Now More Than Ever
Now more than ever, access to clean water is critical to the health of families around the world. That’s why we at Ghana West Africa Missions (GWAM), in partnership with Healing Hands International (HHI), continue our work to see that people living in village communities in Ghana are empowered with access to clean water and the health that flows with it.
The reason we exist and why we dedicate our lives to this work is because clean water and spiritual growth can change everything. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. The frontline defense is handwashing, and it’s made possible by safe water.
HHI and GWAM recently partnered with the Rural Water Development Program (RWDP) in Ghana to make life-changing impact. The water well was drilled in the small rural community of Bachabodo in Northern Ghana. Hawa and her family, has never had access to clean water – something we in the US take for granted every day. We can only imagine, during this global pandemic, not having access to clean water for handwashing. But, now everything is different for 12 twelve-year-old Hawa and her family because of clean water.
To make things even more challenging beyond COVID-19, Hawa and her family would walk more than six miles each day to collect dirty water from the stream in the rainy season, and from a dugout hole in the ground where water seeps in the dry season. But now she can spend more time in school instead of walking for dirty water. Her mother sells produce at the market, and she can be more productive and healthy to earn money for her family.
Growing Numbers of COVID-19 Cases in Ghana
In Ghana, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed on March 12, 2020. Even though the numbers of confirmed cases are relatively low in Ghana now in comparison to more developed countries, such as the US, the availability of testing is also proportionally low.
Since April 8, the number of confirmed cases has increased by some 300 percent with more testing. With currently available data, Ghana is one of the most impacted countries in West Africa.
With that in mind, GWAM and HHI are working hard with the (RWDP) Rural Water Development Program: Church of Christ—our local partners in West Africa. The help is focused on implementing COVID –19 reduction practices such as drilling water wells, installing handwashing stations, and community health education programs.
Hawa And Her Family Say Thank You!
It is because of the sacrifice and generous support of our donors and partners that we can create such incredible life-changing transformation for village communities in Northern Ghana as part of our Christian service. We work together with local churches in Ghana to to see that these communities are cared for during these challenging times.
Now more than ever, it’s time to all work together to overcome the global challenge of COVID-19. Through HHI and GWAM’s partnerships, we will continue to seek ways to serve some of the world’s most marginalized. You can help!