A maraba to the Summer 2019 Field Representatives! We have a great team of 20 jet-lagged yet excited young people who have arrived safely in Ghana to begin their experience!
The first day was spent in Accra, having an orientation to Ghana, introduction to Ghanaian transportation (tro-tros and taxi negotiations!) Dagbani language lessons, and getting to know their group. Tomorrow we will be on the STC bus: next stop, Tamale!
Today on the blog, we are taking some time to highlight and bid a fond farewell to Saha’s first full-time Ghana team member, Peter. Peter has worked with us since 2008, when Saha Global was just an idea, and we implemented the second water business in Nymaliga. In many ways, Peter is co-founder of Saha Global and we would not be where we are today without him. We are so excited to see what the future has in store for him, and today we want to revisit some of our favorite memories of Peter’s time with Saha.
Over the years, Peter worked on every project under the hot Tamale sun! He implemented clean water businesses in countless villages, and went above and beyond to fulfil the Saha mission. He even made Saha’s first radio appearance!
It is through Peter that we met many of our current full-time staff, translators, and taxi drivers, including Wahab, Eric, Nestor, Simply, and Taufik (to name a few!) Many of our teammates fondly refer to him as “Father Peter.”
In addition to our work together in the villages, Peter has gone on many traveling adventures as a member of Saha’s leadership team. The first, and one of the most notable, was Kate and Peter’s trip to Kumasi in 2010 to buy a truck for Saha. This story was made famous (or infamous?) in Kate’s 2013 Tedx talk. It was certainly a trip to remember!
A few years later, Peter joined Kate and Kathryn on scouting missions to our neighboring countries Burkina Faso and Togo, while we were searching for new areas for Saha to work. While none of us spoke French well, Kate and Kathryn remembered a few words from high school French class and it was fun to turn the tables and have to translate for Peter after years of having him translate Dagbani for us! We will always remember the delicious roadside salads, long days in the truck, and hilarious French conversations on that trip!
After that trip, Peter was charged with setting up our office in Salaga, and piloted the first Salaga Saha business in Tunga with Kate and Kathryn in 2012. Peter also led all of the preparations for two Global Leadership Programs based in Salaga during 2013.
Since then, Peter has split his time between Tamale and Salaga, holding down the fort at our Salaga office: monitoring our seven Salaga villages and scouting for many more communities to be implemented in the future.
We’ve experienced so much together over the past 10 years. Exciting opportunities for Saha, growing friendships, expanding families, and so much more!
We are so grateful for Peter’s 10-plus years of hard work and service, and can’t wait to see what the future holds! Ti pagya pom, Peter!
“Chew and Pour” refers to the teaching method typical in most Ghanaian school systems that focuses on repetition and memorization. It is the difference between a lecture versus a hands-on activity. In the past year, we have been trying to focus our interactions with the community away from lectures and towards conversations. Instead of lecturing about the importance of clean water, we have been emphasizing more on the conversation around clean water and allowing our communities to come to the same conclusions. “You should ____ ” and “Stop doing that” have turned into “Why do you ____?” and “Do you think ____? ” . We’ve learned that it is a more effective way of sharing an idea or concept if they are able to draw their own conclusions through participating in an active engaged dialog. This month, we tried to take this technique of conversation and curiosity and apply it to the way we talk about children’s education. So, this year is the start of our Children’s Education Month!
This years Children’s Education Month ran from June 20th to July 26th which is the last day before kids (kindergarten, primary, and junior high) children go on break. We kicked off the month by introducing a Children’s Education and Parent Discussion Handbooks to our staff to start trying out in the field. It included key concepts to go over and suggestions for types of questions to help encourage participation in the conversation. The goals of these conversations was to learn about the challenges that parents and children face in having clean water available for children/getting children to drink clean water, how to promote good WASH habits, and ways Saha could help support the effort to have children drink clean water. The children are the future of all our communities, so it is important for us to help encourage these good habits and understanding at an early age, so they could continue to on to a strong adulthood.
