According to a recent report, it is estimated that over 2,500 African children lose their lives daily due to lack of clean water to support their basic human needs. Out of desperation, people are willing to risk their health for survival—especially women and children.
The district of Adaklu is one of the many communities in Africa. It is located in the South-Eastern section of Ghana, it is remote and devoid of water and sanitation facilities. It is very poor, and more than 98% of its population is unable to access clean and safe drinking water. 99% of the population live on less than $1 a day and rely heavily on their livestock and seasonal agriculture to survive. There is no easy access to good sanitation, and what there is, is out of reach to those who need it the most (children, the sick, the weak, the old, and the helpless).
Fortunately, there is a river, (Tordzie), which is a few miles from the village. However, due to lack of water wells, boreholes, water storage and treatment facilities, most residents, particularly children, are forced to walk long distances to fetch water from this contaminated river for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Even though the river is horrendously polluted, it serves as a very important source for the community’s livelihood. Further upstream, the river runs through many villages and communities that are unaware of the health and environmental impact and the adverse consequences from using the river. It serves as a waste water and sewer drainage, as well as a dump ground for these villages. Due to lack of sanitation and environmental education, most of these communities have no idea how their misuse of the river affects those downstream and the rest of the environment.
For this and many other reasons, our organization, Adaklu Water Project, seeks to invest heavily on educational and awareness programs for these riverside communities. We believe this will alleviate the misuse of the most craved natural resource on our planet. Furthermore, our objective is to introduce reclamation, storage and effective water distribution systems to the communities. We are certain this will free up time for all our children to stay in school and for the adults to pursue their economic interests for the good of their every day living.
Breathable air and water are the quintessence of human survival on any planet. But clean air and clean water are the fundamental rights to all humanity. Water, one of the most important basic necessities for human life, affects any society in the way of education, health, poverty, and hunger.
Adaklu is ravaged by decades of the lack of clean drinking water and good sanitation. It is one of the greatest causes of poverty in the community and other remote regions. The only good source of water is the highly polluted Tordzie river that streams miles away from town.
The lack of clean water is causing bad health that is inundating the only local clinic with pregnant women, mothers, and children with water-related health issues. Ironically, the clinic inherits the same water issues as the rest of the populace. Sadly, they are compelled to use the same river water to treat their patients and to deliver new babies.
Without accessible clean water, the people of Adaklu are not staying healthy, and mothers are struggling to balance the use of their little water resource and labor force their children. In lieu of that, the children spend countless hours walking to fetch water on a daily basis instead of attending school. When they make it to class, they are often too tired to engage in the educational process. With less education in their formative years, children, especially our girls, often drop out of school to help in the home and farms to sustain their family’s meager livelihood. Inadvertently, they usually start a family. Furthermore, since Adaklu is an agrarian society, farmers, customarily fathers, have to exclusively depend on the weather to cultivate their parcel of land for income to support their families.
With less education and high illiteracy rate among our women and youth, the cycle of pervasive poverty perpetuates itself. This constitutes an inescapable, uncompromising poverty, and underdevelopment within the community.
The good news is that, this is a solvable problem, one locality at a time. Adaklu Water Project is embarking on a five-phase water development and sustainability project.
Phase one is to drill a well on the premises of the clinic and equip it with a 10,000 gallon water tower and a solar powered pump.
Phase two…click here to read more.
“Waterborne diseases are caused by pathogenic microbes that can be directly spread through contaminated water. Most waterborne diseases cause diarrheal illness. Eighty-eight percent of diarrhea cases worldwide are linked to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene. These cases result in 1.5 million deaths each year, mostly in young children. The usual cause of death is dehydration. Most cases of diarrheal illness and death occur in developing countries because of unsafe water, poor sanitation, and insufficient hygiene. Other waterborne diseases do not cause diarrhea; instead these diseases can cause malnutrition, skin infections, and organ damage.”
–Center For Disease Control.For more information about specific waterborne diseases, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/wash_diseases.html
Due to drinking contaminated water, diarrheal disease is the third most commonly reported illness at health centers across the country, with 25 percent of all deaths in children under the age of five being attributed to diarrhea.
