WATER AS A “GAME CHANGER”
Your help is needed now. Please consider supporting this humanitarian effort — through cooperation within and among Rotary Clubs and/or individuals.
PLEDGES OR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST ARE NEEDED BY SEPTEMBER 30, 2011. Contacts below.
Background
In October 2009 a group of Rotarians from clubs in Crossville and Cookeville traveled to Ateiku, Ghana to coordinate with local Rotarians and the Rural Evangelism Development Project (REDP) staff on international service work, pri- marily the Rotary Foundation grant project to drill water wells. They found a well organized effort on the ground — a result of several years of fundraising and grant writing — that produced 29 wells providing clean drinking water to thousands of people. The wells were the result of a Rotary-funded project that provided a drilling rig, support equipment and materials. Local laborers were trained to do the work in what was to become an ongoing capability to produce clean drinking water wells. During the 2009 visit Rotarians were shown examples of the fetid ponds and standing water where villagers drew their water prior to the Rotary funded wells. Mr. Lawrence Oduro of the REDP explained that these sources, often long distances from village centers, were the origin of numerous water borne ill- nesses such as guinea worms, chronic intestinal disorders and infectious diseases, especially typhoid fever. The incidence of these chronic afflictions has greatly diminished with the provision of clean water wells. The ability to access clean water is considered a game changer – it permits people to focus on educating their children and building sustainable economic futures.
What’s Next?
Rotarians from Crossville and Cookeville are planning the next steps to expand the clean drinking water program in Western Ghana. They have received a proposal from REDP Director Lawrence Oduro, the Rotary contact on the ground who has orchestrated the first 29 wells, for the next level of effort. It involves funding — through an unse- cured loan to the REDP — for a new drilling rig and vehicle. The new rig, a more capable water driller, will permit the team to penetrate rocky areas where the first generation drill could not. The concept is to assist our friends Ateiku in obtaining the necessary equipment so they can take contracts from the Government of Ghana and other organizations, which have been impressed by their work on the Rotary Foundation project, to have wells drilled throughout the region. The REDP will be paid for these wells. The loans from Tennessee Rotary Clubs and individu- als will be repaid and the REDP will have established a self-sustaining capability to drill more wells throughout Western Ghana.
How Will It Work?
The REDP has made a request to Rotarians from Crossville and Cookeville Rotary Clubs to provide a loan for $53,000 to cover the cost of purchasing a drilling rig from a firm in Alabama (it was examined by Mr. Oduro and Mr. Scot Shanks of the Crossville Club in April 2010) along with a towing/support vehicle to be procured in Ghana. The drill- ing rig manufacturer in Alabama has indicated he will travel, at his own expense, to Ghana to train the team on the new rig, as he is interested in helping in this important work.
The REDP proposal states that after a ‘grace period’ of six months during which they will begin to drill wells in the area, they will begin repayment of $2,300 per month. REDP states they have, so far, been asked to drill 48 wells by three organizations — two NGOs and one Ghanaian Government contract. They also have been asked to drill wells by 12 individuals.
The loan of $53,000 will be repaid within 24 months, following the six month grace period. The loan will be made to the REDP at no interest, in an effort to reduce the red tape and in the spirit of helping people. The loan will be “unsecured” in a traditional sense, but two of the principal contacts for this program in Tennessee are each putting up their own money to purchase “shares” of the funded amount, with full faith in complete repayment within the 24 month period.
What is needed now is for Rotary Clubs and individuals to make pledges. We believe a $5,000 share is a good target for clubs or individuals. We view this as the next step in the progression from helping by giving a grant to provide clean water, to making a loan to provide the capability for our friends in Ghana to make their own future.
If you are interested, and able, to extend a loan to bring the gift of clean drinking water, and to build a sustaining effort to spread that gift throughout the Ateiku, Ghana region please contact us for more information.
Scot Shanks, Crossville Rotary Club 931.484.5155 x 118 / scot.shanks@gmail.com
Patrick Ryan, Cookeville Breakfast Rotary Club 931.261.2353 / patryan@rotaryghanaproject.com
