Dennis Shipman isn’t waiting until the Reval before beginning his charity’s work to bring clean drinking water to Ghana.
Having clean water in the village eliminates the need to travel hours to bring clean water home and saves young girls from the possibility of being raped enroute.
Angela’s Birthday Gift
Dennis Shipman, BlissfulVisions.com
https://www.blissfulvisions.com/safe-water-Ghana-Africa.html
Angela turned sweet 16 today. Usually, twice a week, she got up at 6 a.m. and prepared herself to fetch clean drinking water for her family. She joined a small group of women from their rural village in the Northern Region of Ghana, Africa. The women walked two-hours, one-way, to a water source that is supposed to be clean and safe for drinking. On the return trip, they each carried a plastic container filled with water that weighs 30-40 lbs. (13.6-18.1 kg).
But, not today. And, not ever again. Angela has good reason to rejoice and to celebrate. Not just because it’s her birthday, but also because today she will bear witness to an astonishing miracle. A miracle she thought would never happen. The village will become transformed because it has received an amazing gift – a water purification system made in the USA.
The 3-man construction crew arrived early and began preparing the foundation for the water purification housing. The entire village of 1,000 people turned out to watch. Celebration was in the air. You could see the joyous precious smiles on their faces. They knew their prayers had been answered. Before the day is finished, their wildest dreams will come true. All of them will enjoy the simple luxury of tasting clean drinking water from the water purification system. The women are especially joyous.
The burden on women and girls to fetch water is disproportionately large, especially pregnant women. Women and girls are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water, and carrying heavy water containers on their heads under the constant threat of injury or rape. Angela is three-months pregnant. She was raped on a walk nearly four months ago.
The water purification system was imported by Rural Water Aid International (RWAI) in cooperation with its American partners. RWAI is a registered NGO (nonprofit) in Ghana with a mission to stamp out poverty by providing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Without WASH, socio-economic development is impossible.
Before the water purification system arrived, the rural village had no running water. It still has no electricity or natural gas ovens. Outside fire-pits are used to cook food, and kerosene lamps to light their homes – which are made of wood and some combined with sheet metal. Outside fire-pits come with their own set of problems as does kerosene lamps: permanent vision impairment, blindness and respiratory cancer.
Ghana is predominately a rural country. With over 27 million population, 68% or 18,389,303 live in rural communities that survive on $1.83 per day USD, and 10% live in extreme poverty on $1.10 per day. Ghana’s democratic-republic government and nonprofit organizations working in the water aid industry estimate that over 9.6 million people in Ghana’s rural communities do not have access to safe drinking water.
There won’t be a pretty birthday cake with sparkling candles to blow out for Angela today. Her family is too poor, but she knows her mother will do something special for her. For love is their greatest asset. And, today, worry and anxiety does not fill Angela’s mind and heart.
It would be fun to share a nice decorated birthday cake with her family and friends, but her mind is elsewhere. She knows she won’t have to make the 4-hour round-trip walk any longer, or carry a heavy water container – both that threatened her unborn child’s life. Not to mention the possibility that she might fall. Now, with fresh drinking water flowing every day in the village, her baby’s chances of surviving death from water-borne disease are better than ever.
Statistics are shocking. It’s estimated that every 20 seconds a child dies from drinking toxic, polluted water – the leading cause of death in children in rural communities before the age of three. 80% of all diseases in most parts of Africa are caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, while 90% of deaths in children under 5 years of age are attributable to the same causes. Diarrhea is the third biggest killer of children under five years old in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The lack of safe water in Ghana results in an economic burden to the country. It is estimated that the overall economic loss in Africa due to the lack of access to safe water and sanitation is estimated at $28.4 billion a year.
Angela knows all too well the outcome of diarrhea and water borne disease. Her mother is a nurse, and Angela has visited many deprived communities with her mother and has seen children die, including several of her childhood friends. Angela had to drop out of school to help with the household chores because her father died last year from drinking polluted water. Now, only her mother and younger brother and herself live in their house with a dirt floor, and Angela home schools herself when she has time.
Angela survived her childhood challenges and is alive today to tell her story. She vows that her goal in life is to bring an end to the lack of safe water – a persistent and life-threatening problem in Ghana’s rural communities. It’s her birthday, and she feels she has many reasons to rejoice. She is very grateful for the blessings that surround her and that have been given to her in life. As a huge joyous smile beams across her face, she knows she is overwhelmingly grateful for the simple luxury of tasting fresh water from the water purification system. Her grueling journey of walking 4-hours to fetch water is ended. Tonight will be a night to remember. Celebration, and singing and dancing will reign.