Clean Water, Dignity, and Independence: How WASH Restores Life for Older Adults in Northern Ghana
In many rural communities across Ghana, the daily search for water has long shaped the lives of older adults. As strength fades with age, the long walks to distant and unsafe water sources become more than an inconvenience. They experience a loss of independence, dignity, and health.
For communities in Ghana, the arrival of clean water close to home has changed that story.
Amina, a 68-year-old grandmother, stood proudly at the new borehole alongside her children and grandchildren. For years, she had depended on others to fetch water for her, especially during the long dry season when the journey was exhausting and often painful.
“I am happy the new pump has come. I too can come and fetch water,” she shared.
That simple statement speaks volumes. Clean water has restored Amina’s independence. What was once a task she could no longer manage has become part of her daily life again, carried out with dignity rather than dependence.
Similar relief is felt in Mahekpe, where 72-year-old Mohammed Awuratu followed her grandchildren to see the new borehole for the first time. Having spent decades walking long distances to water sources shared with livestock, she knows the toll that unsafe water takes on the body over time.
“My grandchildren will not go through what we went through,” she said with quiet pride.
For elders like Mohammed, clean water means not only relief for themselves, but peace of mind for the next generation. The physical burden they carried for years will no longer be passed down.
In Meme, the impact is deeply personal for Ramatu, a 64-year-old grandmother caring for her seven-year-old granddaughter alone. With her children living in the city, the responsibility of fetching water once fell entirely on her.
“With the coming of fresh water, my grandchild no longer struggles for water,” Ramatu shared.
Clean water has eased the physical strain on her aging body while protecting the health of the child in her care. It has allowed her to continue providing love, stability, and guidance without the daily hardship that once threatened her strength.
With water now close by, older adults are spared dangerous journeys under the hot savannah sun. Clean water reduces the risk of illness, exhaustion, and injury, enabling older adults to remain active participants in family and community life.
Photo credit – calebmensah.com
Across Northern Ghana, access to clean water is quietly restoring what poverty and distance had taken away: independence, dignity, and the ability for older adults to care for themselves and others.
Through partnerships between Water for West Africa, Healing Hands International, and local churches, boreholes are doing far more than delivering water. They are returning agency to elders, protecting their health, and honoring their role as pillars of family and community life.
Clean water does not just extend life. It restores the dignity with which life is lived.
