By Lawrencia Akoto Frempong
Afieyna (Near Tema), Oct. 19, GNA – Meaningful Life International, a faith-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has unveiled a new drilling rig to provide free, clean water to rural communities across the country.
The NGO seeks to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to rural communities in the country through charitable activities.
Reverend Godwin Kofi Ahlijah, the founder of the organisation, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said the Organisation, believed preaching Christianity should not only be in speech but also in deeds.
Rev. Ahlijah, who is also the President of the Doron Prestige Healthcare, said in displaying the love of Christ, the foundation chose to present a new drilling rig to provide fresh well water for the people, in addition to supporting with free medical care in rural areas.
He said the doctor-to-patient ratio in the country was very alarming, adding that there were still several people deprived areas without access to quality healthcare, which the foundation had been supporting through the provision of free health care services from volunteer medical professionals.
“Sometimes, the people in these communities only get to know of their chronic health conditions through the visitation of our medical team,” and it was noticed that about 70 per cent of the diseases were related to the lack of access to clean water, informing their decision to support such communities with purified well water.
Reverend Ahlijah said hitherto, they were renting rigs to drill boreholes for the communities through donations from partners, but acquiring their own rig would help them to serve more communities.
He said, “We know water is life, and we at Meaningful Life International want to pump life into Ghana through our borehole drilling and some health care services provisions”.
He added that the foundation has over the last 19 years drilled 68 boreholes in various communities across the country, expressing the hope to double the number in some the ensuing years.
He complained about the dire state of pollution of Ghana’s water bodies including the recent unfortunate problem of illegal mining (galamsey), where heavy metals and substances were used to contaminate rivers.
He expressed the hope that the acquisition of the drilling rig would bring hope to a lot of people in the rural communities, especially those with water bodies that had been destroyed and contaminated by the galamsey menace and other environmental issues.
Rev. Ahlijah called on churches, mission agencies, and humanitarian organisations to come together to unite towards this common goal of providing potable water for deprived communities.
“We cannot afford to see people in Ghana, especially in the 21st century, still drinking contaminated water from mudholes. We want to partner with government and other agencies to help put smiles and life in these communities,” he said.
GNA