In rural Ghana, community members learn about good hygiene practices and map out the water and sanitation resources in their village.
Kwaku Dramani of Ngawe
Practicing good hygiene is one of the most important daily habits one can form. As the saying goes, “cleanliness is next to godliness.” Good hygiene practices keep us healthy all of the time. I can say for sure that before we learned about good hygiene from Water.org and Afram Plains Development Organization (APDO), we were living in dirty, unsanitary conditions. Today, I can say that we’ve adopted safe hygiene practices, thanks to the education we received.
Prior to the arrival of the Water.org project, certain preventable diseases were affecting us and keeping us from effectively carrying out our daily activities. We now appreciate that it is good to wash our hands with soap and water before we eat and after attending to nature’s call. We also understand there is a need to keep our places of living clean by sweeping our surroundings and stopping indiscriminate defecation. Also, brushing of our teeth, regular washing of cloths, and bathing have enhanced the health status of our community.
Diseases like malaria, bilharziasis, and other waterborne diseases have been drastically reduced in our community. This has helped us to carry out our farming activities all of the time because we do not suffer from any ailment.
Stephen Adzrakor of Chamba Akuraa
We have been living in Chamba Akuraa community for several years. Water availability has been a major source of worry for all of us. The average time that an individual travels round trip to fetch one jerrican of water from a nearby community is about two hours. Even before the women and children return, they will be very tired. This affects the work women do at home and as well as children’s schooling. When the water facility breaks down, we have no option except to fetch water from the stream, which is not safe to drink. We are therefore grateful to God that Water.org and APDO are working with a donor to help us get water.
This story is part of our Giving Thanks: Story of the Day series that will run through the end of 2009. There are countless reasons to celebrate clean water and we want to bring you some of the first-hand accounts of its life-saving, life-changing impact for those we serve around the globe. We invite you to join us and give thanks, give water, give life.
