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Gburma

Tamale Day 2 – Off to the Village!

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After ringing in the New Year with an evening of fireworks and a cultural dance, the Field Reps started off 2015 with their first visits to Saha partner communities! Water Teams TJ (Kiana, Julia, Jenni and Orlando) and Wahab (Aly, Sofia and Marlena) headed out the water treatment center in Gburma.

Team TJ and Team Wahab meet with the Gburma entrepreneurs and their families - including little Ibrahim!
Team TJ and Team Wahab meet with the Gburma entrepreneurs and their families – including little Ibrahim!

Next the water teams headed over to Chani, to see their water treatment center as well! The entrepreneurs, Salamatu and Memunatu, were out at their farms, but the teams did get to meet the faces that were around that afternoon…

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Team TJ (Kiana, Jenni, Orlando and Julia) and Team Wahab (Sofia, Marlena and Aly) check out the water treatment center in Chani – 4 years and going strong! Take notes, Field Reps…

 

 

… including, of course, Salamatu’s grandkids!

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Kiana shows Chani kiddos a picture she snapped.

 

 

District Manager Wahab showed the team a solar center in action – he helped set up both the water and solar businesses here in Chani.

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Wahab shows water field reps a solar center in Chani. Wahab has been coming to this community for four years now and is “proud of the work that they do”.

 

Then it was back to Tamale to practice water purification techniques! Meanwhile, teams Amin (Sarah, Marsha and Jake) and Peter (Paul, Julia, Matt and Kristina) headed out to Wambong to see Saha’s first solar center and also check out their water treatment business as well! Salima, who runs the centers, greeted them and showed them the ropes.

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Salima makes a sale while Matt, Paul et al. look on

 

The Field Reps were able to sit down with the Chief as well. Saha’s favorited grandmother, Fati, also made an appearance.

 

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Field Reps with Mma Fati

 

 

Back in Tamale, it was time to start learning the technical details of the solar business. Field Reps spent the afternoon assembling their arrays, to trouble-shoot and to become more familiar with their set-up.

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Sarah and Kristina work with Amin to assemble a solar array during training.
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Marsha, on her way to mastering the Genset.
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Matt and Julia hook up the Genset.
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Amin, Paul and Jake hook up the battery during training.

 

We finished up the day with a presentation from the Saha District Managers about the importance of Saha’s continued support for these villages. They covered everything from scouting new villages to common problems to the importance of monitoring, so that the Field Reps would feel prepped for their fist day of household monitoring the next day.

 

 

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A long but good one!

Thankful for a Source of Water & Electricity

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It was this time last week that the 2014 Fall Global Leadership Program came to an end and we all headed off on our journey back home. It is no doubt that the days working in the village can be long with the extreme amounts of sun and dust, but time and time again the end of a program sneaks right up on me! When you are hanging with a bunch of inspiring field reps doing life-changing things, it should be to no surprise that the programs zoom right by.

Because of the hard work, passion and commitment of our 2014 Field Reps, Saha Global was able to bring a source of clean drinking water and a source of electricity to two new communities. Leah, Alfonso & Logan worked to implement a water treatment center in the village of Gburma, which empowered four women to become entrepreneurs and serves the community of 450 people a source of clean drinking water. Anne, Terry, Kerry & Mary worked to implement a solar charging center in the village of Nekpegu, which works to provide electricity for 300 people.

We can not thank you enough for your dedication to Saha Global! You have left a lasting impact on Nekpegu and Gburma and should be extremely proud of the your hard work. It was such a blast working along side all of you during your time in Ghana and we cannot wait to see the incredible things you will accomplish in this world!

This Thanksgiving I can’t help but think of how thankful and fortunate I am to work along side a team filled with such brilliant and influential people.  Welcome to the Saha Team Fall Field Reps!

Many Thanksgiving Cheers to All You,

Sam

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Voices from the Field: Team Wahab

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Clean Water Success in Gburma!!!

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It’s been a long road all the way to Tamale, but we made it here and accomplished what we set out to do. Team Wahab did it! Leah, Logan, Alfonso and Wahab built the water treatment facility in the village of Gburma and trained four women from the village, Afishetu, Amata, Salamatu, and Chokopa. The women were taught how to use the alum to make the turbid water clear and how to use the chlorine tabs in the Polytank to kill the bacteria and further purify the water. Afterward, we went around the households in the village and handed out the Safe Storage Water Containers explaining how to use them for clean water storage and how to keep them uncontaminated. The entire village is so involved, excited and committed to having clean drinking water.

Everyone from the children to the elders wants to make use of the Safe Storage Containers and improve their health by drinking the clean water. They all couldn’t wait to taste the water and were so surprised at how good and clean it tasted on opening day. They constantly thanked us for providing them with clean water and their enthusiasm was palpable.

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There is no better feeling than turning dirty, bacteria infested water into clean drinkable water that will improve the village’s health and longevity. Being a part of this project with Saha Global has truly been a life-changing experience that will stay with us forever.

Ti Pie Ya, Saha!

Leah, Logan, Alfonso and Wahab

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