Recap of LWW Ghana

We had another great trip this week in Ghana.  We were happy to reconnect with many of our friends and colleagues.

The visit to Kwahu Praso was important and although we saw & heard many good things, we also have some things that we can help them do better - its part the journey.

The Operator Conference came at a very good time.  The attendees from all the different locations coming together and sharing their experiences and ideas was very important.  We look forward the written recap that we know Rev Asante will send us.

Rev Asante will be leaving his post as Director of Development and Social Services at the end of August 2020.  So there is time to plan for his transition with the work of LWW in Ghana.  We have been fortunate to have Rev Asante in his DSS role as he has built onto the work of his predecessor, Daniel Opong-Wereko.

As the blog post "Water is Life" articulates, all work toward providing Ghanaians for generations to come access to safe water is crucial.  We are grateful for having the opportunity to have a small role is this work.

Water is Life

Re-posting from July, 11, 2014

"Water is life"

it doesn't take long to realize that the country of Ghana - the people - are highly religious (I think I wrote about this in last year's blog valentinecleanwater.blogspot.com).  Whether it be Christanity or Muslim - the people believe and live their lives with their faith in front everyday.

One of the things that I've heard from time-to-time last year's visit and this one is "water is life".  I think I had some appreciation for it from last year and up until I traveled to the north.  Water in the south difficult - bore holes, unpredictable Ghana Water, some rain water haresting and so on - but for the most part in the south there is water - unclean and clean.

In the north the phrase "water is life" carries more weight.  Bore holes are not as possible due to either the massive rock formations under the top soil or just no subground water.  Ghana Water is there - but not there.  The mesa of the north reminds me of a green West Texas - flat grass land spotted with trees.  Ground water is around - think of watering holes you might see in western movie.  Women and children leave the village every day to fetch water from the pond or stream.

So if you think things in the world are not real or you think getting that addition to your house done in 3 months vs 4 months - think about this - the people in the north are talking about that the territory has been guinea worm free since 2008 (look up guinea worm).  The PCG was one of several organizations that worked to find the source (ground water) and put the solutions and processes in place to erradicate the outbreak by 2008 - implication is it took several years.  Scary.

Just about every person I met in the north - Christian or Muslim - would say "water is life..." (with a slow thoughtful tone as if they were remembering/feeling a deep emotion) "...it's in everything we do and we are" after I greeted them as a LWW person. I get it.

We had lunch with a close friend of Dan's in Bolga on Thursday.  The gentlemen's name was Abbas.  Abbas is Muslim - Dan introduced me and Abbas sighed - "water is life".

I thought about titling this post "Guinea Worm" - Have you looked it up yet?

Life Savers

During our follow up at Kwahu Praso the other day, we got verification that the water treatment system and education has had a positive material effect in lower the instances of infant GI problems.

We did not ask this question - Mr. Tete the senior person at Kwahu Praso volunteered it.  In addition, yesterday the operator conference the head of midwives at Kwahu Praso verified it again in her conversations with Chalmers.

In previous year's blogs I have written about water borne diseases effects on infant GI tracts - not good and easily slips in the infant into a non-reversible state of dehydration and ultimately death.  It (dehydration) is the #1 cause of infant mortality around the world.

We didn't start the journey to put a water treatment system and education in Kwahu Praso 3-4 years ago with the specific objectives to stop babies from dehydrating - we are not even close to being that good.  What we wanted to do was give what we believed were passionate & committed people working at the health clinic in Kwahu Praso a new resource, a new tool, a new solution - maybe we could say a primary source for life AND then let them figure out how to use this new resource to save lives.

Francis Kumar (previous senior physicians tech), Daniel Tete, Winfred Tete, Julia, Paulina, Stefan, etc. - these people are saving lives everyday.  Remember Chalmers telling someone how to get to Kwahu Praso...."you drive and drive and drive and drive until you get to the middle of nowhere - then you drive another 10 miles - then you are at the Kwahu Praso Health Clinic".  This is where these life savers reside 24/7 sometimes.

One more thing - the PCG has another 48 health clinics just like Kwahu Praso AND the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has another 50 too!

Group Picture Yesterday

Pictures of the conference attendees

Operator Conference has Begun

Wow!

We have about 35 people here.

All locations, except for Nsawam, are represented.

There are 3 people from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (2 of which this is their second LWW event to attend) AND there are 4 people from 2 EP schools that are attending.

Off to a great start.

Arriving at Presbyterian Women’s Center in Abokobi

We left Kwahu Praso around 4 p.m. yesterday enroute back toward Accra to the community of Abokobi where Presbyterian Women’s Conference Center is located.

It was about 4 hours - 2 of which after dark.  The ride across the coastal mountains back toward Akropong was like somewhere between Mr. Toads Wild Ride and Space Mountain for those of you who are Disney Magic Kingdom groupies.

