Thank you to everyone who came to our party last Saturday. The rain held off, the sun came out, the food was great – and it was so good to see so many donors and volunteers and supporters again.
News
Coming to a Compromise
There’s been a long-standing debate about two different points of view in relation to our clinic at Gyetiase-Nsuta. One part say it’s essential to build a wall round the clinic. Otherwise, they say, the animals will rub up against the existing walls and leave them very grimy.
The second part says that walls are scary, people may be frightened to come to the clinic if it’s got a wall right round it. Better to leave it open.
For now, we’ve reached a compromise. We’re going to do a bit of landscaping, plant some trees and see how we feel later. Any views would be welcome.
Nyinampong Clinic
Our clinic at Nyinampong, which opened 18 months ago, now has electricity, clean water in every basin, six trained nurses and a midwife.
The clinic serves 8,000 people. In its first three months it treated 530 people, some more than once. They included 88 pregnant women, 17 of whom gave birth, 179 malaria cases, 25 cases of dysentery/diarrhoea and one suspected HIV/Aids.
Well done Nyinampong. It sounds like you’re doing a great job.
Out with the Worms
A few days ago, we wrote how volunteer Ruth had raised enough money to provide worm tablets for 5,000 children in Sekyere Central District.
With the help of the District Health and Education Services, this week the tablets are being distributed, mainly to settler villages.
Thank you again, Ruth, for raising the money to fund them.
Down with Worms
All our thanks go to volunteer Ruth Simpson for raising enough money to buy 5,000 tablets of anti-worm medication.
Yesterday they were delivered to the Sekyere Central District of the Ghana Health Service, who are going to distribute them to children through their District Nurses. What a difference that will make to the children.
Small Steps To Development
Microcredit was the subject of a meeting between our Microcredit Manager, Mavis Bobie, and the women of Timber Nkwanta. With her baby on her back, Mavis went to tell them about Ashanti Development’s microcredit project and ask if they’d like to take part.
In case you haven’t come across microcredit, we start by helping each woman to produce a costed plan and then lend her money to set up a small business, normally in trading or agriculture.
The women work in groups, and each guarantees the loans of the others in her group. Each can have up to three loans, which she must repay with interest.
When all the debts are repaid, we move the project to a new village and start again. In Ashanti, the scheme is very popular and we know of a few women who it has made very rich.
For Mothers & Babies
Our wonderful sponsors, IT company Softwire, have offered to fund a Mothers and Babies Unit at Mampong Maternity Hospital in Ashanti.
The Maternity Hospital caters for 2,000 deliveries a year and is the principal point of referral for seven large clinics and many other, smaller ones. The new unit will cut out the need to transport sick mothers and babies to Kumasi Hospital, 54km away. Most of the babies die on the way.
The pictures show the bush being cleared prior to building. Meanwhile, the hospital is in a state of rejoicing.
Message for Mosi-Kura
We’re trying to persuade Mosi-Kura to dig pits for household latrines, but they’re not keen. The village just doesn’t believe that latrines and hygiene training will radically improve their health, that they’ll stop suffering from constant diarrhoea and regain lost energy. If I were in their shoes I’m not sure I’d believe it either.
We had the same problem when we started giving latrines to villages in other parts of Ashanti. We asked local people to contribute to the work but they really couldn’t see the point. They kept asking sensible questions like why wouldn’t we give them something useful instead, like televisions or cars. But when the effects finally became apparent we had delegations from many communities asking for latrines.
Unfortunately Mosi-Kura is far away from anywhere we’ve worked before and the message hasn’t reached it. The raw materials, sand and stones and wood, have all been delivered (see picture) and the craftsmen are ready, but no work’s been done. If any of the Ashantis who follow our page come from Mosi-Kura we’d be grateful if they’d have a word with the village hierarchy.
A Great Outcome for Mosi-Kura
Do you remember that geophysics couldn’t find water anywhere in Mosi-Kura, so we had to abandon the idea of giving the village a borehole? Then we came across an old abandoned borehole in the village and wondered if it would be possible to repair it as an alternative.
The news is great. The borehole has been repaired by our engineers and initial results look promising. All the old pipes have been removed and will be replaced. The water will be tested for quantity and quality and provided the results are OK, we’ll install a handpump.
Veronica Bucket
For some time now we’ve been encouraging local people to use tippy taps, a hands-free way to wash your hands when you don’t have a basin or ordinary taps. Here’s a picture.
We’ve never had much success in Ashanti, partly because the village children always knock the tap over within a a few days of it being set up.
Now we’ve found a second reason. In Ashanti they prefer to use Veronica buckets, which have a tap attached. You can knock it open with your elbow and let it run for just the amount of water you need. .
