…………..article from RI news
More than 10,000 people in three communities in Ghana are receiving safe drinking water from a mechanized system built through the efforts of the International H2OCollaboration, an alliance between Rotary International and USAID.
The water system is part of a $2 million project that is providing boreholes, hand pumps, and mechanized pipes, as well as ventilated pit latrines and showers, across Ghana’s Volta, Greater Accra, Eastern, and Central regions.
During a ceremony on August 21 in Abutia Teti, RI and USAID representatives joined Ghanaian government officials in handing over responsibility for the completed system to the communities of Abutia Teti, Takla Gborgame, and Nyive.
“This project is a great example of public and private partnership at its very best, to improve not only the quality of life, but life itself, immeasur-ably,” RI President Kalyan Banerjee said.
“This innovative partnership between USAID, the Ghana Ministry for Water Resources, and Rotary International saves lives by reducing these communities’ use of unsafe open water sources. Today, the community and the government of Ghana take responsibility for maintaining these facilities and for continuing to educate children and citizens in proper hygiene, creating conditions where our assistance is no longer necessary.”
The International H2O Collaboration is in its third year. As part of the ef-efforts in Ghana, Rotarians are also working with villagers to change their sanitation practices and provide training to maintain the new equipment.
The collaboration is also funding hygiene training and bio-sand water filters in the Dominican Republic, and a project in the Philippines to improve sewage collection and treatment that will help more than 150,000
people.