World Vision Brings Changes to Gbumgbum

The name Gbumgbum might be a little cumbersome to pronounce, but the village that goes by it has surely witnessed some transformation ever since World Vision (WV) started operations in the community.
"This place was in complete darkness but since World Vision came here, it has become complete light," declared Abdulai Adam, regent of Gbumgbum when the National Director of World Vision Ghana, Nerquaye Tetteh, visited his community to see things for himself.
Saibu Osman (30) of Gbumgbum also agrees with the regent's assertion. He has just returned from his farm, located about half a mile away from the community. "If I told you all the transformation that World Vision has brought to this community, you would not be able to write it all", he says. Osman, who has 2 wives and 5 children, is a farmer and is happy with World Vision’s presence in Gbumgbum.
"Before World Vision came, our way of living in this village was bad. We had no potable drinking water and we used to drink water from ponds and streams which gave us guineaworm. Our environment was always dirty leading to a high incidence of diseases such as malaria. People in this village did not also have any regard for education because the school facilities were poor and so there was no encouragement to send children to school. Again, our women had no way of surviving because they could not get financial help from any where", declares Osman as we sit under a tree in front of his home in the centre of Gbumgbum.
Gbumgbum is a beautiful community located about 9 kilometers from Savelugu, the district. Capital of Savelugu-Nanton district, with a population of about 68 I people.
Osman's son, Jafaru Saibu (8), is also a beneficiary of the changes that World Vision has brought to the community. "I can now learn comfortably in our new classroom instead of the overcrowded old classroom we used to have and I don't have to worry about missing classes due to guineaworm", Jafaru discloses, as be changes out of his school uniform provided by World Vision, after close of school. He attends "Nsim Niboma­ nursery school, which means "friend in development. World Vision built the three-classroom nursery with funds provided by ‘Telford Foundation' in the USA.
The nursery school, which can house about 180 children, currently accommodates about 90 nursery children. As a result, a section of the primary school is occupying part of the nursery school block while awaiting the completion of their primary school. There has been significant improvement in the enrolment in the nursery ever since the block was completed. Before the school was built, the total number of school children in Gbumgbum for both nursery and primary was 91 but after the school was constructed, the number of children shot up to 231, with the nursery alone recording about 90 children. Again, before the construction of the school block, the whole school was handled by one teacher. However, World Vision has enlisted the services of four volunteer teachers to teach the children.
In addition to the new nursery, World Vision has provided the community with a borehole, a laundry pad, five Ventilated Improved Latrine Pits and has trained four community members in pump maintenance and repairs as well as nine people in water and sanitation matters.

The ADP is also at an infant stage of providing a six­ classroom primary school block and office for the community.
For now, however, Osman and his 5 children, Jafaru, Afisu. Malik, Maisa and Tayibatu are witnesses to the immense transformation taking place in their home. Each of Osman's two wives, Zailia (30) and Rahinato Saibu (23) are beneficiaries of a credit scheme instituted by World Vision for the women of Gbumgbum.
Last year, the two ladies received 200,000 cedis each with which they purchased three bags of shea nut each and from which they produced shea butter for sale. This year, they received 343,000 cedis each from WV. A total of about 12 million cedis was disbursed in Gbumgbum this year and about six million cedis was disbursed last year to 30 such women in the community.
"I have been able to pay back my loan with interest and the profit I made from the sale of shea butter has been ploughed back into the purchase of one more bag of shea nut." reveals Rahinatu, the youngest of the wives and mother of two.
Zailia (mother of Jafaru) on her pan adds, "Now I can pay my children’s school fees promptly, solve my personal problems and not rely on my husband for money to buy ingredients for the house. The loan has enabled me to provide something for my children to carry to school each morning."
The two women agree that they have benefited a lot from World Vision apart from the loan scheme. They say that World Vision has taught them how to manage money properly, care for their children and homes, understand environmental and personal hygiene and see the importance of moral education.

TBA's schooled in Family Planning and HIV/AIDs

Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) in conjunction with its partner, Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program (PFTCDP) has organized a five day refresher training course at a total cost of about 15 million cedis for about 22 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) coming from 17 communities, in Jantong Daboagshie in the East Gonja district of the northern region.

The aim of the workshop was to upgrade the skills of the TBAs in current antenatal and post natal practice and to provide them with the necessary working accoutrements to enable them function well in their communities because they are the first point of contact for pregnant women. The participants were taken through antenatal, the delivery process, post natal, referrals, nutrition, HIV/Aids, family planning and guinea worm education.

