Last weekend disaster struck our small apartment – the water
pump broke down leaving us with no running water for 3 days. Xavier refused to bathe, instead only having
a swimming pool shower – stinky boy!
Hair washing became a low priority, floors went unwashed and there was a
strict toilet flushing system. Numerous
annoyed phone calls to the landlord, many bucket loads of water carried up the
stairs and a botch job consisting of a new pump and the wrong size pipe, water
was flowing again. Xav finally washed,
the washing machine was back on and peace on our little slice of earth was
restored.
But it got me thinking, the very fact that I have a tap
inside my house and that I turn it on with the expectation of water running out
means that I am among the very fortunate here in Ghana. It may not be safe to drink from it (a luxury
that I took for granted in the UK), but I can conduct my day to day activities
without having to worry where and when my next bucket of water will be. I am among the 12% of the population who have
water piped onto their premises, and just 3% of people living in rural areas
have this level of access.
According to Oxfam:
‘Only 50 percent of the rural
population in Ghana has access to water. Access to sanitation can be as low as
42 percent in urban areas and 11 percent rural areas.’
Additionally WaterAid provides this information:
‘80% of all diseases in Ghana are caused by unsafe
water and poor sanitation and more than three million people don't have access
to safe drinking water. Only around 14% of the population have access to
adequate sanitation facilities.’
Almost one fifth
of the population (19%) has no access to toilet facilities, which rises to one
third in rural areas. As this graph from
the World Health Organisation shows, there has been little improvement in
reaching the most deprived people with sanitation facilities since 1990. In urban areas, such as the Old Fadama
illegal settlement, people openly do their business in the street. In rural areas, such as the Eastern region
where I was travelling last week, a cassava field offers slightly more privacy.
Now our water is
running again, I have been counting my blessings when I jump in the
shower. Maybe the next time you make
that toilet trip, be grateful you’re not out on the streets of Accra.
The streets of Old Fadama offer little privacy for toilet breaks
