HOPin Academy, a non-profit educational organisation located at Tamale in the Northern Region, has provided solar water-pumping and electrification system to the Nanton District Health Facility through a new initiative called ‘Fix That Pump’.
The organisation has replaced single-hand pump boreholes with a solar water-pumping and solar-powered electrification systems.
The health centre was also equipped with water reservoir tanks and no-touch handwashing facilities to help ensure good hygiene practices.
Executive Director of Grundfos Foundation, Kim NøhrSkibsted said: “It is a great privilege to finance the project to help improve health services in the rural communities of Ghana”.
He said Grundfos Ghana has secured a DKK 385,000 grant for HOPin Academy.
The District Chief Executive for Nanton, Murtala Abdulai, commended Grundfos Foundation and HOPin Academy for their support.
The District Coordinating Director for Nanton, Alhaji Mohammed Benjy, assured that the assembly is committed to collaborating with the institutions to ensure implementation of the project to enhance water and sanitation issues in the district.
“The intervention is expected to ensure easy access to safe water in the community, healthier and safer deliveries in the health centre, reduction in premature deaths of children and improved lighting and communication within the centre,” said MacCarthy Mac-Gbathy, Co-Founder and Executive Director of HOPin Academy.
He said the overall objective is to make an impactful contribution to rural health services in a time of COVID-19 pandemic by upgrading the district health centre with standardised basic water and energy systems.
He said a short survey conducted in rural areas of the districts in the Northern Region by the Academy showed that the poor condition of health services in these communities affects quality healthcare delivery, and also hampers the activities of healthcare practitioners
“With this project, we want to move from hand-pumps, which are very common in the area, to a sustainable solar pumping system to reduce the cost of maintenance and avoid toxic elements which get into the water due to bad maintenance practices,” he explained.
He noted that, already, some stakeholder engagement activities have been held. The Academy partners with over 20 renowned corporate institutions and has successfully nurtured over 40 startups and seen over a hundred community events.
