Ghana, Busongo
Translated from Equal Opportunity Fund Newsletter July 2009: At the hospital in Busongo, at the primary schools in Pwalugu and Feo-Awisi, and also in the villages themselves, five Naïade water systems are in operation.
Our contact person in Ghana, Justin, regularly visits these locations to see how the units are performing. At the villages, a committee will oversee the yearly contribution of 75 Eurocents per person. This way all people contribute to the maintenance and service costs of the units. Although it seems to be a very low amount, it’s important to understand that these people only have 30 to 50 Eurocents per day available for their daily needs.
The primary school students are also loyal users of the water systems, which has resulted in healthier children. Since the introduction of the system, significantly less illness of the children has been reported.
In the hospital the results are very clear: due to the use of the Naïade, not one person died in the months February and March. Before that time, on average 2 children died every month.
Additional benefits include less firewood being used in the villages, as it is now only used for food preparation as well as reduced medical costs for families as fewer and fewer children fall victim to water-borne illness and disease.