Speaking at the closing ceremony to the 5 day training, also witnessed by the head of public healthcare in the East Gonja district, Agnes Atoguba and the Program Coordinator of the Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program, Eric Chimsi, the Country Director of CCFC, Sanatu Nantogma stated that “Today’s’ gathering is just one realisation of CCFC’s plan under health and nutrition”.

She said that in CCFC’s health and nutrition operating plan for 2007/8 with PFTCDP, the hope was to reduce cases of malnutrition and anemia in children from ten (10) communities and to network with communities to promote the health and nutritional status of over 1,300 school children, 250 youth and 750 adults in 10 communities through nutritional assessment and health and nutrition educational campaigns.

The Country Director added that one of the major plans in 2007/08 was to organise training on reproductive health issues, one of which was this training the TBAs had just gone through. She advised the TBAs to be very receptive of their patients and not to charge any fees when they came to utilize their services.

The head of public healthcare in the East Gonja district, Madam Agnes Atoguba on her part congratulated the TBAs for successfully going through the refresher training and informed them that reports reaching the East Gonja district health directorate showed that they were doing very well in their jobs. She told them to put the new skills learnt at the refresher training into practice to the benefit of their patients.

A 22 year old mother, Ashietu Asani was very grateful to Madam Abiba Wontogma, a TBA from Daashie for helping deliver her three month old son, Abdul Wahid Asani.

For now CCFC is sure of healthy births like Abdul Wahid in the 17 communities. Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) is an international organization which works with local partners in 12 countries around the world to improve the standards of living of over 40,000 children, their needy families and communities. In Africa, CCFC works in four countries namely Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. It is also a member of the Child Fund Alliance that works in 55 countries of the world to implement child centred development interventions. CCFC was established in Ghana in 1996, with its country office based in Tamale.

Widow Supports Children Through Small Food Business

Despite losing her husband and having to support four children of her own and two orphans, Akopoka Salifu (45) has still found the strength to rise above her hardship to run the "Happy Woman's Chop Bar."
"After the death of my husband, I had to battle it out alone in catering for my children" she says. ..It was difficult feeding and clothing them. The little money I had all went into the payment of their school fees. I had no money left after paying their fees and this affected my ability to take care of my entire household. This almost turned me into a pauper because I sometimes felt like begging to make up for my poverty",
However, Akopoka's desire to survive prompted her to set up the chop bar. This lofty venture engaged her in something profitable and enhanced her capacity to lift her family and herself from the brink of absolute starvation.
“Now, I work through out the day to get something for my children. I wake up every day at 4 a.m. to fetch water for cooking. After this, I set up fire and prepare my food. I usually prepare rice balls, banku (fermented maize meal) and Wakye (rice and beans) every other day which I start selling around 7 a.m. to my customers. I usually sell until the evening ", she reveals.
“Because of this routine work, I hardly have the time to take care of my 4 children and 2 orphans who are all attending school. My younger sister therefore takes care of them whiles I concentrate on the chop bar. This is the only way we can survive".
Despite her bold venture, she has found it difficult running the business effectively and profitably without assistance because she lacks adequate capital. That is why Akopoka is very grateful to World Vision Ghana (WV) in Bongo for the assistance extended to her and some 600 women in Bongo central. She is a member of Alangube women's group, which is benefiting from a credit scheme instituted by World Vision in Bongo.
“It used to be hard for me to manage the bar because I bought my food stuff on credit since J had no initial capital. This had the effect of increasing the price of my food. Consequently, I got very little or no profit at all from my sales", declares Akopoka.
Ever since I got 500 thousand cedis as credit from World Vision Ghana, I no longer buy food stuff on credit and this has improved my profit and family income. This is because the interest rate on the loan is very moderate. I am now able to pay my children's school fees as well as feed, buy clothing and sandals for my six children and myself. I also recently bought a goat from the profits I have made”.
She also says that in addition to credit, she has benefited from training programmes instituted by WV for her group. These include training in financial management, family life education, childcare, environmental and personal hygiene, moral education etc. Her group is also embarking on a poultry project.
Her children, Ruby, Richard, Denis, Scooner, Kofi and David are witnesses to the complete turn of events in their home. They are still students of Selibga primary school in Bongo because their mother has managed to pay their school fees promptly. Eleven year old Ruby Napoka Salifu, the only girl among the six children, states that "my stay in primary four would have come to an end if my mother did not pay my school fees early. This would have been very disastrous for me. My mother used to find it hard paying the fees for my brothers and me but now she is doing fine. My mother has also bought me some new dresses and a beautiful shoe. This time I don't have to wear thorn clothes in the house".
"I don't go hungry any more like the days before. Now, I get to eat three meals a day and that is what matters to me most. Not only has the quantity of food increased in the house but the quality has also gone up", declares 12 year old Richard Salifu.
For all the assistance extended to them by WV, Akopoka Salifu is most grateful. " I am very grateful for the help because it has made me credit worthy. It has enabled me to expand my business and I pray for their continued support", she discloses.

