By Bertha Badu-Agyei
Akyem-Kukurantumi, Dec 8, GNA – SOS Children’s Villages Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation focused on children, has provided water facilities for five public schools in the Abuakwa North Municipality in the Eastern Region.
The water facilities consist of a borehole fitted with water pumps and a 5,000-capacity water tank for each of the five beneficiary schools located at Kukurantumi, New and old Tafo and Obodanse.
Mr Alex Mar Kekula, National Director of the organization, said the gesture was part of a Family Strengthening (FS) Project implemented in the Abuakwa North Municipality to fortify the foundation of families through support and resources.
Under the FS project, 1,323 children had been provided access to essential social like education, health, and good nutrition and 423 caregivers had received economic empowerment to earn income to provide for the 1,323 children under their care.
Additionally, he noted that 10,579 children in seven public schools in the Municipality had access to decent Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities through the WASH support programme under the project.
Mr Kewula, said access to clean water was a fundamental right which shaped the destiny of communities, adding “This water project is not merely an infrastructure, it’s a lifeline for the schools and communities around them.”
Alhaji Umar Bodinga, Abuakwa North Municipal Chief Executive, noted that the SOS Children’s Villages FS projects had complemented the developmental assembly by expanding access to social services, especially in education.
He said their contribution to the developmental agenda was significant and while thanking them hoped that the FS project would be extended as the project neared end.
He urged all stakeholders to own the facility and take good care of it to ensure that the schools had access to clean water to promote good health, hygiene, and a conducive environment for learning.
Reverend Peter Agbeko, Headmaster of Kukurantumi M/A Junior High School (JHS) was happy for the water facilities noting that schoolchildren had to use contact hours to go to the neighborhood to fetch water for the school’s use.
GNA