Many diseases that residents of rural Northern Ghana suffer from can be prevented by providing clean water, latrines, and hygiene education.
For most of us our day does not begin with a walk several miles long to a river or pond to fill a container with all of the water that we will use for a day. But this is exactly the situation in which many people in rural Northern Ghana found themselves before NEA arrived: walking miles to fetch water that brings disease. Men, women and children suffered needlessly from disease and illness that could be easily prevented by providing a source of clean safe drinking water.
The repercussions compounded. Women constantly tended to their sick children while still spending hours traveling back and forth over great distances to water sources. It was impossible to improve their situation .
Open defecation was a common practice as well, which only increased the spread of preventable diseases among communities.
For the communities that NEA has worked with, the story today is quite different. Because of the wells that have been installed, households are drinking clean, safe water. Instead of walking up to 12 miles to fetch water, women on average walk 100 yards. Inexpensive ventilated pit latrines have been installed in nearly 20 communities, which reduce the distance people need to walk to find privacy. Most importantly, however, diseases are no longer being spread as easily.