World Vision Ghana, a non-profit Christian organization has ended its service in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region after 14 years of humanitarian service.
The NGO, which started operating in the district in 2008, has contributed immensely to the well-being of society in the areas of education, health, food security, livelihood enhancement, child protection, water, sanitation, and hygiene.
National Director of World Vision Ghana, Dickens Thunde said his outfit spent over Ghc20, 700,000 to transform the lives of the vulnerable in society.
“We are happy to report that as of this year – 2022, the Area Program has constructed 152 boreholes and installed 5 limited solar-powered mechanized water systems, (132 in communities, 11 in schools, and 9 in Health Care Facilities) translating into more than 45,600 people gaining access to safe drinking water.”
The Country Director made these revelations in Sirigu during a durbar to close the Kassena-Nankana West Area Programme.
Education
Under education, WVG during its stay in the district supported schools with teaching and learning materials and provided capacity building for over 126 while 3,000 pupils who were trekking long distances to school have been provided with bicycles.
“At the moment 55% of children can read age-appropriate books with comprehension and 80.5% of children can recognize concepts of print while 94% of children commuting from long distances travel to school by bicycle. Because of this, daily school attendance currently stands at 99%. In addition, the rate of primary school dropouts is now as low as 3%; and learning at home has also improved, as 98% of children can study at home after school – through the reading camps”, Mr. Thunde added.
Livelihood empowerment
Under its Savings for Transformation (S4T), an economic development approach to improve the lives of community members, WVG has instilled the habit of saving in 216 groups through training. The initiative enabled community members to plan ahead, cope with household emergencies, develop their livelihoods and invest in the education, health, and total well-being of the children.
Child protection
The Country Director of WVG said his outfit has worked to reduce teenage pregnancies, child marriage, and labour through the formation and training of a district child protection committee to support the works of Community Child Protection Committees.
WASH
Cluster Programmes Manager, WVG, Robert Pwazaga said for the past 14 years, the organization successfully drilled 152 boreholes for communities that were without access to potable sources of water.
“5 of those boreholes have been mechanized to serve other communities and as a result of that, communities depend on the potable water for household consumption and protection purposes. We have a lot of dry season gardening springing up from these mechanized systems. And this help to improve the health status of the community members, especially the most vulnerable children. We have a reduction in cases of diarrhoea and other contaminated diseases related to water.”
He added that 74 communities have attained Open Defecation Free (ODF) status with over 2,700 latrines constructed at the household level, resulting in over 16,200 people, including children, gaining access to basic sanitation facilities.
Mr. Pwazaga has therefore appealed to the Kassena Nankana West District Assembly, the beneficiary community members, and partners “to sustain and further improve upon the gains made over the years.”
The Chief of Sirigu, Naba Atogumdeya Roland Akwara III said the existence of WVG in his community has improved the lives of the residents in various ways.
According to the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu in a speech read by Gerard Ataogye, Kassena-Nankana West District Executive, the programs and policies implemented by World Vision Ghana in the Sirigu, Kandiga, and Mirigu area councils will complement the government’s effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030
Source: A1Radioonline|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Sirigu|Ghana