Gundaa Methodist Needs Watsan Facilities

What strikes you as you travel to Gundaa is its distance. It is located a long way off from Tamale, where the CCFC Country Office is located. Another thing that strikes you as you make an entry into Gundaa community is its very narrow and dilapidated road, as well as the weedy nature of the community. Yet still, one more thing that hits you as you make entry is the very large and unmistakable dam located conspicuously within Gundaa.

Gundaa is located about 35 kilometres from Tamale on an unpaved road in the Tolon Kumbungu district of the northern region of Ghana. CCFC works in Tolon Kumbungu through the Baptist Child Development Program. It has a population of about 1 186 of which 562 are male and 624 are female. There are about 639 children located in Gundaa, out of which 151 are in school. Gundaa has only one school called Gundaa Methodist Primary School and only one source of drinking water, which is the dam. It has no sanitation facilities at all and that explains the weedy nature of the community. The community is listed among the most guineaworm endemic communities in Ghana whiles Ghana is rated second in the world, only behind Sudan, in terms of guineaworm infestation.

It is to this community of Gundaa that 10 year old Tahiru Haruna belongs. He is a grade four pupil of Gundaa Primary school and is happy to still be in school despite the challenges. “I am glad this year that I have not got down with guinea worm yet. Whenever I get guinea worm, I don’t go to school at all”, he reveals.

“My school has no source of drinking water so my friends and I rely on the water from the dam nearby. So when I am thirsty in school, I simply dash down to the dam to get a drink. I sometimes develop stomach from drinking the unwholesome water as well dysentery, diarrhoea and sometimes cholera. When this happens, I skip school and this affects my performace”, Haruna states.

The grade four pupil also discloses that “worst still, there are no sanitation facilities in the school so we use the nearby bush as a place of convenience. I know this is not good but there is no other place to go to. I am aware that some of this faecal matter washes into the dam and that is why most times I get sick”.

It is interesting to note that the dam that Haruna refers to is called Gundaa Lorni. It is an unguarded dam from which the whole community gets its source of water. Funny enough, members of the community use the overgrown bush around the dam as their place of convenience and this definitely washes into the dam. This accounts for the high incidence of cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and guineaworm among members of the community. But children, especially school going children like Haruna, are the most affected when diseases strike. They are forced to miss academic work in school and thus their human potentials are not fully realised.

“I wish my school had a clean source of drinking water and some sanitation facilities. I would not have to run down to the river to drink water or use the nearby bush to defecate. When I run to the river to drink water, I come back tired and unable to concentrate in class. Also, when I develop stomach ache, diarrhea or some other water borne disease, I miss school for several days and weeks. This does not help me in my performance in school and this is hampering my ambition of becoming an academic professor in future”, Huruna says.

Speaking on the same subject, the headmaster of the school, Zakaria Iddrisu moans that “sometimes the school is almost empty of school children. They are either down with guineaworm, dysentery, cholera or diarrhea and this affects teaching and learning in the school. The teachers of the school themselves are not sparred. Consequently, the school’s performance is not encouraging and I do believe it is for some of these reasons that school enrolment by children in the community is low. If there was a way of stopping the children from going down to the river to drink whiles school was in session, then it would enhance our performance”.

“Another discouraging trend is there are greater numbers of pupils in the lower grades as compared to the upper grades. For instance, there are 68 pupils in grade 1 as compared to 12 pupils in grade 6. There are 25 in grade 2, 20 in grade 3 and 13 in grades 4 and 5. The numbers keep dwindling as the children climb up the grade ladder and this is attributable to the constant diseases they go through whiles in school”, the headmaster articulates.

Ten year old Tahiru Haruna is a member of the 13 pupils of grade 4 and everything should therefore be done within the means to keep him and his colleagues in school through the provision of potable water and sanitation facilities in their school.

