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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!

Eric, Iddrisu, Erin, Qingyi, Sarah and Shane in Chihigu

Wyatt, Caleb, Joanne, Shanelle and Shak in Jagberin

Celine, Laura, Olivia, Matt, and Nestor in Juni

Terynek, Micah, Shannon and Becky in Labariga

Morganne, Mona, Simply and Alex in Kpumi

Walker, Shamanika, Sita, Lexie and Tess (not shown) in Parishenaaya

Louis, Alex, Caroline and Maureen in Tuya

Field Rep Voices: Team Alex C, Caroline, Louis, Maureen and TJ

Posted on January 7, 2017January 7, 2017 by admin

Throughout our short journey so far with Saha, the chief meeting seemed to be one of the more intimidating things on our agenda. If it went well, then you could proceed to work on your team’s mission of building a fresh water or solar business. If it didn’t go well then it would be very disappointing for your team and you would have to find another place to go. Thankfully, none of the teams had to do this.

Alex, Louis, and TJ ask questions about Tuya’s dugout

Team TJ went to a village named Tuya and I was chosen to be the spokesperson to the chief. We basically had to pitch a business proposal which included what we would be doing, how we would be doing it, and what part the village would play in the business.

The day started by arriving at the village and finding the chief and elders to ask for a meeting with them. We knew there was a possibility that the chief would be away and that we would have to schedule for another day, so we started by asking some people if the chief was there. We were happy to find that he was there and we were told to wait where we were.

An elder approached us as we were waiting and we greeted him by squatting and greeting him. He said that he would call the others together for the meeting. Plastic chairs were brought out for us and there were benches available for the chief and elders to sit on. The whole village started to assemble and the chief meeting quickly turned into a community meeting. This put a little more pressure on the situation, but being in the presence of the people we would possibly be working with gave me the energy to present the business plan as well as I could. Seeing the faces of the children, the mothers, and the chief and elders made me realize how excited I was to be in Ghana working to make their lives better.

The team with members of the Tuya community!

The elder who approached us before sat down with some others and our translator, TJ, asked if the chief was coming. To our surprise we found out that he was the chief. He hadn’t told us earlier when we first met him and seemed to laugh about it as if he had tricked us quite well.

I started the meeting by greeting the community and thanking the chief for allowing us to have a meeting with them. I explained to the community that the water they were drinking was very harmful for their health. They laughed at this because they knew that the quality of their water could be so much better. I then explained more about the business. The chief and elders said “naa” or “mmm” throughout TJ’s translation of the business proposal. It was so interesting to hear this as their version of agreeing with what I was saying or approving of it.

At the end of the presentation the chief thanked us for bringing our plan to them and that they were so excited for this opportunity. They believe that healthy water is so important. They agreed to pick two women, make a household list, and meet with us the next day. We then presented the chief with cola nuts and passed it around for everyone to have a bite of. It was an interesting moment to witness the customs of the Dagomba people, and it was deeply humbling to be welcomed into the community with such open arms. They even gave us community names: ti pag ya, nassari, tadadi, and wumpini (spelling on these may be incorrect). What had seemed like an intimidating assignment of meeting with the chief had turned into a great success and we left with an overwhelming feeling of joy and excitement to get started with the rest of our project.

TJ helps Louis translate information about the blue drums

Kids of Tuya with Maureen, Alex, and Caroline