Community Water Solutions has been selected by Global Giving to compete in a exciting fundraising challenge! If we can can raise a minimum of $4,000 from November 24 – December 21 from at least 50 unique donors than we will earn a permanent spot on the Global Giving Website. If we receive the greatest number of unique donations or total donation value, CWS may receive as much as $6,000 from GG!
Help us win the competition by making a donation on our global giving website: http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/community-safe-water-solutions-for-ghana/ or help us spread the word by sending the link to your friends and family!
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Today is my last official day in Ghana! I can’t believe how quickly these two months went by. I have spent the last week preparing Peter for my departure. We put together new monitoring forms for him, and then had a practice run- where he went to the villages without me and filled out his monitoring forms which we then reviewed. He did a great job and I am confident that he will be able to handle anything that may come up while I am gone. Right now, the plan is for me to be in the States for the holidays where I will work on fundraising with the rest of the CWS team. If the fundraising goes well, then I will hopefully be back in Ghana in late winter/early spring. We’ll be sure to keep everyone posted! If you are interested in supporting our work please visit www.communitywatersolutions.org to learn more about donating to our cause!
Peter and I have been very busy getting things set up in Jarigu this week. Here are some pictures from the past 7 days!
Monday and Tuesday: Building the polytank stand
One of the first steps in setting up a CWS water treatment center is building the polytank stand. We try to work with a local mason to build the stand, but since none of the men in Jarigu were experienced masons, Soufoo, our good friend from Nyamaliga, came to help!
Loading up the taxi with bricks, cement, and sand to bring to Jarigu
Soufoo working awayAlmost done with the first rowHalfway done and finished for the day. It may not look like much, but it took a lot of work! Thank you Soufoo!Filling the middle of the stand with gravelLast step! Covering the outside of the stand and building the stairsAll finished!
Wednesday: Delivering the polytank and the blue tubs
Since Kasaligu now has access to municipal water, we decided to move their water treatment center to Jarigu. This is something that we discussed in detail with the Kasaligu chairman and with Fati, the woman who works at the center. They were both happy to move their polytank to a new village that needed the treatment center (we will still be working with Kasaligu on safe water storage to prevent the re-contamination of the piped water in their homes, and Fati will be selling small Aquatabs that people can use to chlorinate their own water). Originally, Peter and I planned to either rent a truck or find one of the cheap peterbilt used trucks for sale to move the polytank, but we decided at the last minute to use a taxi instead. A few hours and two runs-in with the police later, the polytank and the three blue tubs that make up the water treatment center arrived safely in Jarigu.
Loading a blue tub into the trunk outside of Fati's houseHaving a little trouble fitting the polytank through the door at Fati's house...Loading the polytank onto the roof of the taxi - apparently the Tamale police didn't think that this was a funny as I did!Ready to go!Some of the men from Jarigu who helped set up the water treatment centerFilling the blue tubs with dugout water
Thursday: Distributing Safe Storage Containers and Water Treatment Training
On Wednesday, Peter and I visited each household in Jarigu to distribute the CWS safe storage containers. Although it takes a long time to pass out the containers to each family individually, its a great way to make sure everyone in the village understands the project and the connection between water and health, and learns the importance of safe water storage through the use of water storage containers. Water can be kept safe and clean when stored in one of these. There are various sized containers available, depending on the need and quantity of people. As there is not always running water, it is only best for numerous amounts of villages to have access to these containers. It makes life just a little bit easier for the residents. Just like with any job, it was a LONG but fun and rewarding day!
Peter explaining the different components of the CWS safe storage containerAttaching the tap to the safe storage container. Checking out the safe storage container
On Thursday we also started water treatment training. Usually, we will work with members of the community to select two women to be in charge of the water treatment center, who we then train to treat the dugout water. The village then decides what time of the day and how often they would like the center to be open. We like working with women because they are usually the ones in charge of all water-related household activities (collecting water, cooking, washing, etc) In Jarigu, however, we are doing things differently. This village already had a local man, Alhassan, “guarding” the dugout. He sits by the dugout all day long to make sure that no one walks too far into the water (this helps to prevent Guinea Worm contamination). Since Alhassan was already sitting right next to the water treatment center, the village thought that he should be the one in charge of it and we agreed. Since Alhassan will be at the dugout all day, everyday, the water treatment center can be open all of the time. While this makes it a little bit harder for us to monitor (instead of coming to the village for a few hours on the days the center is open, we will have to be there all day if we want to observe the center’s sales), it is much more convenient for our customers in Jarigu! Here are some pictures from our first night of water treatment training with Alhassan – he is a quick learner and very fun to work with!