Children's Home In Need of Aid

Anyone who meets two and a half-year-old, Humu Gariba for the first time is struck by her beauty. So it might be a little surprising to discover that she can not go out to any gathering because she lacks the appropriate attire. Indeed, it takes some time to find a decent dress for Humu in order to take some pictures of her.

Humu belongs to Tamale Children's Home in Nyohine, a suburb of Tamale. She was brought to the home when she was only three months old, after her mother died and her father could not be traced. Humu is currently attending nursery school within the premises of the home. The home has about 21 inmates - a number that varies since some of them are always adopted and their ages range from one month to 29 years old.

The sad story of Humu and the other deprived children of Tamale Children's Home is the fact that due to the poor location of the home, very little is known or heard about the plight of the inmates. Lack of donations from the public makes it difficult for the authorities of the home to clothe, feed and school the children.

Despite her inability to speak audibly, she manages to mumble a message. "Next time you come, bring me ­­a nice dress so I can go out with you."

Her pleas and the plight of the children of the home almost drew tears from World Vision staff and members of Tamale Tisung Leo club who visited the home recently. It became abundantly clear to them that the children needed adequate clothes. The supervisor of the home, Janet Yahaya, also said the home urgently needed bedding, thick clothing and blankets to protect the children from extreme cold.

The Tamale Children’s Home was established in 1969, when it first took in a set of triplets destined to be killed because they were considered a bad omen. The home was created to take care of motherless, abandoned and orphaned children.

The home is beset with a myriad of problems. It not only lacks any transport to get the children to hospital in an emergency but also has no phone or radio to communicate with the outside world, and no potable drinking water.

The home has just two small rooms that act as a nursery into which the children arc all crammed. "The atmosphere around the nursery is not congenial for learning," says Janet Yahaya. "The block in which the nursery is housed is shared with other staff who use it as a place for lodging. Our children are therefore forced to risk their lives by playing around where staff do their cooking because there is no suitable play ground. "

She adds that the nursery has no store, no toilet for the kids, no kitchen, no teaching aids, and no furniture or play equipment for the proper upbringing of our deprived children".

Janet is appealing to NGO's, churches, and individuals to come to the home's aid by helping them to construct a three-classroom nursery block for the kids. The home has vast amounts of land on which to build the nursery.

For now though, the biggest priority of the home is to find appropriate clothing for the children to keep the cold away from them. Only when the children are protected from the cold can they go to school.

Polluted Water Spreads Eye Disease

Looking at 7-year-old Imoru Alhassan's face today may give you the impression that he is weeping. The tears flowing from his eyes, however, are not due to any strong feelings of emotion, but due to a disease called trachoma. The tears are caused by fluid flowing from his eyes as a result of a condition that could make him blind and which could easily be spread to other members of his family. Thus, trachoma is known as a "family disease".

Washing his face daily with clean water could save Imoru from his weeping misery and possible blindness and the availability of clean water could completely eradicate the disease. But Imoru's village, located 6 kilometers from the district capital, is without any clean source of water.

Imoru hails from Laligu, which is listed among the endemic trachoma communities in the Savelugu Nanton district. The community is ranked 5th in descending order of trachoma prevalence in the district, out of about 40 listed communities. With a population of about 853 people, 27.7 percent of the population is infected with trachoma follicles according to the Ghana Trachoma Control Program. Nobody is spared from the disease; everyone in Laligu is at risk. However, children are most affected by trachoma.

To Imoru and members of his family, the provision of potable water is crucial to their survival. Their only source of water is polluted and not suitable for human consumption. They get their drinking water from a dam called Lorni, which is located about 2 kilometers from the community, and shared with 9 other communities.

Thankfully, Imoru has been cured of the disease. '"Now my eyes are better due to the medicine that World Vision provided for my use, but I am afraid I will get the disease again in the future if I don’t get clean water to wash my face every day." He added that he felt very uncomfortable when he had so much fluid flowing from his eyes due to trachoma but he could not get clean water to wash his eyes. Imoru is also afraid that the disease could spread and affect other members of his house, who number about 17 people.


Zakaria Alhassan, Imom's father, also reveals that "We just need a good source of water in this community to clear this disease and others from here." He was also quick to emphasise that his whole family was at risk of getting the disease since one member had already contracted it. He said he could not possibly afford the hospital bills for them if they contracted the disease. Mr. Alhassan however disclosed that he could easily provide clean water for them to wash their faces if potable water was made available in his community.

