By Caleb Kuleke
Agorhokpo (V/R), April 15, GNA – World Vision Ghana, has commissioned Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and educational facilities in the Agortime-Zoipe District of the Volta Region.
The facilities included eight solar-powered water systems, equipped with standpipes and taps in eight communities, serving five schools and five health facilities, and nine institutional toilets; six water closets for health facilities and three KVIPs for schools.
The rest are, five multi-purpose information poles to enhance communication in five communities, and pavilions as child and youth resource centres in four communities to offer a safe and secure environment for children to learn.
The beneficiary communities included Segbale, Asafokope, Agorhokpo, Sarakope, Sileandre, Keyime, Dohia, Yevi, Kpetoe, Akpokope, Afegame and Wedzedeke.
The facilities were commissioned by Madam Laura Del Valle, the Country Director of World Vision Ghana, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister and traditional leaders within the district.
Over the course of its four years of operation in the district, World Vision Ghana has carried out a number of initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the people, including community engagement and sponsorship programme, reading improvement and skills enhancement, and healthy environment and wellness.
The reading improvement and skills enhancement (RISE) initiative seeks to improve children’s reading abilities while the healthy environment and wellness (HEAL) project concentrated on improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions.
The community engagement and sponsorship programme foster collaboration between World Vision, donors, and the community to produce long-lasting results for children’s well-being.
Madam Laura Del Valle, World Vision Ghana’s Country Director, said the success of these projects would not have been possible without the crucial assistance of officials from the region and the district.
She said that the solar-powered water systems, which cost $360,000 to build, had provided safe water to 15,937 people, including children, in eight communities, eliminating the need for children and their families to make long trips to obtain safe water, and freeing up children’s time for school.
The Country Director said the institutional toilets which cost $114,000 and included three KVIP for schools and six water closets for healthcare facilities, would allow 771 school children to use an improved latrine and an average of 1,635 clients or patients to access improved sanitary facilities at the health institutions.
She said the solar-powered multipurpose poles, which they installed in various communities in partnership with THEOVISION and which cost $11,500, would enable 2,311 children to study at night, promote child safety messages and environmental stewardship to more than 23,000 households.
Madam Del Valle said they were pleased with the progress made as a team in empowering communities and attaining sustainable development for all.
Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, expressed gratitude to World Vision Ghana for its effort in providing the residents of the Agortime-Ziope District with clean water, sanitary facilities, and hygiene supplies.
He said Agortime- Ziope was one of the districts in the region where access to potable water was scarce despite the numerous interventions put in place over the years.
The Regional Minister said due to the nature of the land, it was quite difficult to drill boreholes and obtain good yields and that attempts to drill boreholes yielded no results in most cases.
He said the Goal Six (6) of the Sustainable Development Goals talked about the provision of clean water and sanitation and this goal was critical as the fulfillment of it would facilitate the achievement of other Goals by 2030.
He said access to water, sanitation and hygiene were some of the basic needs of humanity and a fundamental human right and yet many people were unable to access them, noting that the challenge posed by these, and the lack thereof should be of grave concern to all.
Togbe Agbale II, Chief of Agorhokpo thanked World Vision Ghana for its support through a variety of initiatives that improve the lives of the people leading to positive transformation and enhanced standard of living.
GNA