Step 1: Particle removal. We use alum- a locally available coagulant/flocculant for this step of the water treatment process.We usually add alum to the water in the evening, and by the next morning, the particles in the water have settled to the bottom and the water is clear.
Friday: Water treatment training day 2
On Friday morning we returned to Jarigu for the second day of water treatment training with Alhassan. We transferred the water from the blue tubs (now “clear”) into the polytank and treated it with Aquatabs, a chlorine product that disinfects the water. Its now ready for opening day!
Step 2: transferring the water to the polytankOnce the polytank is full, we disinfect the water using chlorine.
Saturday: Opening Day!
Opening day in Jarigu was a big success! 34 families came to buy water from Alhassan and a good time was had by all! Thank you again to Susan and Greg Gintoff at Volunteer Shredding, LLC for sponsoring this water treatment center!
Alhassan selling water on opening day at JariguMe with a happy customer is JariguOpening day at JariguMe, Alhassan and Peter at the water treatment center in Jarigu. Thank you Volunteer Shredding, LLC!The CWS water treatment center at Jarigu. Sponsored by Greg and Susan Gintoff at Volunteer Shredding, LLCChildren hanging out at the CWS water treatment center on opening day.
After two weeks of visiting many rural villages in Northern Region Ghana, we have selected Jarigu to be the next site for a CWS water treatment business. Not only does Jarigu meet all of the CWS village criteria (the only source of water is a dugout, the dugout does not dry-out in the dry season, the village is the right size, and there are no current water treatment projects), but it is also about 10 minutes away from Nyamaliga, which will make monitoring the two villages much easier Peter (our project manager). I met with the village elders today to explain the project and they were very eager to work with us and seemed to really understand the idea of a water treatment business. Over the next two weeks Peter and I will be working with members of Jarigu to build the water treatment center, distribute safe storage containers to every family, and select and train two women to work at the center. We are really excited to start implementing in this village and look forward to updating everyone on our progress. Thank you to Volunteer Shredding, LLC, Greg and Susan Gintoff for sponsoring this CWS water treatment business! Your donation is providing a permanent source of clean water for ~750 people!
JariguThe Jarigu Dugout- a shallow, stagnant, mad-made pond. This is their only source of water.Close up of the Jarigu dugout. People frequently ask us what water the people villages were drinking before we got there, well, this is it. Getting a water sample from the dugout- the water tested positive for E.coli. which indicates fecal contamination.Children in Jarigu
I spent the beginning of this week in Accra, the capital of Ghana, meeting with The Melcom Group, the company that manufactures the buckets that CWS has been using for our safe storage containers. Safe storage is a key component of the CWS water treatment model because it helps to prevent re-contamination of the water in the home. In the past, we have purchased these buckets from a retailer in Tamale, and installed taps in them ourselves. This was a very long, arduous task that involved heating a metal pipe on a gas stove and punching holes in hundreds of plastic buckets.
Were we based elsewhere, like in Australia for instance, we could speak to other experts (like those from https://shop.storemasta.com.au/collections/bunded-storage) to help us out with these options. Safe storage of chemicals for water treatment is important, after all. Still, we made do with what was available to us in this circumstance, and all in all we were hopeful for a good outcome.
Well, the meetings in Accra were a huge success! Not only did Melcom sell us the buckets and taps at the wholesale price, but they also punched holes in the buckets for us and shipped them to Tamale for free. The buckets arrived in Tamale today, only two days after I ordered them!
Excited and still a little surprised that the buckets arrived on time
Trying to fit all of the safe storage containers in one taxi...we almost did it!
For the past week and half Peter and I have been using the mornings to check out potential villages to work with. We’ve been to 13 villages so far and are going to see at least one more early next week. Although the rainy season is ending, it still storms about once a week, which can make our journeys to these villages in a taxi very exciting. Luckily, we found Joe, a great taxi driver who is willing to navigate the treacherous roads for us! Here are some pictures from our adventures.
typical road, a couple days after a rain stormGuys helping us decide the best way to get around the mudAll of our helpersPeter chatting with the elders at FUU about their water sources
Checking out the Dugout at Wumbeiyili
I am hoping to start implementing a new water treatment center in a week and have found a couple of communities that seem like a good fit!
