By Philip Tengzu
Bole, (UW/R), Nov. 05, GNA – Access to decent Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities by students of the Bole Senior High School (BOSEC) has been a major challenge compelling the students, especially females to resort to open-air unclean bathrooms.
Open Defecation is also endemic among the students due to the lack of decent toilet facilities at the school, forcing students to expose themselves to sanitation-related diseases and the danger of practicing open defecation.
To salvage the situation and bring hope to the students, the Rotary Club of Wa, in partnership with the Rotary Club of San Jose, California, USA, has provided modern WASH facilities for the female students.
They included a 32-unit bathroom, a 20-seater bio-digester, and renovated a 12-seater water closet toilet facility.
Rotarian Alfreda Eghan Afisah Yahaya, a member of the Rotary Club of San Jose, led the initiative to mobilise resources from the Rotary Foundation through her club and was executed by the Rotary Club of Wa.
Speaking at the project commissioning in Bole, Rotarian Yahaya said she witnessed the need for improved sanitation and classroom repairs at BOSEC and Kurabso D/A Primary School also in Bole during her visit to the two schools.
Additionally, the Clubs have replaced four leaking overhead water tanks with stands, mechanised four existing boreholes to improve clean water supply to the students, and rewired two-story classroom blocks of the school.
They, therefore, renovated a dilapidated 3-unit classroom block with an office and provided 180 metal dual desks to solve the congestion at that school.
The Clubs also drilled and mechanised a borehole with an overhead tank and renovated a 4-seater bio-digester toilet facility for the school to enhance access to clean WASH services.
“This journey wasn’t without its challenges but with perseverance and collaboration we overcame each obstacle thanks to the unwavering support of our partners,” Rotarian Yahaya stated.
The projects, valued at $100,000.00, were expected to impact the lives of about 1,700 direct and indirect beneficiaries of the two schools.
She facilitated the formation of the “Rotary E-Club Savanna, Ghana” in the Savanna Region to contribute to the Rotary’s mission of impacting lives.
Rotarian Zakarea Al-Hassan Balure, President of the Rotary Club of Wa, said the successful completion of the project testified to the “kindness and commitment” of Rotary to impact people’s lives.
He indicated that the facilities would empower and uplift the Bole community, especially the children and the students passing through BOSEC and Kurabaso schools.
In a speech read on his behalf, Bolewura Sarfo Kutuge Feso I, Paramount Chief of the Bole Traditional Area, commended the Rotary Clubs for the intervention.
He said it would improve education in the community and promote dignity among the female students at BOSEC.
Rotary International worked in areas of education and literacy, WASH, mother and newborn health, and peace among others, and the new project fulfills those focus areas.
Rotarian Jonathan Kwofie, the Service Project Director of the Rotary Club of Wa, urged the management of the schools to maintain the facilities to ensure they lived their expected lifespan to serve future generations.
Rotarian Agambire Alhassan Inusah, Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Wa, under whose tenure the project was initiated, expressed joy the project would impact generations in the areas of WASH, education, and literacy.
Project sustainability was a major concern to the Rotary Foundation and Rotary Clubs; hence, two committees were inaugurated to oversee the sustainability of the projects in the schools.
GNA