This year we were able to do Children’s Education for 16 Villages: Nekpegu, Tohinayili, Kalinka, Baiyili, Dawunyili, Sagbarigu, Lambo, Juni, Yendanyili, Jagberin, Tijo, Tindan, Bamvim, Wambong, and Warivi. In the classrooms, we printed out “Commitment to Clean Water” posters where students pledged their commitment to clean water.Some of the Children’s Educations happened in schools some were done informally with a collection of kids in a village. Education can happen anywhere, not just in the classroom! (I would argue that most learning happens outside of the classroom anyway.)
In addition to the formal gathering of children, we also encouraged monitors to talk to kids and parents in their households while they conduct their normal monitoring visits. When I went with Nestor to Sahanaayili, we talked to each household about children having access to clean water. Every household we visited had a clean water cup/container just for their kids. The parents would watch over the children to make sure they were taking care of their cup/container properly and not recontaminating the water. It was so great to see! The children were also excited about it. We talked about one of the challenges that many households face: Children playing with the tap. The households in Sahanaayili each said that they would serve the children what until they were old enough to learn how to use the tap properly, then they would be shown what to do and what not to do. The older kids were helpful in making sure the younger ones used it properly. This hope is to help communities who are struggle with advice from those who have been doing well.
One of the challenges we learned that children face with regards to drinking clean water is that sometimes they have a hard time telling their parents that they should have clean water in the household for fear of it becoming disrespectful. So, even if they knew that they should be drinking water, they couldn’t always because their parents wouldn’t get the water. This insight reinforces our efforts to talk to parents more and frame more conversations around the children and their health. Additionally, Wahab (who was the one who had this conversation with the kids) also made a great point saying if your parents were to walk on a hole and potentially break their foot. It is okay to bring up things that are good for their health. Approaching children’s education from both angles (parents and kids) has been a great tool to encourage children to drink clean water.
Several Saha staff signed up for an online course called Prototyping 201 hosted by Acumen which overlapped with Children’s Education Month. We used this coincidence as an opportunity! For our first practice of prototyping, we took an idea and made physical prototype out of it and our inspiration was Children’s Education Month. So, we brainstormed ideas on how to talk about drinking clean water with children in 3 situations: at home, in school, and in the community. The team was able to come up with fantastic ideas! For the conversations at home, Seidu, Rhiana, and Kathryn prototype stickers for children to indicate good and bad WASH habits. In the schools, Simply and I prototype a coloring book called “Healthy Hadija helps Silly Sana” where a little girl helps her friend learn how to keep clean water clean in the home. For the community conversation, Theo and Sita developed prototype for a microscope to help kids, parents, and everyone see what is really in their water so they can learn that clear does not mean clean. It was an incredibly fun exercise and amazing to see the creativity of the team! Hopefully these creative ideas keep going and eventually turn into new (fun!) ways of communicating our ideas to our communities.
The biggest thing we’ve learned this year is to just talk about it! Incorporate these questions about clean water for children in our everyday interactions in the villages. Engage with the children. Engage with the parents. There is a lot to learn from them when we get them involved in the conversation. The hope is not just to have these conversations one a month, but every day!
Oh what a month! I would like to thank the team for their input on the handbooks an going out and having these school educations and these conversations. Thanks for all your hard work this month.
I’ll end with a quote from my favorite song in preschool, why this was my favorite song as a preschool is beyond me, but young Heidi was very wise “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”- “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston
2018 has been incredibly busy, but in all the best ways! We are more than mid-way through this year, so it is the perfect time to look back and assess our accomplishments. Amidst the busy pace of the Global Leadership Program, our full time staff continued business as usual in our Ghana office (where business as usual is working extremely hard and doing amazing things). The skies have become cloudier, the days cooler, and the roads wetter as rainy season starts to pick up here in Tamale. This is a perfect time to pause and reflect on the year so far and the incredible things the team has been able to do.