There were probably 20,000 pot holes in the road - we managed to hit 19,996.   I felt like we should go back and hit the 4 we missed.

I was thinking about those I Love Lucy shows where Lucy and Ethel got one the old shaker belts to lose weight.  If that really work - then last night I should have lost 100lbs.

Nonetheless these are the roads and dusty trails in Ghana and either they are getting better or I am getting used to them - probably both.

Kwahu Praso - Govt School

This is the govt school across the road from the clinic.

We were not able to visit without an appointment - which we respect - but we did capture a little bit of the kids out and about during recess.

Kwahu Praso - Mosquito Nets

These mosquito net kits are designed for the mother and baby.  There are separate nets - one that surrounds where the mother sleeps and one that surrounds the area where the baby mostly lives.

Ghana is a tropical country and malaria is rampant.  Most adults above 40 have malaria and must deal with the everlasting effects of the virus.  Even within our friends here, there seems to be always someone, some family member, etc. that has relapsed with malaria.

Malaria striking a young child in Ghana is probably terminal due to the effects malaria has on dehydration, diarrhea, etc. with the child.

As I have written about before, places like Ghana still battle fierce diseases and viruses like malaria, guinea worm, yellow fever, etc.  I remember several years ago visiting Tamale in the north of Ghana.  I had dinner amongst a group of Christian and Muslim leaders.  The primary topic was access to treated water.  In fact, during the prayers everyone was thankful for their area being guinea worm free for two years.  When I asked them to explain the prayer - they informed me that they had a five year battle around the spread of guinea worm in their communities.

I learned 3 things that evening: 1) the world still fights diseases and viruses that the western countries irradiated long ago; 2) there are lots of common ground topics and initiatives that Muslims and Christians agree on and work together on; 3) I had to go back and look up guinea worm - ugly.

Maternity Ward

This is the room in the clinic where the mothers come (pre & post) birth for checkups, information, mosquito nets, etc.

Notice the scale on the doorway where the babies are weighed.

This room is off the main entry courtyard and adjacent to the maternity ward.

Follow Up Learnings

The follow up visits are really important.  It’s a continuation of everyone getting to know one another around the use and training with the treated water.  At about a year, the operator (Kwahu Praso) will have to begin, if not already begun, to figure out things like getting new filters, replenishing bottle caps, turnover of personnel, the “newness” of their processes, and so on.

In the case of Kwahu Praso, almost all the above items have come into play.  One by one they have figured out, for the most part, how to further their ownership and care of the system.

One thing that we (LWW) learned is that it will help greatly if we give each location a listing of the shops, addresses and a map of where they are located in Accra for filters, caps & bottles.  Every location has someone going to Accra all the time and the operator shouldn’t have to wait for a Michael, Charles, etc. to bring them these items from Accra.  Sort of obvious once we talked out loud about it!

The filling station room is impeccable.  They have a rule about no shoes in the room - how do I know - I stepped into the room with shoes on!  The operators filling bottles remove their shoes prior to entering the filling room.

The water room with the board looked almost exactly we left it - very clean and organization.

The water storage tank had a small leak in one of the pipes that the clinic has a plumber coming to fix.

We were happy to hear that the clinic and the schools are still working closely together around the distribution of the water and there are probably ways we can help them more going forward, i.e. more bottles and hand pumps.

The kids in the schools for the most part still have cups to use, but are now starting to see the problem of replenishing the personnel cups.  We are going to let the schools and clinic work through this to see what they develop as an everlasting solution.

The schools, according to Paulina and Winfred, have incorporated parts of the LWW health & hygiene curriculum into their classroom curriculum....we didn’t know which parts - but everyone laughing know the song “Use This Water” was definitely incorporated!

The clinic right now has 2 dispensers for the 20L bottle.  Mr. Tete would really like to see 1 in each ward (5).  The maternity ward would be the next ward to receive a dispenser as the women coming for pre-brith care have to take a series of anti-malaria pills during each trimester.  The patients also like the “chilled” side of the dispenser water :).

Kwahu Praso Follow Up

Our follow up visit to Kwahu Praso went well, but not without some items for improvement and a couple of opportunities.

Last year’s blog was almost all about Kwahu Praso and what services and role the clinic plays in the community and support of the more remote villages.  Mr. Francis Kumasi, the lead physicians tech and head of staff, got a new assignment and the new head of staff and physicians tech is a gentlemen named Daniel Tete.  Although new to the role at the clinic, Daniel is not new to the clinic.  His wife Winifred was with us last year as she is the #2 person at the clinic - so they are now both at Kwahu Praso along with their 3 year old son Emanuel.