I can’t believe that its already been a week since I left the U.S. It has been really fun being back in Tamale and visiting the CWS water treatment centers. Unfortunately, I was totally fooled by the weather in Accra, it is NOT cool and breezy up north, in fact is is horribly hot! It is nearing the end of the rainy season, all of the crops are fully grown and ready for harvest. I have never been to Tamale in September before and it was quite a surprise to see Maize (corn) and other crops growing right in the middle of the village!
Here are some updates on the two pilot villages!
Nyamaliga
Since the CWS team left Tamale last January, Hawa and Sanatu (the women running the water treatment center in Nyamaliga) have been opening it for business every Thursday morning. The women are happy with the number of people that are coming to the center and enjoy working there. A couple of months ago, the ladies finished their first batch Aquatabs (one of the products used to treat the water) and had to buy more. While this may not seem like a big deal, it was a very exciting event for the CWS team! This means the women were treating the water correctly (they ran out of Aquatabs at the right time) and that they had saved the right amount of money (they had enough funds put aside to buy more Aquatabs)!
Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago the path to the water treatment center flooded and people from Nyamaliga have not been able to get there to buy water. The chief thinks that the path should dry out in the next week or so, so hopefully we can get things up and running soon! Although the flood disappointing, I am glad that I am here to see how the village has reacted. It is very important that our CWS team learns how the water supply in this region changes throughout the year so we can be more prepared for situations like this as we expand to other villages.
I have started going around to households in Nyamaliga to see where people have been getting their drinking water since the center has been closed. So far I have been to just over ten households and have been very pleased with the results. Most of the families have continued to use their safe storage containers to store their drinking water! This means that the people in Nyamaliga understood the importance of safe storage to reduce the risk of re-contamination. Since the center has been closed, most of the families in Nyamaliga have been drinking rainwater, or water from a nearby well. Over the next week I am going to continue this monitoring and start testing the quality of the rain/well water that people have collected. So stayed tuned for the results! I am also planning to work with Hawa, Sanatu, and the village elders to come up with a “rainy season plan” for the treatment center in case another flood like this happens in the future. Here are some pictures of people using their safe storage containers in Nyamaliga:
In other news, Hawa recently had a baby boy! His name is Alhassan and he is precious! Pics to come soon!
Kasaligu
When our team was in Ghana last January, Kasaligu had just recently began receiving piped water a few days a week. The water flowed sporadically and members of the village never knew when the pipe would work or for how long. (At that time, Ghana was in the middle of an election, and the village leaders were convinced that once the election was over, the pipe would stop flowing). Fati (the women who works at the center) and the village leaders decided to keep the water treatment center open once a week to make sure that the community had access to safe drinking water when the pipe was not flowing.
Well the election has come and gone and Kasaligu is still getting municipal water! In fact, they now have access to piped water all day, everyday! It turns out that Kasaligu’s increased access to clean water is the result of the Biwater project in Tamale. This is very exciting news because it means that the city is improving and expanding their infrastructure to include more rural areas. While there has been some controversy about the project, our team is hopeful that it will be a success. Here are some pictures of one of the public standpipes in Kasaligu, providing piped municipal water to the village:
Now that Kasaligu has consistent access to municipal water, CWS’s involvement in the village is going to change. I have discussed the situation with the village chairman and with Fati, and we have decided to move the treatment center to a village that is outside the reach of the BiWater project (and therefore will not have access to piped water any time in the foreseeable future). CWS will still work with Kasaligu by helping promote safe water storage. In the future, Fati may also help me teach the women in the new village how to treat water from the dugout (since she is a pro by now AND can speak Dagboni!) Ill make sure to keep everyone posted on these changes over the next couple of months!
2o hours, one forgotten passport, two flights, and one very long lay-over after arriving at Logan airport, I have arrived safely in Accra! I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful weather here! I am used to stepping off the plane and being immediately hit by either a painfully humid heat wave (in the summer) or cloud of dusty, dry heat (in the winter). But today was fabulous! About 75 degrees with a nice breeze! I hope this is typical “fall” weather that stays for the next two months!
I’m staying at the wonderful Chez Lien guest house (with internet and AC!) for the night and heading up to Tamale (very) early tomorrow morning. Although I do think Chez Lien is great, I’m not the biggest fan of Accra and can’t wait to get up North to see our CWS staff members and friends!