During this time of muddy shoes, wet roads, and once-dry dugouts brimming with water, we have decided to put implementations and scouting on hiatus until the start of the dry season. Businesses during rainy season are understandably very slow in many communities because any family with a tin roof is collecting rainwater at this time and doesn’t need to buy additional drinking water as frequently. We found that it is best for new businesses to start off strong during the dry season, when demand for clean water is much higher. Additionally, during the rainy season the roads can be difficult or impossible to traverse (especially the unfamiliar ones that our scouters venture on)! For scouting new villages, the rainy season makes it a challenge to accurately assess access to clean water, since there is an abundance of water right now. So it makes the most sense to take a little break from implementation and scouting. Fret not, we still have plenty of other activities for our staff to work on during this time: Annual Surveys, Updated Household Lists, Children’s Educations, Research & Development, etc. There is never a dull day in the Saha world and there is always more to be done! Continuous improvement!
First, I’d like to have a shout out to the Scouting Team. Without them, we wouldn’t have found the villages we implemented in this past year. Our goal was to scout 100 potential villages this year and we are at 93 already! We’ve scouted and mapped nearly every village within a 3-hour moto-drive-radius from Tamale. Incredible! Coming out of the rainy season, we will see if there are any ‘hidden’ villages out there yet to discover!
With our Implementation Team we are able to implement new businesses in more villages at a faster rate outside of the Global Leadership Program. Our slogan for this year is “18 for 18!”, or in other words, 18 Saha team-led implementations for the 2018. For anyone keeping track, with 10 GLP villages that will bring us to 28 new villages this year! In the first half of the year, this mighty team has implemented 9 new water businesses, half of our goal!. Since this is our first time having an Implementation Team, we are still working out many details and it can only get better with each iteration. We developed an Implementation Handbook for the team to reference during their implementations. There is a lot to remember, especially for just one person.
Some lessons learned so far in our first year of implementation team:
Below is a summary of all the new communities implemented by our team this year and the women entrepreneurs we’ve introduced to the Saha Family!
| Village Name: | Implementer | Opening Date | Population | Who are the entrepreneurs? |
| Sinsina | Shak | 1 Feb 4, 2018 | 466 | Naana and Asana |
| Buiyili | Shak | 2 Mar 12, 2018 | 695 | Salamatu, Mariama & Nafidah |
| Sahanaayili | Eric | 2 Mar 12, 2018 | 206 | Rukaya, Zenabu, Ayishetu, Abibata, & Sadia |
| Tibugu | Wahab | 3 Apr 12, 2018 | 936 | Samata, Arahanatu, Barikisu and Zenab |
| Nagbuligu | Shak | 3 Apr 23, 2018 | 1250 | Fati,Azara,ikma,and sadia |
| Jagbo Tindang | Eric | 3 Apr 27, 2018 | 763 | Fusseini Fusseina,Issahaku Asiya,Mohammed Zainabu and Sulemana Fatima |
| Wala Mogli | Wahab | 4 May 25, 2018 | 299 | Samata, Adishetu, Fatima and Asana |
| Tunga Daborpe | Shak | 4 May 28, 2018 | 223 | Rashida,Ayisha,Asana,Rabi and Maina. |
| Nangbagu | Shak | 5 Jun 19, 2018 | 255 | Memunatu1 , Memunatu 2,Rahama,Adija and Mariam. |
| Kpalsogu kuraa | Eric | 5 Jun 2, 2018 | 479 | Ibrahim Atika,Haruna Salamatu, Sulemana Amatu,Baba Fatima,Abdulai Agatha,Kpanalan Awabu, Yussif Sanatu,Aku Amina, Mohammed Hawabu. |
Here are some photos from the past 7 months of work by our Implementation team:
Now these communities are being monitored weekly by our Monitoring team who is helping to provide additional support and training for the women entrepreneurs and communities. There have been small but impactful improvements from the Office that has made managing all three teams more, for lack of a better word, manageable! To updated expense reports to gas cards, all these little things add up to big changes and allowed us to be able to have the capacity to do more. We are currently preparing different workshops to help build our team’s knowledge and skills sets: Financial Training, Human-Centered Design, and Lab Training. These are the ones we’ve already gotten started, and there are still more in the pipeline.