We left Accra yesterday morning around 8:00 a.m. and after weaving through Accra traffic, made our way our to of Accra and into the coastal mountains for our 3.5 hour journey.  I have written about the roads, driving, traffic, etc. before but when it comes to the rural highways in Ghana the speed bumps, rumble strips, pot holes, dirt roads, etc. one feel like a piece of popping corn in the car as we drove from Accra to Kwahu Praso.

We saw many of our friends from last year, Stefan, Julia, Paulina, and so on.  Many of the mid-wives in training from last year had moved on and their were a new set training.

The clinic is defiantly using the water with two dispensers in two of the five wards.  Mr. Tete believes that the use of the treated water in the clinic has cut weigh down on the water born health issues the clinic typically has to worry about with patients - especially the expecting mothers.

The 3 schools receiving the water have all embraced the use of the water.  Two of the three schools have purchases additional bottles to make their refill process easier and really could use more bottles according to Stefan and Mr. Tete.  The third school is farther away from the clinic than the other two and their struggle is just getting the bottles to/from the clinic.  Stefan is working with them to develop a transportation plan for the bottles.

I’ll post some specific things about the clinic.

We left the clinic around 4 p.m. for the 3.5 hour journey to Abokobi where we arrived after dark in time to get our room and turn in for the evening.

Bad Day for a Load of Yams

On the way to Kwahu Praso this morning.

Accra

We arrived in Accra last night.

Great journey to get here.  Our last flight, London to Accra, we sat in front of a young family from London that were bringing their very young kids to Ghana to see family for the first time.  Chalmers had a very interesting conversation with their 3 year old about making slime!

We are headed out this morning for a follow up visit to Kwahu Praso Health Clinic where we installed a system and training last year.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone and checking in on their progress.  We are received encouraging interim reports since last year.

This is about 2.5 to 3 hour drive from Accra where we spent last night.

We will then head back toward Accra to Abokobi for the Operator Conference.

We appreciate everyone’s notes.

Our vessel

Flying the 747 today to Accra.

Why Ghana, ask Gayle

Idlewild and Ghana would not be linked without Gayle Walker.

Gayle is a retired associate pastor of Idlewild.  Gayle brought the active ingredient to Idlewild’s thirst to help those in need of access to treated water.  That active ingredient - passion for Ghana.

I can’t come close to conveying all of Gayle’s connections with Ghana, but I do know that Gayle’s father was a minister and he had passion for work in Ghana and that passion passed along to Gayle.  Gayle had been to Ghana way before coming to Idlewild and knew of the need for Ghanaians to have access to treated water.

Idlewild’s history with LWW began with Mexico, but quickly picked up energy with Gayle’s conveyance of her passions / experiences with Ghana.  Gayle, Jim, Betty Anne, Buddy and others stepped up/in with taking LWW to Ghana.

Their first system was.....wait for it.....Presbyterian Women’s Center in Abokobi.

One of Gayle’s good friends, JOY Mante is the current Moderator for the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.

From Abokobi to Cape Coast, Gayle’s Ghanaian passions and relationships began us on our journey that we are still on today.

Thank you Gayle.

Following the Leaders on the trek to Ghana

As we are making our way toward Ghana, I thought it might be helpful to step back - recognize those who have come before us and appreciate all the work they have done to get the 15 water treatment systems to Ghana.

The most recent LWW water treatment system installed in Ghana was at the Cape Coast School for the Disabled this past July.  No - no one missed the blog and no one named Levernier, Gross, Valentine, et al made the trek for the installation.  The Cape Coast installation was led by the LWW Ghana Network Clean Water U instructor team (more on this group later).  Cape Coast was LWW water treatment system 998!

Will Howie, found of LWW, began this journey decades ago.  I am not going to get into all the history, chronology, etc. of LWW - please click on the LWW link on the page and read Will’s and LWW’s journey from seeing the need in Mexico to Cape Coast.  Great story with great stories and even better experiences by the thousands of volunteers that have led the installations of nearly 1,000 systems.

LWW is a volunteer organization.  There’s a small staff that help volunteers learn, answer, do, experience.  Steve, Jeff, Kendall, Carie, Jennifer, Emily, Ralph, etc. live and lead this passion to bring living water to those in need.  Then there are the many many volunteers that work with staff to help define, listen, learn, etc. from all the LWW experiences and turn those listenings back into information for the 998 operators, thousands of volunteers and so on.  There are committees (carry over from the Presbyterian church...only Presbys get that joke), focus groups and networks.  It’s hard to name everyone that contributes and works hard to make LWW a world class volunteer led organization and I certainly don’t know all the names/people that came before me in LWW, but I don’t think Chalmers and I are enroute today without the likes of Joanie, Dave, Ralph, Dan and many more.  We thank you - the 15 LWW operator locations in Ghana thank you.

