This project will help: 226 children and their families
Estimated completion date October 2025
Country: Ghana
Executive summary
In recent years, Ghana has made significant strides improving access to safe drinking water. However, many rural and impoverished communities across the country still face many challenges. Currently, 10 per cent of the population spend more than 30 minutes per day in search of water, often from an unsafe source and 76 per cent of the population are at risk of drinking water contaminated with fecal matter.
In the Kikale No. 4 community of Ghana, 8,000 residents struggle to access clean water, including 226 registered beneficiaries and their families. Kikale lies in a savannah region, characterized by a hot, dry climate. Most families here rely entirely on the Black Volta and White Volta Rivers as their only source of water. Women and children are often disproportionately impacted, as they are burdened with the task of collecting water, often travelling long distances to the rivers. Many children fetch water twice every morning, impacting their education and ability to participate in programs at their local Compassion centre. Despite the long treks and time spent fetching water, the water collected from the Black and White Volta Rivers is often contaminated and unsafe to drink. Untreated water from these rivers contain harmful bacteria and parasites that can cause severe illnesses such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever. The Black Volta River is also prone to contamination due to debris, agricultural runoff and fecal matter, especially during the rainy reason.
Compassion’s frontline church partner in Kikale has been working hard to provide clean, safe water to registered children on program days. To mitigate the risks of contaminated water, centre staff spend the equivalent of US$20 to US$30 per week on water with sachets to ensure food is prepared with clean water and children have access to safe drinking water on program days. But with a limited budget and resources, this is not sustainable for the centre.
Your generous gift will help our church partner in the Kikale community build a water treatment plant, providing children, their families and others in their community access to safe drinking water. With your gift, four 10,000-litre capacity water reservoirs will be built, connecting river water to the treatment plant. In addition, new hand washing stations will be built at the GH0986 Compassion centre and children and their caregivers will attend water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) workshops.
Summary
Background
Urbanization across the world has increased in recent years. This trend has led to the fast development of informal communities that lack basic infrastructure such as access to clean water sources and adequate sanitary facilities. In Ghana, many children and families living in rural and informal communities struggle to access nutritious food and safe water. In fact, 23 per cent of children in Ghana suffer from stunting, a condition caused by chronic malnutrition resulting in impaired growth and development. Malnutrition is often caused by poor sanitation and inadequate access to clean water as it may result in recurring infections and diarrheal diseases that impact a child’s physical well-being and overall development.
The need
Children growing up in Kikale No. 4 in Ghana face many challenges related to poor water access. Many young people are tasked with fetching water multiple times per day, impacting their ability to regularly attend school and participate at their local Compassion centre. The water they collect is untreated and has resulted in instances of waterborne diseases and malnutrition among children—putting their lives and futures at risk.
With your support, Compassion’s frontline church partner in Kikale will oversee the construction of a new community water treatment facility. The treatment facility will take in water from the White Volta River through multiple reservoirs, treat the water with a purification process and provide families with access to safe, clean drinking water through community taps. With a reliable source of water, women and children will no longer be burdened with long treks to fetch water, allowing mothers to focus on their work and children to actively participate in school and extracurricular activities. In line with the policy on environmental stewardship, plants and grass will be planted around the facility to provide vegetation and improve the aesthetics of the facility.
Your generous gift will also provide crucial WaSH education to children and caregivers, equipping them with knowledge on proper hygiene practices, safe water usage and sanitation, promoting healthier living. Four hand washing sinks will be installed at the GH0986 centre, allowing children and youth to practise good personal hygiene and reduce the spread of hygiene-related diseases.
What your gift will do
Your gift will build a new water treatment facility in the Kikale No. 4 community of Ghana and provide children and families with WaSH education, including:
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Water treatment plant
- Sulphate-removal process vessel with multiport valves
- Lights, catalytic carbon, sand, activated carbon, quartz stone, ultraviolet light, filters
- Plumbing materials
- Chlorine dosing system
- Transportation
- Installation and labour
- Surface and submersible pumps
- Electrical installation
- Training on usage and maintenance of vessel system
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Storage tank and platform materials and workmanship
- Land and preparation
- Carpenter
- Mason
- Plumber
- Steel worker
- Electrician
- Unskilled labour
- Materials: fencing, housing and concrete platform for treatment site
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Hygiene education
- Honorarium for 2 health experts
- Snacks for participants
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Monitoring and evaluation
- Implementation committee monitoring and review meetings
- Monitoring by an external expert
- Monitoring by National Office staff
- 5 per cent for miscellaneous and to account for inflation
Logistics
- Local contribution: US$2,739.07
- Handling of funds: Compassion International Ghana and the implementation team will ensure this project stays within budget.
- Monitoring and follow-up: Church staff, experts from the community water and sanitation agency and staff from the National Office will assist the implementation committee to provide monitoring throughout this intervention and ensure quality outputs.