I am so impressed by the hard work of the team and how much we’ve been able to accomplish in this half year alone and I look forward to even more we can do in the second half of 2018!
The future sure is bright here at Saha!
A lot has been happening with Saha Global. We started off the year by opening our 100th water business in Ghana with the help of the 2017 Winter Field Reps. Since then, we’ve opened 10 other businesses, and are now serving clean drinking water to a total of 51,798 people in rural Ghana. Read on for more exciting updates from our team!
A Renewed Focus on Water: It’s Time to Grow!
Preparing to open our 100th water business was very exciting and also provided some time for reflection. While we are so proud to be providing clean drinking water for over 50,000 people in Ghana, there are approximately 800,000 people in the Northern Region of Ghana alone who are still drinking unsafe water. We know that the Saha water businesses are the best solution for rural villages in this area and we have the track record to prove it: once a Saha business is open, it stays open and provides clean water that stays clean, even when its stored in peoples’ homes. So now we want to grow, quickly.
This renewed focus on expanding our impact in water means that Saha will not be opening any new solar businesses for the foreseeable future. This change is bittersweet. On the one hand, we know that access to electricity is something that people in our partner communities value and our solar businesses see a lot of success in the early years. On the other hand, we have been having issues with maintenance in a lot of our communities once they reach the 2 year mark. The good news is, there are a lot of really amazing organizations doing innovative work in off-grid solar solutions. For now, we will continue to provide monitoring support to our 26 solar businesses and our hope is that another organization, which focuses only on solar, will want to partner with our Saha villages soon!
Simply and Nestor Join Our Team
This summer, two of our best translators, Simply (3rd from left) and Nestor (1st on the left), joined Saha’s monitoring team! They both provided part-time help this rainy season and have officially joined our full-time monitoring team this month to offer support as we transition into the dry season and start to ramp up new village implementations.
New Board Members
With expansion in mind, Saha welcomed four new members to our Board of Directors this year to help Saha reach our goals for scale: Bill Ambrose, Mark Ferrari, Greg Garvin and Bennett Grassano. Each one of our new directors brings unique skills and experiences that have already proven to be tremendously helpful to the Saha team. Read more about their backgrounds here!
New Funding Partners
Over the past year, we have been very grateful to receive support from a number of new funding partners who believe that Saha can achieve impact at scale and are excited to support our growth. Kevin Starr, from the Mulago Foundation, even wrote this great article featuring Saha after a visit to Ghana last February!
We are looking for a dynamic leader with operational experience to lead our team in Ghana as we prepare for rapid growth. Please share this job description with anyone that may be a good fit. We are looking for someone who is excited about living and working in Tamale for a minimum of 3 years.
Nicaragua?
As some of you know already, our goal to reach everyone in Northern Ghana that needs clean water also means that we will not be expanding our work to Nicaragua just yet. At first, we delayed this expansion due to the outbreak of the Zika virus, but it later became clear that Saha can have the biggest impact for every dollar that we raise, if we focus 100% of our work in Ghana until every village that needs a Saha water business has one.
Hello Hello Saha Supporters!
Morganne here, reporting from a very rainy Tamale! The rains waited until the Summer Global Leadership Program finished to really get started, but now rainy season is in full swing! With the help of our #sahydrated Field Reps, we opened 10 new water businesses in June! Our monitoring team has been working hard to get to all 110 villages, even through some very wet and muddy terrain!
The rainy season is generally a time for slower sales at Saha water centers, because many people opt to collect rainwater off of their tin roofs. Saha understands the lure for free clean water, we just make sure to test those rainwater samples to make sure they are safe to drink! The rains can also make actually getting to water centers, and even villages, challenging when the roads flood. Our monitoring staff do their best but also make smart decisions so they don’t get stuck in the mud!
