after)
Lab (before)
Lab (after)
Lab (after)

Two New Villages!

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For the past 3 days, Shak, Peter and I have been hard at work getting the new Community Water Solutions house/office up and running. The final few pieces of furniture should be ready tonight, so I promise to post some pictures this weekend!

Now that the house is almost ready, my team and I were able to get back to the field this morning. We quickly stopped by Nyamaliga and Jarigu to collect water samples from their treatment centers (to test in our NEW lab!) and then visited two potential new villages: Cheko and Gbong.

Cheko is right next to Jarigu, and after stopping by there last fall, Peter and I knew that it would be a good fit for CWS. They’re only source of water is a dugout (see below) and the dugout does not dry out in the dry season.

the Cheko Dugout

Today, we met with a couple of the village elders to explain our work and answer any questions that they may have. The chief of the village was not home, so the elders that we met with are going to speak with him his weekend and let us know on Monday morning if they would like to work with us. The elders seemed very receptive to a partnership with us and we are pretty sure that the chief will be on-board with the project.

If Cheko agrees to work with us, then Peter will be implementing the water business all on his own. This will be the first village that Peter will be working in without me (or another founding member of CWS), and he is very excited about it! As I said in my last post, we have been so happy with the work Peter has done over the past year and definitely think that he is ready for this promotion!

While Peter is implementing in Cheko, Shak and I will most likely be setting up a water business in Gbong. This village was suggested to us by our good friend, Soufoo, from Nyamaliga (see below).  Soufoo’s half-brother is the chief of Gbong and he had been worried about their water situation for a long time.

Me and Soufoo in Nyamaliga.

We had our initial meeting with the chief of Gbong in the fall, and agreed with Soufoo’s assessment of their water. Their only source of drinking water is a heavily contaminated dugout, and this large village seemed like it could greatly benefit from a CWS water business.

We re-visited Gbong this morning to officially propose a partnership with their village. This meeting was one of the most formal village meetings that I have been to in a long time. There were about 15 of the village’s elders present! The chief will be calling Soufoo this weekend to give us the official yes/no on the project, but again, we are pretty confident that they will agree to work with us! I’ll keep you posted!

After returning from the field this afternoon, I conducted the inaugural water tests in the CWS lab! Here are some pictures from this exciting event!

Water samples. The two on the left are from Cheko and Gbong (its the water that people there are currently DRINKING). The two on the right are from the water treatment centers at Jarigu and Nyamaliga.
Water samples, micro-pipettor and pipette tips, may not seem exciting to many, but to the CWS team (and Brian Vozzella) having these items in our lab is VERY exciting!

And just because Shak, Peter and I love it so much, here are some more pictures of the TRUCK!

Peter and I with the truck at the end of our first day in Kumasi
Peter behind the wheel
Big Alex in his signature outfit.

Does all of this look like fun? Want to come work with us in Ghana this summer? Apply for the CWS fellowship! Get more information at www.communitywatersolutions.org/fellowship.html

Applications are due March 8th so you still have all weekend to finish yours up!

Exciting Changes For the CWS Staff

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Now that Peter has been working with Community Water Solutions for a year, he has been promoted to full-time project manager! This means that, in addition to monitoring Nyamaliga and Jargiu, Peter will be implementing a CWS water business in a new village on his own. We have been so pleased by Peter’s work over the past year and are confident that he will do a great job in his next village. Congratulations Peter!

Since Peter will be off on his own, I needed a new translator to help me run CWS’s operations in Tamale and implement our businesses in new villages. It didn’t take long to find the perfect person to fill this position…..

WELCOME TO THE CWS FAMILY IBRAHIM SHAK!! Shak is a great friend who I met 2 years ago through my thesis advisor, Susan Murcott. Shak has just joined the CWS team as my translator/right hand man and we are thrilled to have him! It seems as though everyone in Tamale knows and adores Shak. He is proactive, knowledgeable, and extremely hard-working. I am really looking forward to working with Shak this year.

Do Something Awards!

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Yesterday, I received this exciting email:

Kate,
A nomination was submitted on your behalf for the 2010 Do Something Awards.  After reviewing your nomination we want to encourage you to complete the Do Something Awards application. www.dosomething.org/awards

The Do Something Awards identifies exceptional young (25 and under) social entrepreneurs, activists, and community leaders who have made a significant social impact. Do Something Award nominees and winners are the pivotal “do-ers” in their fields and causes.  Five nominees will be rewarded with a $10,000 community grant, participation in a live VH1 TV show,media coverage and continued support from DoSomething.org. The grand prize winner will receive $100,000 during the live broadcast.
We have received over 600 nominations, but so far have only recommended 30 of those nominated move to the next step and fill out the award application.   While I cannot guarantee that you will be selected as a Do Something Awards Finalist or Nominee,  I can guarantee that your application will be reviewed in the internal semi-finalists selection round (typically about 60 out of 700 applications make it to this round).
THANK YOU to whoever nominated CWS for this awesome award! We are honored to be considered!