The people of Laligu have been made aware through education that one way of preventing trachoma is through keeping a clean environment and washing one's face with clean water every day. This is why the provision and availability of clean water in Laligu is so fundamental to Imoru and his parents as well as other members of their community.

School Kids Have Roof Over their Heads At Last

Now the over 120 school going children of Tanjameli in the Saboba Chereponi District of the Northern Region have a 95 million cedis roof over their heads for use as an Early Childhood Development Centre (ECD), thanks to funding from Christian Children's Fund of Canada in partnership with Tuma Kavi, a local NGO. It is made up of a two classroom block, a feeding centre and a play ground with play equipment.

Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) is an international Canadian organization which works with local partners in 12 countries around the world to improve the standards of living of children, their needy families and communities. In Africa, CCFC works in four countries namely Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. In Ghana, CCFC works in nine districts namely Tamale Metropolis, Savelugu-Nanton, Tolon-Kumbungu, East Gonja, Yendi, Gushiegu, Saboba-Chereponi and Nanumba North and Nanumba South districts.


Speaking at the commissioning of the school block, the country Director of Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC), Madam Sanatu Nantogma stated that through Funding from CCFC “we aim to promote pre-school education and improve the academic performance of over 900 children in 5 nurseries, 5 primary and 2 Junior Secondary Schools in 9 communities, through the provision of school needs integrated with ECD programs. CCFC also aims to facilitate access to sustainable quality Functional Reflect Circles for 50 children who are not in school and to build the capacity of at least 4- community structures in 7 communities in resource mobilization, water and sanitation, gender and management of educational programs”

The Country Director added that it is the hope that when this is done, there would be a 25% increase in academic performance of children in school in Demon area, about 1,350 School children would have enough furniture to sit for effective learning and there would be a 25% increase in JSS students who obtain the required grades for entry into senior secondary school (each year).

She assured the people of Tanjameli and surrounding communities of increased support from CCFC till the year 2012.

The District Chief Executive for Saboba Chereponi District, Honorable Azumah N. Sanda on his part, revealed that education plays a pivotal role in the social, economic, political and development of a people and since it is so central to human development, section 25 of the 4th republican constitution recognizes it as a right.

He said it is for this reason that “the NPP government in its second term in office initiated the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Phase 2 which has among its main objectives to enhance human resource development that must be achieved through quality education and good health delivery. To be able to achieve this the government introduced certain educational measures such as the President’s Special Initiative on Distance Learning, the Capitation grant, the School Feeding Program, the 2007 New Education Reforms etc in order to ensure mass access to education and to enhance effective and efficient school administration as well as raise enrolment levels in schools especially in the lower primary”.

Honorable Azumah Sanda disclosed that the government has a policy to ensure that every primary schools has a pre-school attached to it but Saboba Chereponi district has about 36 pre schools as against 103 primary schools and which is very evident that the district still has s long way to achieve the target of attaching a pre school to each primary school in the district. The DCE appealed to parents especially those of Tanjameli to get all their children of school going age enrolled in school.

Elucidating on the essence of the ECD centre in Tanjameli, the Project Leader for Tuma Kavi, Mrs Katumi Fuseini, said about 80 percent of children between 4-5 years in northern Ghana, especially in the rural areas are usually not in school due to reasons such as inadequate classroom space for ECD, inadequate school furniture, teaching and learning materials, poor or no recreational/play equipment to stimulate child learning and poor or no pre-school feeding program. She said these problems pose a threat to child development and education as a whole hence the construction of the ECD centre in Tanjameli.

Ten Year Old Dying as a Result of Lump

A stitch in time, they say, saves nine and if this situation is stitched now, it will not only save the life of someone but will enable this innocent child remove the yoke of isolation and stigmatisation associate with him.

Such is the unfortunate predicament facing 10 year old Abdul Gafaru Ibrahim, a grade 5 pupil of Jantong Daashie school in the Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program of CCFC. Although he is not a sponsored child, he is in a sponsored school assisted by CCFC.

The third child of five children still manages to go to school even though he has had this condition for the past six months. It started as a small lump on his left cheek one early morning and has been growing bigger and bigger by the day. It is suspected to be a tumor although it has not been confirmed by medical experts yet. CCFC only got wind of it during a routine visit to sponsored children in his school.

‘I have lots of pain and difficulty in breathing’, he says. ‘I can’t eat much because I have pains when I eat and so I have started growing lean.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Gafaru reveals that he is able to take the pain and inability to eat but what he cannot stand is the isolation he now faces as a result of the ever growing lump in his cheek. ‘My mates now insult me and some are now afraid of me whiles some despise me. I used to walk to school with my friends and come back home with them but now they don’t bother to ask of me when going to school or when coming home. This has retarded my academic performance altogether. I sometimes don’t feel like going to school anymore’, he says.

