The hard work begins.
The pit for the pit latrine is measured out.
Here is Clemence Kitsi, Project Manager, carefully marking out the dimensions from the plans drawn up by the Kumasi Institute of Technology.
Then the ground breaking and back breaking work begins. Here are volunteers digging the pits.
Work has started on the Alavanyo Community Library. The students at Alavanyo Secondary Technical High School are renovating the room as part of their practical lessons, under the supervision of their teachers. This library will be used by the whole community as well as the students.
We still need more donations to complete the renovations. Please donate today to help the community access the education they deserve.
We are also looking for a volunteer libriarian to train the teachers or members of the community how to run the library. Either by travelling to Ghana or deliering the training remotley you would make a huge difference. Contact us for more information about volunteering opportunities.
In the Alavanyo community, where we are currently working building more toilets, there is a need for a community library. We identified a room in the Technical High School in Alavanyo Kpeme that is used as the school library. It needs thorough renovation. We are currently gathering funds to refurbish it.
The refurbishment will mean putting in a ceiling with ceiling fans and better lighting, more shelving and tables and painting the walls. As part of their practical work the students, under the supervision of their teachers, will make the furniture, paint the walls and install the ceiling. This not only keeps the costs down but involves the community in their project.
Book Aid International are providing 2000 books which should be delivered by the end of 2020.
To make sure the room is ready please donate so this community infrastructure is ready in time for the books.
In 2009 we were working in Tafi Atome in Ghana’a Volta Region building a communal toilet. People asked if we could help provide a library, so using a spare office in the Monkey Sanctuary as the library, we sent money to make shelving and provided a library kit of stamps cards etc. We collected 2 cubic meters of books from friends and acquaintances and sent them to the library. An American visitor was so impressed that the village had started a library she donated funds for a building. On our visit in 2019 we realised that even though the building was there it really needed many more books. We are working with Book Aid International to send 1000 books later in 2020
Huge thanks to Ella Johnstone (9) who put this video together from photos and video clips supplied by Clemence Kitsi
Work is progressing very well. The first task after clearing the land is to make the cement blocks. 150 volunteers turned up to fetch and carry and mould the blocks.
We ordered 100 masks for the volunteers on the project from Charlotte in Alavanyo Deme but we needed another 50. What a fantastic response from the village. Thank you each and every volunteer.
The community of Agome have started building their toilet block. With all of our projects we work in partnership with the community. As you can see this is a whole community effort. Thanks to all of the people who have enabled this to happen, through their donations or labour. We’ll be posting more updates soon…
Sun 8th December 2019
We spent the morning with the women of Alavanyo. Around 55 women gathered together. Alyrene asked questions to the women, which were translated by Mary, a ‘Queen Mother’ The Queen Mothers are the wise women of the village who, like the Elders (who are all men) look after the welfare of the community.
Toilets
When asked if any of them used the toilets constructed earlier in the year they all said yes. With an average of almost four children per household this indicates that at least 326 people are benefiting from the toilets every day.
“I go every day. Very good. The place [the toilet] is good, nothing bad. I am very very happy”
As well as the obvious health benefits of the toilets, Mary explained that she, and others in the village, now feel proud to invite friends and relatives to their homes. Without a toilet they felt “a disgrace” when people came to visit as they could only offer the bushes for them to relieve themselves. Hospitality is integral to Ghanaian society so the toilets bring heath, dignity and hospitality – all so very important.
Learning a Trade
Keen to find out more about the women we asked more, each question was translated by Mary and the women took it in turn to discuss their answers. Almost unanimously they said they wanted to learn a trade to make money. None were looking for handouts, rather support to earn their own funds. A lot of their husbands work in Accra, Ghana’s capital city which is around a five hour drive away. The women stay in the village to tend to the farm and look after the children. Some, like Mary, already run their own business. Mary has been a hairdresser for 15 years and is trying to earn enough money to finish the construction on her house. Currently she rents a small house for herself and her five children. She was looking forward to seeing her husband for Christmas, the first time in three months.
When asked what made them feel unsafe, Gloria also spoke of needing a trade, “poverty, because we don’t have a trade, we have no money”.
Other women, such as 20 year old Beatrice said she wanted to become a business women. Trades they were interested in varied from making soap and beads to batick (Ghanaian tie-dye cloth) or baking. In order to set up these businesses they would need small loans, training and the use of equipment.
Water
With no mains connection and a faulty borehole in the village the main source of water comes from three small streams and capturing rain water. In December we were at the beginning of the dry season with little to no rain and the water in the streams was already running low. The women spend much of their time “searching for good water”. They explained that by January they would queue for three to four hours at the one remaining stream for one bucket of water. This water is used to wash themselves and their families, to cook with, wash the dishes and clothes and keep the home clean.
Luckily affordable drinking water is available, sold in 500ml plastic bags for the equivalent of a few pence. These bags are sold across the country delivered on big lorries. The plastic waste and littering can’t be ignored but the health benefits since these bags of water have been introduced are immense.
Hi I just watched this video and thought we should get involved. Our partner organisation in Alavanyo is getting a quote for us so we can blitz the area to make sure everyone has the ability to wash their hands and hopefully contain the Covid 19 outbreak https://www.facebook.com/ChikuniCommunityRadioStation/videos/891268908000701/?t=4
With a lot of help from all the trustees and Liam at the Charity Commission we are now a fully registered Charity at the Charity Commission. Now we just need to apply to HMRC so that we can claim back gift aid on any eligible donations. Our Charity number is 1188867
Community Action Ghana is working in the Alavanyo Communities in the Volta region of Ghana. We have provided a community toilet block in Dzogbedze and have worked with local contacts and identified a room for a community library in Kpeme . Book Aid International has agreed to supply 2000 books. When the Covid-19 situation and funds allow we will be working with the staff and students of the Technical high school to refurbish the room and make furniture.
In Alavanyo Deme we are investigating a way to provide them with a community toilet block and if possible using a system that uses Tiger Worms to help compost the faeces. This is a system that the Gates Foundation has researched and that Oxfam uses in different situations.