Here are the latest reports from the newest Saha communities:
| Villages | Full-time Monitor | How’s it going? | Center Status | Household Visits | Lab Samples |
| Darvoguyili | Eric, he visited on August 2nd | Abida said they treated water five days ago and a few people are still coming to buy water even with so much rainfall they’ve had recently. | The Polytank was more than ½ full and 3 drums were empty. | 5 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers. 3 of them had Polytank water, the other 2 had rainwater. | The Polytank and two household samples came back clear and clean! |
| Gbunja | Eric, he visited July 31st | All of the women had left to farm when he arrived, so Eric spoke to the Chairman. He said the cener is open at anytime for anyone who needs to buy water, and the women have been treating water consistently. | The Polytank was ¼ full and 3 drums were empty. | 4 households had Polytank water in their safe storage container, 1 had rainwater, and 1 was empty. | The Polytank and household sample of Polytank water came back clean! |
| Kpachaa | Shak, he visited August 3rd | He wasn’t able to meet any of the women, but spoke to Sana’s daughter who said sales have been okay with all of the rain. | The Polytank was more than ½ full and drums were all full and settled with alum. | Shak decided to do extra household visits because the entrepreneurs were out at farm. Out of the 10 households he visited, 8 had rainwater and 2 were empty. | The Polytank sample was clean! |
| Lambo | Wahab, he visited on August 4th | Fusheina explained that sales are low because the rainfall flooded the path to the center and people have been collecting rainwater. As soon as the path starts to dry a bit they will move the center to town so people can buy water! | Wahab couldn’t get to the center on his moto, but Fusheina said the Polytank is ½ full and drums are all full and settled with alum. They are ready to treat! | He did not do household visits today as many people had already left for the farm. | No lab samples were taken today. The last Polytank sample came back clean! |
| Larigbani | Eric, he visited on August 3rd | Adamu said sales were going well, and Eric saw 14 people come fill their containers while he was there! | The Polytank was ½ full and 3 drums were full and settled with alum. | Of the 6 Eric visited, 3 households had Polytank water in their safe storage containers, and 3 were empty. | The Polytank and household samples came back clean! |
| Nakpanzoo | Shak, he visited on August 2nd | Sana said that sales are still low because the rain has been falling a lot recently, but people still come to buy water when they run out. | The Polytank was more than ½ full and 3 drums were full and settled with alum. | All 6 households had water in their safe storage containers. 1 had Polytank water, the other 5 had rainwater. | The Polytank sample came back clean! |
| Sahani | Peter, he visited on August 3rd | When Peter was there, Aishetu talked about lower sales because the rain had been very heavy the past few days. | The Polytank was ½ full and the drums were all empty. | Peter visited 6 households, and 4 of them had water in their safe storage containers. 1 had Polytank water and 3 had rainwater. | The Polytank and household samples came back clean! |
| Suri | Wahab, but Peter went to check on his team’s community on August 4th | Aishetu said sales are low when the rain is very heavy but people still come to buy water once the rain stops for a few days. | The Polytank was more than ½ full and drums were all empty. | 2 out of the 6 households had Polytank water in their safe storage containers. 3 had rainwater and 1 was empty. | The Polytank and household samples all came back clean! |
| Tingpanglanyili | Amin, he visited on July 31st | Amina said that although sales have decreased because of the rain some people still come to fill at the polytank | Polytank is ½ full and 3 drums are full and settled with alum | 3 households had Polytank water in their safe storage containers, 2 had rainwater, and 1 was empty. | Most household samples came back clean. Amin spoke to Hadunayili, whose sample came back with E.coli, about how to safely collect rainwater. |
| Vene | Amin, he visited on July 31st | Sales have been slow due to the recent rainfall, but Azaratu said she makes sure to keep water in the Polytank so people can always buy if they need it! | Polytank is more than ½ full and 3 drums were full and settled with alum. | 6 out of 6 households had water in their safe storage containers. 1 had Polytank water, the other 5 had rainwater. | The Polytank sample came out clean.! A few of the rainwater households had E.coli so Amin went back to tell them to dump that dirty water and clean their bucket! |
The monitoring team is watching these communities closely and will be sure to help them with the seasonal transition after the rainy season. Special shoutout to our Summer Field Reps for getting these businesses up and running!!