We are certainly not on our trek to Ghana this week with those that traveled to Ghana before us.  Advent Presbyterian Church made the first commitment to Ghana with a LWW system.  Andy & Susan showed those of us who followed how important is the need for treated water and how even more important are the relationships around tied to the treated water.

Idlewild Presbyterian Church followed Advent with the an installation of a water treatment system at the Presbyterian Women’s Center in Abokobi - yes where the conference will be take place this week.  Since those first two systems there have been 13 more - 3 in the past 12 months.  Buddy, Betty Anne, Carl, Pan, Forrest, Shari, Claire and so on are the many that have opened the “dusty trails” in Ghana for where we ar today.  However, its a man named Jim that has persevered, work tireless and dreamed enormously to make this mission around water and relationships continue to push forward to where it is today.

I know I missed some important names - for this I am sorry.

I hope as you read this - you take away  things: 1) LWW & the gifts of mission in Ghana hasn’t just happened - it’s commitment, work and most of all passion by many people over the past 15 years; 2) not all those names above have been to Ghana - but all have contributed to our responsibility to bring access to treated water to those in need and to build relationships.

Disclaimers

Please pardon:

• spelling mistakes
• odd sentences & phrases
• incomplete thoughts
• etc.

Posting locally in Ghana can be challenging and that's an author statement as much as it is an equipment, network and power statement.

What is an "Operator Conference"

Already had the question - "Steve - you/re going where for a conference....".

Living waters for the World (LWW) has a scripted model for it's volunteers to follow - come to LWW for training and relationship building joining a larger family with the passions to serve other through helping those needing access to treated water - get it.

From training, volunteers (now the "teachers") head off to a country to train a group ("Operator") in health & hygiene education, management of their new water treatment system and oversee see the Operator install the water treatment system itself.

The above is the short version.......much much much more - all good stuff!

Country - which country?  Years ago LWW made the strategic decision to form "Networks" (networks are a country or sub-region of a country) to help LWW focus better on where LWW could bring additional value to LWW volunteers and Operators.  Things like local language translation of documentation, resources (peers, supplies, parts, etc.) nearby, volunteers being able to share experiences and insights and LWW being able to focus its spend to support large groups of installations.

One of the value adds that LWW developed is the - Operator Conference.  The conference brings local Operator personnel (admin, health & hygiene educators and system operators) together to share, learn, update, etc. from primarily one another.  Remember (from previous blogs) the volunteers from the US that went to the country to install a water treatment system years ago - are complete with their "onsite" commitment with a specific Operator after about 3-4 years.  The relationship remains intact for many years in many cases, but the physical travel, visits, etc. are complete.

So the network conference by LWW in a specific country becomes a great tool for in-country LWW relationship building, sharing of best practices, platform for LWW to communicate new thoughts and ideas, and so on.

Chalmers and I are headed to Ghana for the Ghana Network Operator Conference.  Our Ghanaian partner, The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), has been instrumental in planning and logistics for the conference.  We are hoping for representation from all Operators.  This is the first Operator Conference in Ghana since 2012.

In conjunction with Rev Daniel Kofi Asante, Director of Development and Social Services for the PCG, we have what we think is a great syllabus for the conference.  A lot of the conference will be attendees working with one another around topics set up by subject by a Ghanaian subject matter facilitator.  Then the smaller groups will provide read outs of their thoughts and experiences back to the larger group.

Chalmers and I will participate with some of the smaller groups and we have 1 or 2 things on the syllabus, but in large the conference will be lead by our Ghanaian friends.  In fact, I think Chalmers and I will experience that ole proverb that the teacher has now become the student.

Anyway, our journey toward Ghana begins tomorrow.  Today we are going to finish getting organized and tonight gather with some 60,000 friends and Tusk V in a wild hog themed party in the Boston Mountains!

Planning & Packing

Chalmers and I are heading back to Ghana on Sunday!

We have a special trip this year - we (Living Waters for the World) in partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana is holding an Operator Conference next week at the Presbyterian Women’s Center outside of Accra in a small community called Abokobi.

It’s been almost 7 years since we have had an Operator Conference and much has changed - namely more locations with treated water.

We are packing, organizing, etc. toward our departure on Sunday.  It’s going to be a very short (understatement) trip.  We had originally planned for it to be a shorter than normal trip, but last week British Airways made it even shorter by canceling our return flight from Accra.  So now we are going to be in Ghana for 48 hours - wow!

The good news is that 95% of our original itinerary is still intact.  We plan on visiting Kwahu Praso and then spending a day and half with the conference attendees.  More on the conference later.

So, short trip - hopeful trip - looking forward to seeing good friends trip - anticipating hearing lots of good stories and ideas from the conference attendees.

For all those annual followers:
   - yep will post a lot of pictures
   - yep foodie stories
  - yep playlists will be set buy Sunday
  - yep taking some cools things for our Ghanian friends

Stay tuned.....