Clean water - a human right, not a luxury

Last year Katie and Richard (co-founders of Pen to Paper Ghana) were approached by a close friend, Sidraa Razaq who was hoping to build a well (village at that time undecided) and wondered if their charity could be involved; Katie and Richard were eager to help.

To research this and choose the optimum location, they spent a lot of time going to villages and speaking to chiefs and local communities about population size and current facilities; they eventually chose Tepa Camp 2. This is a village North West of Kumasi that already had one well; however this provided insufficient water for the whole community. This meant that a lot of the villagers were having to walk some distance to use dirty water from a small river.

Sidraa raised the money with the help of her friends and family, and the borehole was dug in January 2018. The exact position chosen was in close proximity to the village school but not too close as to disturb classes. Once dug, the borehole had to be pumped out for a few days and then cement was laid and left to harden for 2 weeks.

On the 16th February, Pen to Paper Ghana arranged the grand opening of the well, with the chief, and many of the local community attending. It was a wonderful day and truly special to see how one new well was going to make such an impact on thousands of lives.

As well as digging the borehole, Pen to Paper Ghana donated school textbooks, water buckets and cups for the local school, so that the children and teachers would have access to fresh, clean water in each classroom.

See the video and photos below of the opening ceremony day: