Programs / Water / Communities / Ekumfi Adansemaim «

 

About Ekumfi Adansemaim

Adansemaim is a small community of about 125 homes with a population of

approximately 650 people. As it is closely located to the Gulf of Guinea,

community members' options to collect fresh water is limited since many of

the underground water sources are saline and not useable for basic

consumption needs.

 

Adansemaim's community members are mainly dependent on farming for

sustenance. The primary goods and food products produced in Adansemaim

are cassava, maize, peppers and tomatoes.  Adansemaim currently has

one Community Health Volunteers trained in providing first aid to children

ages 0 to 5, but the nearest health center is about 9 kilometers away from the

community. Since no one owns a car in Adansemaim, community members

are forced to either walk to the nearest health center or use relatively

expensive taxicabs. Furthermore, latrines are used by community members

but are in poor condition. These unhealthy sanitation practices can lead

to diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, cholera and other infectious diseases.

 

Global Brigades currently operates Medical, Dental, Microfinance, Business

and Water Brigades in the community. Adansemaim also has a Community

Development Fund established through the Microfinance program, which

offers savings and social enterprise loans.

 

 

Ekumfi Adansemaim's Water Challenge

The two main water challenges in the Ekumfi district are: water access

and water quality. Where piped water is not available, rainwater is the most

culturally accepted form of drinking water. When rainwater is not available,

community members will often go to rivers or small dug out ponds for water.

 

The main water issues faced by most communities in the Ekumfi District are

directly related to its geographic location, especially its close proximity to the sea. Salty seawater has intruded most communities' underground water resources, making most groundwater sources unusable for basic consumption needs and a possible health hazard. Besides ground water posing a possible threat to peoples' health, so do most surface water sources like rivers, ponds and streams. When Global Water Brigades entered the community of Adansemaim, its residents fetched water for domestic use out of a small stream, which dries up during the dry season. Especially women and children spent many hours a day collecting water in open containers and carrying it back home.

 

The water from Adansemaim's stream is subject to high levels of contamination and is rarely treated before consumption. Using this water for personal consumption can lead to diarrhea, cholera, skin rash and other water related diseases and infections. One of the few safe water options for Srafa Aboano's community members is purchasing water sachets but this is an unsustainable practice as well as an unreliable and in the long-term expensive option for drinking water.

 

 

The Water Solution for Ekumfi Adansemaim

Water Brigades Ghana has focused on three types of water solutions in the Ekumfi District : School Rainwater Harvesters, Community-wide Rainwater Harvesters and Household Rainwater Harvesters. In June 2012 the University College of London constructed a Community-wide Rainwater Harvester (CWRH) in Adansemaim as well as helped set up a water committee consisting of a president, treasurer, secretary and two agents responsible for selling the water from the system. The generated funds are used to maintain the system as well as to fill up the system's storage tanks with purchased water from tanker trucks during the dry season, which is again sold to the community.

 

Although the Community-wide Rainwater Harvester is beneficial to community members' health it is not a solution that can provide year-round consistent access to clean water since especially during the dry-season the water in the tanks does not last for many days and tanker truck services are not always available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Status

Last Visit: October 2013

Global Brigades followed up with the water committee to review its performance, identify challenges as well as see how the Community-wide Rainwater Harvester was functioning. Both the water system and the committee were fully operational.

 

 

Project Photos

 

 

Visit Other Programs in Ekumfi Adansemaim

Global Brigades strives to implement a model of Holistic Development in communities through a system of collectively implementing health, economic, and education initiatives to strategically meet a community's development goals. Learn more about the other programs being implemented in Ekumfi Adansemaim:

  BusinessCHWDentalMedical  Microfinance