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#WorldWaterDay Recap

Posted on April 20, 2018April 20, 2018 by admin

This year for World Water Day, we welcomed women from 8 Saha villages: Chanbuligu, Kuchani, Defisa, Wovogu, Wovogumani, Nomnayili, Guma, and Kujeri.

Rain the night before made getting some of the women to Tamale more difficult, but everyone eventually arrived safely! While we waited, we played the simple but very fun “Stump!” a Saha original game.

Our team led a lively discussion with the women by posing questions that got the entreprensurs talking and sharing ideas. They talked about difficulties with dry dugouts and using motorkings and donkey carts to bring water from further distances during the dry season. When discussing marketing and advertising, one woman shared that she has told her customers that if they come with their child, and the child has a small container, she lets the child fill their container for free!

The women discussed savings strategies in depth. Saha does not pay the women they need to save any profit they make in order to buy any replacement parts if things break. Mariama from Nomnayili is working with a microfinance NGO and has been able to save a truly impressive amount of money in the three short months her business has been running!

Other topics included health and sanitation, community involvement with the businesses, and the larger picture of the Saha mission. After the discussions, we had lunch and the group socialized and of course, took some selfies!

Our goal for the day was to have the women meet and share ideas, show them some appreciation for their hard work, and have them leave with a better understanding of what a large community they are truly a part of! Some of our villages are very geographically isolated, so we want them know that there are literally hundreds of other women who deal with the same challenges they do!

Thank you to Sachiya and Samata from Wovoumani, Ishatu and Asana from Wovogu, Warihana and Sumaya from Chanbuligu, Mariama from Nomnayili, Mariam and Adisa from Kuchani, Abibata and Zeha from Defisa, Ayi and Maimunatu from Navali Guma, and Asana and Abuo from Kujeri for joining us!

Updates From Our Newest Communities

Posted on April 12, 2017April 12, 2017 by admin

Hello hello! Morganne and Eda here, sending a report straight from Tamale!

Monitoring has been busy since the end of our Winter Global Leadership Program (shout out to our #sahappytobehere crew!). As you might know, we opened our 100^th water business in January, which means 100 villages to get out to and check up on! Here’s the latest from the first 2 months in our newest communities:

Village	Full-time Monitor	How’s it going?	Center Status	Household Visits	Lab Samples
Defisa	Amin, he visited on March 31st	Jahama and Lukaya said sales are going well, however the dugout is very turbid so they have to use more alum to make sure the water is clean!	Polytank is ½ full and the 3 “Blue” Drums were empty	5 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers	The Polytank sample came out clear!
Juni	Wahab, he visited on March 27th	The dugout has dried because the rainy season hasn’t started yet. Wahab spoke to Jamila who said sales were going well and the women are ready to treat water as soon as the rains come!	PT Empty and 3 “Blue” Drums empty	No household visits because the dugout is dry	No lab samples were taken this visit. The polytank was sampled earlier this month and came out clean!
Kpumi	Peter, but Shak visited on March 29^th while Peter monitored our Salaga communities	The water is getting very turbid but sales are still going well!	Polytank is more than half full and the 3 “Blue” Drums were empty	4 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers	No samples were taken this visit. The polytank was sampled earlier this month and came out clean!
Labariga	Peter, but Shak visited on March 29^th while Peter monitored our Salaga communities	Fusheina said sales are going well and they treated water yesterday afternoon!	Polytank is more than half full and the 3 “Blue” Drums are empty	4 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers	No samples were taken this visit. The polytank was sampled earlier this month and came out clean!
Parishenaaya	Wahab, he visited on March 30^th	Salamatu said some farming families have returned to Parishenaaya so sales have picked up a bit!	Polytank is more than half full, 3 “Blue” Drums are empty	5 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers	No samples were taken this visit. The polytank was sampled earlier this month and came out clean!
Tuya	Wahab, he visited on March 30^th	Mohammed, who helps with the center when the women travel, said sales are going well and that the recent rains increased the water level in the stream!	Polytank is more than half full, and 3 “Blue” Drums are full but don’t have alum yet	6 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers, YAHOO!	No samples were taken this visit. The polytank was sampled earlier this month and came out clean!
Zuro	Peter, but Shak visited on March 29^th while Peter monitored our Salaga communities	Abiba said everything is going well!	Polytank is ¼ full, and 3 “Blue” Drums are empty	3 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers	The polytank sample came out clean!

And our newest solar businesses:

Village	Full-time Monitor	How’s it going?	Center Status	Household Visits
Chihigu	Peter, but Eric visited on March 28^th while Peter monitored our Salaga communities	Hawabu said everything is going well!	There were 8 phones and 6 batteries charging at the center	All 6 households had working and fully charged lanterns, yay!
Jagberin	Wahab, he visited on March 27^th	Ramatu said sales are going well but some farming families have left because their dugout has become very turbid. As soon as the water level increases these families will be back and increase solar sales!	There were 15 phones and 8 batteries charging at the center	All 6 households had working and fully charged lanterns, wahoo!

Eric takes a selfie while monitoring in Chihigu

Special thanks to our Winter 2017 Field Reps who got these 9 communities off to a great start! Ti paya pahm!

#sahappy2behere – Reflections on the 2017 Winter Global Leadership Program

Posted on January 23, 2017 by admin

It’s crazy to think that less than a week ago we were saying farewell to the 2017 Winter Field Reps. Thanks to this group of awesome, driven individuals, Saha was able to partner with with 9 communities in Northern Ghana to open 7 new water treatment businesses and 2 new solar charging businesses, which provide jobs to 21 new entrepreneurs. 1,664 people now have permanent access to safe drinking water and 752 people have access to reliable, clean solar electricity. Additionally, 5 of our water entrepreneurs have now been trained to run solar businesses, increasing their earning potential!

Alex C, Alex K, Ann, Becky, Caleb, Caroline, Celine, Elijah, Erin, Joanne, Kalin, Kevin, Laura, Lexie, Louis, Matt, Maureen, Micah, Mona-Mae, Morgan, Nikita, Olivia, Qingyi, Sarah, Shaminika, Shane, Shanelle, Shannon, Terynek, Tess, Walker, Wyatt, Yu and Zulean,

We can’t believe that just under a week ago, we packed our bags and loaded up in front of GILLBT for the last time! We are so grateful for the excitement, enthusiasm, hard-work and positivity that you brought to team Saha. Because of you, thousands of people are living their lives with more opportunities for health and happiness. It was such a pleasure to work with all of y’all, and we consider ourselves lucky to count you as part of Sahayili! As you head off to your next impactful adventures, please don’t forget your community and all of us here at Saha, and let us know what we can do to further your missions.

With gratitude,

Amin, Eda, Eric, Kathryn, Morganne, Peter, Shak & Wahab

And now … for the jumping pics!