Water for Rural Ghana
Donation protected
Inadequate access to clean water is a global problem, but especially in Sub-Saharan Africa; 844 million people worldwide lack access to clean water and 48% of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa. The short and long-term impact of people living without proper access to clean water are devastating resulting in illness and even death. We want to fix that!
We are focusing our initial efforts on the West African nation of Ghana, where 38% of the population (10.9 million people) lack access to clean water. We have identified underserved communities in the Nandom district of Ghana’s Upper West region, a dry climate area where people often have no choice but to access water from unsafe sources.
We visited communities in Nandom to better understand the problem and we are now looking to raise funds to implement sustainable water solutions in the communities of Nandomkpee and Kandemegan.
Proceeds from this fundraising campaign will be used to:
· construct mechanized water facilities, for ease of use; and
· enable professional management for greater sustainability.
We need your help to make this happen!
Who are we?
We are Synergy Water, a non-profit organization, dedicated to delivering water solutions to developing rural communities. Our vision is to create equality for people through improved access to water. Synergy Water was founded by Milane and TK, two EMBA students at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. We are passionate about sustainable development and the potential of water.
Why water?
We view access to water not only as a human right, but as having the potential to catalyze community development. By making water available to people in rural areas, we can help them help themselves. First by improving health and sanitation, giving them more time for education, particularly for girls, and generally making the community more productive and prosperous, not to mention improving equality.
What have we learned?
We visited several communities in Nandom that are seriously challenged by access to water and engaged focus groups to better understand the issues they face, what their current practices are, and what technologies would be most appropriate to consider.
These are some of the issues we heard:
· Inadequate distribution of water across communities’ results in some community members (often children) travelling up to 5 km to get water.
· Too few boreholes are serving large populations leading to long lines for water, and loss of time and productivity,
· There is a high failure rate of boreholes with hand pumps, the main technology currently used in rural communities, further limiting water access.
· In the absence of water, and out of desperation, community members dig their own wells, which are not deep enough to provide clean drinking water and often lead to illness.
· Girls are denied their right to an education due to water scarcity as it is girls and women that generally care for the family and get water
Our partners
We can’t do it alone, so we have partnered with both private and public sector agencies, including a private NGO (CleanAcwa) and the public sector water agency, Community Water & Sanitation Agency (CWSA); both are very experienced in supporting rural communities with water solutions in Ghana.
Fundraising objective:
In this phase, we are looking to raise $25,000 to deliver new boreholes with partially mechanized pumps that are easier to pump than the manual ones. This will enable up to 1,500 people that live in the Nandomkpee and Kandemegan communities to have adequate water access.
How can you help?
You can help us by making a donation. By joining us, together and in partnership with both public and private sector agencies in Ghana we can make a difference in the lives of the people of Nandom.
On behalf of the people of Nandom, thank you for your generous support!
Milane Segal and TK Danial, Co-founders of Synergy Water
We are focusing our initial efforts on the West African nation of Ghana, where 38% of the population (10.9 million people) lack access to clean water. We have identified underserved communities in the Nandom district of Ghana’s Upper West region, a dry climate area where people often have no choice but to access water from unsafe sources.
We visited communities in Nandom to better understand the problem and we are now looking to raise funds to implement sustainable water solutions in the communities of Nandomkpee and Kandemegan.
Proceeds from this fundraising campaign will be used to:
· construct mechanized water facilities, for ease of use; and
· enable professional management for greater sustainability.
We need your help to make this happen!
Who are we?
We are Synergy Water, a non-profit organization, dedicated to delivering water solutions to developing rural communities. Our vision is to create equality for people through improved access to water. Synergy Water was founded by Milane and TK, two EMBA students at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. We are passionate about sustainable development and the potential of water.
Why water?
We view access to water not only as a human right, but as having the potential to catalyze community development. By making water available to people in rural areas, we can help them help themselves. First by improving health and sanitation, giving them more time for education, particularly for girls, and generally making the community more productive and prosperous, not to mention improving equality.
What have we learned?
We visited several communities in Nandom that are seriously challenged by access to water and engaged focus groups to better understand the issues they face, what their current practices are, and what technologies would be most appropriate to consider.
These are some of the issues we heard:
· Inadequate distribution of water across communities’ results in some community members (often children) travelling up to 5 km to get water.
· Too few boreholes are serving large populations leading to long lines for water, and loss of time and productivity,
· There is a high failure rate of boreholes with hand pumps, the main technology currently used in rural communities, further limiting water access.
· In the absence of water, and out of desperation, community members dig their own wells, which are not deep enough to provide clean drinking water and often lead to illness.
· Girls are denied their right to an education due to water scarcity as it is girls and women that generally care for the family and get water
Our partners
We can’t do it alone, so we have partnered with both private and public sector agencies, including a private NGO (CleanAcwa) and the public sector water agency, Community Water & Sanitation Agency (CWSA); both are very experienced in supporting rural communities with water solutions in Ghana.
Fundraising objective:
In this phase, we are looking to raise $25,000 to deliver new boreholes with partially mechanized pumps that are easier to pump than the manual ones. This will enable up to 1,500 people that live in the Nandomkpee and Kandemegan communities to have adequate water access.
How can you help?
You can help us by making a donation. By joining us, together and in partnership with both public and private sector agencies in Ghana we can make a difference in the lives of the people of Nandom.
On behalf of the people of Nandom, thank you for your generous support!
Milane Segal and TK Danial, Co-founders of Synergy Water
Organizer
Milane Segal
Organizer
Toronto, ON