“Water is Life” February 24 and March 1, 2022

We have the occasion to drive the rural red dirt roads of Ghana past small villages that are spread through the jungle several times a month. We’ve learned that many villagers still fetch their water as their people have done for generations in small streams or ponds. The children walk to the water source, use a dipper to fill a large container that they then place on their heads and carry home. Most of these water sources are stagnant, harboring bacteria and disease which cause skin, eye, and digestive problems to name a few of the issues.  We noticed that some villages were fortunate enough to have a community borehole, which allows fresh clean water to be easily drawn. 

We were intrigued by the thought of helping a village have easier access to clean water. Dale contacted his siblings to see how they felt about contributing to the cause in the name of Lewis and Vea Munk.  Each thought it a good idea and in turn posed the plan to their children, as we did to ours. In the end we were able to fund two boreholes and three bio-fil toilets. 

Once the money was collected, Empower Playgrounds, the NGO we chose to work with, proposed two needy villages close enough to Accra that Dale and I could participate in the ceremony where the completed borehole is turned over to the village. A ceremony seemed a little presumptuous to us, but the NGO said if the villagers have met the donor and if there is a name plaque the people respect and take better care of the borehole. In the end we were so happy to have met these grateful people. 

On February 24, the first borehole was handed over. We drove to Asamoahkrom, a community about three hours from where we live. We were surprised at how such a remote village could be so close to a major city. Once off the main paved road, the road to the village was a very rough single lane dirt road that made us appreciate our truck. The ruts in the road caused us to bounce so high that we had sore shoulders the next day from where our seatbelts tugged. 

We learned that in Asamoahkrom (krom = village) many of the villagers were developing eye problems that visiting medical personnel said was caused by their water. The village leader walked us down a steep 300-yard trail to see their water hole. Once there, we watched a 12-year-old girl wash the family laundry in pans by the stream and an 11-year-old girl fill her 4-gallon bucket and carry it on her head up the rocky trail so her family could cook and drink water for the day. 

Sixty adults and children gathered at the pump for the handing over ceremony. After a prayer by a villager in the mother tongue, their leader (speaking English) expressed a few words of gratitude before the first draw of water.  Once the crystal-clear water flowed the people cheered and clapped. Some cupped their hands and drank. One man, who sat at the base of the spout, splashed water on his face with such joy, that he jumped to his feet and extended his arms upwards in praise. There was spontaneous singing and dancing as the villagers took turns working the pump. 

The second borehole was handed over on March 1 to the village of Numess. It was a little farther away but in the same direction as the first. It was the dry season, so we were able to drive to the village with a little four-wheel help. But, in the rainy season the road is impassable. 

Numess is one of twelve small communities spread throughout the jungle with small homes barely visible from the road.  Their water source is a river that runs nearby part of the year. During the other part of the year the river dries up, making it difficult to find adequate amounts of water.

To announce our arrival a man appeared with a crudely made bell and stick. He clanged the bell as a signal that it was time to congregate. People slowly appeared from various directions, mothers with little children, old women with walking sticks and men with stories to tell. One little boy of about three couldn’t take his eyes off of us. His mother, in broken English, told us that he’d never seen a white person before. We laughed realizing that we were quite a spectacle for most of the village children, looking so pale and speaking an unfamiliar language.

The leader of Numess asked a man to pray, then delivered nice remarks in English (while someone else translated to the mother tongue) of how the borehole will help the 250 community members have better health. He reminded the residents that “water is life.” He also remined everyone that the children would no longer need to make the 2 ½ mile walk to the river to fetch water before school every morning. When it was time to draw the first water we pumped and pumped and pumped, but no water! We got a little nervous that it might not work. Finally, the water flowed, the people drank and splashed, then they sang and danced. 

The bore holes were dedicated to Lewis and Vea Munk. We appreciate that both Lewis and Vea served throughout their lives in quiet ways. Neither expected, or wanted, to be recognized for the way they freely served others.