HOPin Academy, a non-profit educational organisation located in Tamale, has handed over a 50,000-litre water supply system to the Tampion Health Centre at Nabogo in the Northern Region to improve rural health services.
The project, which was undertaken through its initiative called, ‘Fix That Pump’, was in collaboration with the Grundfos Foundation, a Danish commercial foundation, and aims to serve about 12,000 people within and around the community by giving them access to potable drinking water.
In addition to the project, the HOPin Academy also provided a number of items to ensure a better and more attractive workplace for the clinic personnel. They include a solar panel with a capacity of 350 watts, 10 street lights, phone charging depots, a microscope as well as cold storage of reagents and drugs.
The District Chief Executive of Nabogo, Abdulai Murtala, commended both organisations for the support, saying it willl go a long way to supplement government’s agenda of constructing health facilities to boost the welfare of citizens.
He urged the beneficiary community to take good care of the facility and ensure proper maintenance.
The Director at the Nanton District Health Directorate, Samuel Prah, said health equipment and water supply continue to be a major problem at the facility as well as in the wider community. He added that this has discouraged a number of health practitioners from accepting postings to the area.
He noted that the support came at the opportune time to boost quality healthcare in the area, and that it would encourage staff to give off their maximum best.
The 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”.
According to him, rural community members play a critical role in enhancing the economy of a country, hence, the need for the project to enable the health practitioners to provide quality healthcare delivery. He reiterated the commitment of the foundation to support rural development.
The Executive Director of HOPin Academy, MacCarthy Mac-Gbathy, said the organisation embarked on the project as part of its corporate social responsibility to the community where it operates.
He said the project aims at ensuring residents can access the health facility, access safe water regularly, and ensure more safe deliveries in the clinic as well as reduce instances of child mortality rates in the area.
“With this project, we installed the Grundfos pump solution and solar-powered system to be able to pump and produce more than 50,000 litres of water within the community and its surroundings,” he said.
“With Grundfos Foundation, we say, this is just the beginning; and we pray for more life-changing agenda,” he added.
He noted that some handwashing stations were also established at the clinic, and training for personnel on the energy, water and handwashing facilities was also provided.
The chief and people of the community expressed gratitude to the HOPin Academy and its partners for their support, saying it is the first time that the health centre has had water flowing through its taps.
