Quenching a thirst for health and equality

In the Hohoe Municipality of Ghana, over 400 children die each year from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation facilities. Almost two-thirds of households have no toilet. One in five persons has no access to safe water. Women and children spend so much time fetching water, there is little opportunity to do anything else.

The Presbyterian Hunger Program Advisory Committee awarded a grant to a Ghanian non-profit organization to construct three hand-dug wells, distribution outlet pipes, and storage tanks to provide clean water to more than 4,000 people in Hohoe. Training and education will also be provided, and a local task force made up primarily of women will oversee the implementation of the wells.

A representative of the non-profit partner describes the difference the wells can make, saying, “Child morbidity will change. Poor farmers and wage earners will become more productive due to good health associated with water and sanitation available to them. Their economic state will be enhanced. It will promote the eradication of elements in traditional, political, and cultural beliefs, practices, and stereotypes, which legitimize and exacerbate the persistence and tolerance of gender inequality and violence against women, providing them with the opportunities to improve their livelihoods.”

Photo by A. Boss, FRB