It’s been just over a week since we said goodbye to the 2017 Summer Field Reps. Thanks to this group of talented, passionate and driven women and men, Saha was able to partner with with 10 communities in Northern Ghana to open 10 new water treatment businesses. Because of them, over 3,600 people now have the ability to drink clean water, daily. 28 women entrepreneurs are able to provide potable water to their friends, family and neighbors through community-supported small businesses. And Saha is able to welcome 37 new faces to our global Saha family!
Alex, Alex, Alyssa, Amanda, Ashley, Brian, Caitlin, Cameron, Delaney, Dylan, Elias, Emma, Gaby, Harley, Henry, Ian, Jessica, Kate, Laura, Lexie, Lizzy, Lupita, Maya, Meagan, Nick, Rae, Raleigh, Sam, Solum, Sophia, Stew, Sydney, Taylor, Tshion, Zach, Zach, and Zijun:
It seems crazy to think that after three weeks of laughs, mosquito bites, blood/sweat/tears, games, guinea fowls, savannah sunsets, questioning and discoveries, we said goodbye for the last time as a group last week. 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. Due to your efforts and problem-solving, Saha was able to open
With gratitude,
Amin, Eda, Eric, Kate, Kathryn, Morganne, Peter, Shak & Wahab
And now … for the jumping pics!
Team Cameron, Sita, Maya and Nick in Vene
Team Jessica, Gaby, Brian, Amin and Henry (not pictured) in Lambo
Team Kate, Blessing, Sophia, Tshion and Harley (not pictured) in Darvoguyili
Team Laura, Sam, Ian, Alyssa and Jaleel (not pictured) in Kpachaa
Team Nestor, Dylan, Rae and Lexie in Gbunja
Team Alex, Delaney, Lupita and Shak in Tingpangyili
Team Taylor, Ashley, Taufik, Lizzie and Stew in Nakpanzoo
Team Sydney, Elias, Raleigh, Wahab and Meaghan in Sahani
Team Simply, Zach, Caitlin, Solum and Emma in Larigbani
Team Zach, Zijun, Alex, Amanda and Peter in Suri
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 100th 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 29th 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 29th 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 30th | 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 30th | 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 29th 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 28th 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 27th | 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! |
Special thanks to our Winter 2017 Field Reps who got these 9 communities off to a great start! Ti paya pahm!
At Saha we’re always adapting our model to better suit each community we work in. To do that we need good data! We’ve been busy updating our monitoring sheets to reflect the current status of each water business. New additions include a ‘last visit’ section (so we always have the previous visit in mind), more questions about savings/prices, and a ‘summary’ section.
We’ve started allowing households to fill different containers (besides the safe storage container) at the water center, including garawas and jerrycans. This allows families to skew the ratio of clean water to dugout water in their homes towards more clean water! In our monitoring chats we make sure to talk about how the SSC will always keep water the cleanest for drinking, but a jerrycan with a closed lid is a good backup for cooking, etc. Extra lab samples of these alternative containers is ongoing, and we hope to have data of their safe storage ability soon.
Take a look at our latest water monitoring sheet below!
Akwaaba (as they say here in the south of Ghana) to all our Winter 2017 Field Reps! Caleb, Wyatt, Erin, Sarah, Shanelle, Joanne, Shane, Qingyi, Louis, Micah, Caroline, Elijah, Lexie, Maureen, Tess, Yu, Mona-Mae, Alex C, Ann, Kalin, Matt, Zulean, Shaminika, Kevin, Walker, Morgan, Nikita, Terynek, Yueyue, Alex K, Becky, Laura, Olivia and Shannon all arrived safely throughout the day today and yesterday, even despite some Harmattan flight cancellations in Accra.
Tomorrow, the fun begins! Most of us are busing up to Tamale right now, and the late-comers (Shane, Louis, Sarah and Lexie) will bus up with Ghana Program Director Peter Friday! Then it’s orientation, so stay tuned.
Over and out,
– Team Saha