‘I used to like playing ball with my friends but now I only watch from the sides as they play ball and I used to like singing a lot but now I can’t sing at all’, Gafaru adds. ‘I am appealing to anyone who can assist me get rid of this pain to come to my help so I can rejoin my friends in school as a happy boy’.

His father, Ibrahim Suley who is a farmer, says he can raise about GHC 50 and is appealing to CCFC or any philanthropist to come to the aid of his son. So far CCFC through its partner, PFTCDP, is spending a substantial mount of money to send him for a medical check up as a preliminary step.

The Scourge Of Guineaworm

Dracunculiasis, also called guinea worm, is an affliction that strikes fear and pain even among adults in the northern part of Ghana. It is all the more alarming and frustrating when this misery' affects children.
"My leg: hurts so much that I am unable to walk or play with my friends. I feel so frustrated and isolated because I can not run and play around with them," reveals Ibrahima Zuliha, a 9-year-old grade 5 pupil at Pishigu primary school who has guineaworm on her left leg. Though she has made it to school today, she cannot join her friends at play. She is also unable to concentrate properly in class because of the pain in her leg. Ibrahima's case is quite disheartening until one sees Abdulai Abukari. an 11-year-old grade 6 pupil of Pishigu primary school. He hasn't been able to attend school since both legs were crippled by guineawonn. "I can hardly walk around in the house, nor attend school because of the guineawonn. I am carried around wherever I want to go. I have missed so many of my friends and mates in school. It has made me lose a lot academically due to my absence from school for some time now," says Abukari "I know I am not the only one absent from school due to guineawonn. There are several children going through the same ordeal as me. It is usual with children at the school around this time of the year." Abukari also adds, "If only we could get rid of guineawonn from my community, so many children here would be happy to attend school every day. This would make our families and the entire community happy,"

While Abukari speaks, a housefly makes an attempt to feast on the sores on his guincaworm- infested legs. He quickly drives it away with a sweep of his hand. He is seated in front of his father's hut which is one of five huts in the compound. In the middle of the compound is a set of large stones used for cooking.

Abukari's mother, Fuseina Dahamani, 33, a bread seller, can be seen trying to prepare food for the family on the stones. She has just returned from the dam, the only source of drinking water for the people of Pishigu. The water from the dam, which she pours into two large jars outside one of the huts, is simply not wholesome for human consumption. It could easily pass for tea with a heavy dose of milk. "That is how our water looks yet we drink it," Fuseina 'says. "'We don't treat it before drinking. This has not spared us from guineaworm. We also use the same water for cooking and washing. We only pray and rely on the Lord to save us." "I am always down with guineaworm with all the pain yet 1 have to walk a mile to the dam to fetch water for the household chores," she says. As she attempts to stir some food on the fire, her husband Mahama Abdulai, a 38-year­ old tractor operator walks into the compound. He looks healthy and strong but says, "Nobody is free from guineaworm in this village. Sometimes my whole family of six including the baby is down with guineaworm. That is when you hear continuous weeping and wailing in this compound house because everyone finds it difficult bearing the pain", he says

"I must confess that although Malaria is treacherous, guineaworm can cause complete dislocation in a whole family. I have to sometimes borrow money to treat my family, which I find difficult repaying. I pray that something will be done to provide Pishigu with good drinking water," he appeals.

Pishigu is quite a big community, with 100 houses and a primary school. It is located 45 miles from Gushiegu, the district capital. Their main source of drinking water is a dam which dries up easily during the dry season. A visit to the dam shows various activities being carried out around it. Several women are seen washing clothing, with the used water flowing back into.
the dam. Some school children are also observed competing with cattle to quench their thirst through drinking the water from the dam. On the whole, the environment around the dam is filthy and littered with garbage.
There are over 100 communities like Pishigu in the Gushiegu district without potable drinking water. The absence of potable water has brought in its wake attendant problems such as guineaworm, trachoma and dysentery..
Until that is done, several communities in the district will continue to remain in misery. As Abukari Abdulai aptly puts it ‘when we get good drinking water here, l will be in school every day except when we are on holidays and so will all the children of Pishigu. My mother, father, family and everybody will be happy because there would be no more guineaworm in Pishigu and it will be a happier place to live."