The Sahara Advocates of Change, a non-governmental organization, collaborated with the US Embassy Ambassador Special Self-Help program to provide the people of Kalahi with a borehole under their "Safe Water for Kalahi" project.
The hand-turned pump was drilled at a depth of 95 meters to ensure that it does not dry up in the driest month. The borehole is expected to provide safe water for 1,700 inhabitants of Kalahi and its subsections, thus helping to improve their access to clean water for drinking, cooking and bathing.
The project will also reduce the spread of water-borne diseases in the community. The event was attended by representatives from the US Embassy, the Sahara Advocates of Change team, the media and the Kalahi community members.
Sapphire Carrington, the US embassy representative who handed over the project to the Kalahi community, revealed that the Kalahi project was one of seven projects selected for funding by the US Embassy.
“When your community applied for assistance in 2023, we received more than 300 applications for funding, which made for a very competitive selection process. Your project was one of seven selected”.
“The committee members were very inspired by your projects, which demonstrated strong community support and worthwhile values,” she said.
Sapphire Carrington is urging the community to handle the borehole with care to ensure its sustainability. She emphasized that over the past decade, the US Embassy has disbursed over 2.2 million dollars for community development in Ghana.
On behalf of the Kalahi community, the chief expressed profound gratitude to the Sahara Advocates of Change and their donors for coming to their aid. They are still appealing for the construction of dugouts and dams to support the borehole.
Joyce, a resident of the community, explained how the women in the area struggle to get water for their household needs and therefore appreciate the NGO for the borehole.
Loretta, a basic school student, also explained how getting water in the morning before going to school always causes punishment from the prefects.
She said, “Because of water we always go to school late, and when we are late our seniors do punish us. If we don’t serve the punishment early, they double it”.
Patrick who is also an SHS graduate narrated how he used to go to school with dirty uniforms after vacation because there is no water in their community for him to wash them.
He added that “if we go to propose to a lady In a different community. They always ask where we are from and if we say Kalahi, the ladies always say no to our proposal with the reason that we don’t have water”.
Sahara Advocates of Change is a non-governmental organization that is based in Wa Municipality and was established in 2018. It currently works in the Upper West Region and Savannah Regions but operates in the whole of Ghana.
It aims to empower women, girls and other vulnerable groups through capacity and enhancement training in functional literacy, water and sanitation, health care, environmental protection conservation and livelihood diversification in the remote areas of Ghana to contribute to nation-building.