HF4A project transforms water, sanitation in Nandom, Lambussie
Hundreds of households, schools and health facilities in the Nandom and Lambussie districts are now enjoying improved access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services under the Healthy Future for All (HF4A) project. The initiative, being implemented by the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) with funding support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, is aimed at ensuring … The post HF4A project transforms water, sanitation in Nandom, Lambussie appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
Black News 
Hundreds of households, schools and health facilities in the Nandom and Lambussie districts are now enjoying improved access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services under the Healthy Future for All (HF4A) project.
The initiative, being implemented by the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) with funding support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, is aimed at ensuring that children under the age of 15 grow up in clean and healthy environments at home, in school and within healthcare settings.
Speaking at a media engagement in Nandom of the Upper West Region last Thursday, the Communications Advisor of SNV Ghana, Gloria Broamah, said the project adopts a holistic approach.
She explained that it combined infrastructure development, behaviour change campaigns, market development and enterprise support to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.
According to her, the intervention sought to improve access to safe drinking water, enhance sanitation facilities, promote healthy hygiene practices and build the capacity of local WASH enterprises to ensure sustainability.
Ms Broamah also highlighted a key innovation under the programme, a revolving fund established in partnership with the Nandom Rural Bank.
She indicated that the fund supported women, the youth and vulnerable households to invest in sanitation and hygiene-related businesses.
She noted that the fund, valued at about US$100,000, offered loans at an interest rate of 10 per cent.
“So far, 180 beneficiaries have accessed the facility, with a repayment rate of 94 per cent,” she said.
Beneficiaries, she stated, have used the loans to expand businesses, construct climate-resilient toilet facilities and invest in sanitation enterprises.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Janet Dizaogl Niyel, popularly known as Mama J, said the support had enabled her to expand her liquid soap production business.
She explained that she had been able to acquire a soya bean processing machine and a ‘fufu’ pounding machine through the intervention.
Mrs Niyel said she had struggled previously, but her business had now grown significantly, adding that she had trained many women, with others still coming forward to learn the trade.
The project is also rolling out infrastructure, including 26 boreholes fitted with hand pumps, seven small-town water systems, three limited mechanised systems and the rehabilitation of 80 hand pumps.
In addition, more than 500 handwashing stations have been installed in schools and health facilities, while Water and Sanitation Management Teams have been trained to maintain the systems.
A Junior High School student, Khadijah Abdallah, said pupils often had to return home when they needed to use the toilet, resulting in missed lessons. She noted that the availability of toilets and handwashing facilities had made them feel safer and more focused on their studies.
FROM NAZIRU ALHASSAN, NANDOM
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The post HF4A project transforms water, sanitation in Nandom, Lambussie appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
