School adoption

ROTARY SCHOOL ADOPTION

WASH PROGRAMME

Submitted To: SIMAVI, Netherlands Submitted By: NEWENERGY, Ghana

APRIL 2013

SECTION I: GENERAL

1.1 The Project Area – Regional Context

The Northern region of Ghana (the project location) occupies nearly a third of the land mass of the country (i.e. 70,390km²). It is one of 10 administrative regions in the country and the only region that stretches across from East to West. Tamale is the capital of the region. It has a total population of 2,468,557 (1,210,702 males and 1,257,855 females), PHC (2010). Northern region has guinea savannah vegetation with fairly thick forest from where community members farm, harvest firewood, harvest rafters for construction, etc. Common tree species in the region include shea, dawadawa, baobab, nim, etc. Housing characteristics are predominantly mud structures with thatch roof. The region has a predominantly subsistent agricultural labour force constituting about 72% of the total. Poverty in the region can be said to be endemic. Only 4% of the population is in the highest wealth quintile against a national average of 22% (GDHS, 2008).

From L-R: Map of Ghana showing NR coloured red; Map of NR showing districts; A typical dwelling place (house); and a Baobab Tree

Northern region has one of the lowest Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) coverage in Ghana – 61% for water against a national average of 83% (CWSA, 2010) and <10% for sanitation against a national average of 14%. Open defecation is estimated to be 73% in region (EHSD, 2012). Hygiene is simply unimpressive.

Even though our building code provides for incorporation of WASH facilities in human dwellings, this has not been strictly enforced or adhered to in the past. As a result, old school structures/compounds have no safe water and safe excreta disposal facilities in their design. The same applies to houses in the community. In recent times, however, the trend is changing as new structures incorporate the construction of WASH facilities. But it is one of one-size-fit-all approach leaving many schools and their surrounding communities underserved. School population is often not factored into the design process. This has caused a problem where pupils, teachers and community members are denied access to adequate WASH facilities and services.

Where WASH facilities are constructed, they are not gender sensitive, particularly latrines as there is no separation between boys and girls facilities. This affects the privacy and safety/security of the girl pupil, especially during periods of menstruation.

Another challenge is heavy pressure on the limited facilities. This pressure coupled with poor attitudes of users owing to, in some cases, lack of ownership, a weak sense of responsibility, low awareness of the importance of hygienic practices, weak management system and poor maintenance culture are all critical issues that require serious engagement to deal with.

Evidence abound that hand washing is one most effective way of breaking disease transmission and yet among children and community members, this is not a common practice. Where it is done, it is widely carried out without soap.

As a result of the poor WASH situation in Northern region, diarrhoea is among the 10 top most ailments/diseases commonly reported at out-patient departments (OPD) of health facilities in the region, especially among children and women. For instance, hospital records showed that children under five constituted 54% of all reported cases of diarrhoea in the Tamale Central Hospital in 2010. This and other WASH-related diseases such as typhoid account for majority of hospital attendances and admissions. This exerts a disease burden on the region and cost in terms of money for treatment and lost time to recuperation and care giving. We are just emerging from years of guinea worm infestation and it is feared that if action is not sustained, we would not be able to hold on to the gains made in guinea worm eradication.

In addition to diseases and their dibilitating effects, school children in particular are affected by one or all of the following ways:

·	Report late for school due to long periods of hunting for water in the mornings

·	Low or outright no concentration in class due to the fatigue of walking long distances in search of water

·	Unable to satisfactorily carry out school assignments at home due to limited time available as a result of spending a significant part of their time fetching water after school hours

·	Low attendance rate (especially for girl children during menstruating periods) due to the inconvenience of having no sanitation facility at school

·	Demotivating for teacher posting, attendance and performance

·	Poor academic performance

1.2 The Project Area – District Context

This project proposal is to be implemented in the Tamale Metropolis, from which Sagnarigu was recently carved out to form a new district. For now, there is little or no public information on Sagnarigu, but fits well within the Tamale Metropolis. Thus the description here covers the new district as well.

Tamale metropolis is the only local government authority (LGA) area in northern Ghana with metropolitan status and one of six in the whole country. It is centrally located in the Northern region and hence serves as a hub for all administrative and commercial activities in the region. Tamale, the metropolitan capital is also the political, economic and financial capital of the region.

Map of Tamale Metropolis

Tamale’s current population is 371,351 comprising 185,995 males and 185,356 females (PHC, 2010). The metropolis is a densely populated city compared to regional and national averages. Whereas the Northern region has 35 persons per square kilometre and Ghana as a whole has 102 persons per square kilometre, the Tamale metropolis alone has an estimated population density of over 500 persons per square kilometre. This puts enormous pressure on the already limited WASH facilities and services in the metropolis.

Since its elevation to a Metropolis in 2007, various interventions have been made by Government and Donor Partners including UNICEF, WaterAid and Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) to address WASH issues in Tamale. With the completion of a major water expansion project for the Tamale Metropolis five years ago, many more communities are still without safe water, particularly Tamale rural. Out of 62 rural communities with a total population of 35,661, only 16,396 (45%) are served (CWSA, 2011). The picture for the current water coverage in the three Sub-Metros are as follows; 58% for Tamale North, 28% for Tamale Central, and 14 % for Tamale South (MWST, 2011). Sanitation coverage is also alarming. It is estimated to be less than 11% (MWST, 2011) for Tamale rural. This situation has serious health implications and therefore needs an urgent attention.

Accessing underground water to increase access to safe water to the peri-urban and rural areas is a challenge due to the difficult hydro-geological terrain of the entire area. Under the Tamale rural, there are only 6 boreholes and 5 hand dug wells (CWSA, 2011). Twenty one (21) communities are connected to Ghana Urban Water Company Limited (GUWCL) lines. The rest of the communities rely on ponds, tanker services, spring/rainwater and wells during the rainy season. In the dry season these communities are compelled to travel long distances for either safe or unsafe water outside their communities. Women (especially those undertaking sheabutter processing and other agro-based micro businesses), school children, people living with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS suffer various levels of relative deprivation from potable water and decent sanitation impacting negatively on their overall living standards.

1.3 Overall Objective

To provide a catalyst for establishing long term relationships between schools in the Netherlands, and schools in Ghana by the end of 2013.

1.4 Specific Objective

To facilitate sustainable access to WASH facilities and services in Garizegu Primary School, Garizegu Junior High School (JHS) and Cheshei Primary School by the end of 2013 as entry point to a long term relationship between schools in the Netherlands and those 3 schools in Ghana.

1.5 Implementation Strategy

We would employ a three-tier programme strategy, namely: integration, collaboration and participation.

1.5.1 Integration

As identified above, the WASH challenges in the schools are multi-dimensional. In summary, they include limited access, weak institutional structures, and bad attitudes. We would adopt a comprehensive approach that combines provision of hardware and software WASH interventions. The hardware would cover mainly pipe extension, hand washing facilities and institutional latrines, while the software issues include animation, training and hygiene promotion. We would also strive to design our interventions in a manner that the facilities are self-financing and/or generate income for other basic needs of the target schools. For example, we would promote community outreach with water services as business model for operation and maintenance (O&M). Another area of integration is linking issues discussed at the school under SHEP with happenings at home (in the community).

1.5.2 Collaboration

Currently, NewEnergy is part of the WASH Alliance Ghana (WAG) and the Football for WASH programmes, which are both a north-south collaboration involving partners in the Netherlands and in Ghana. We are active members of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), which has a strong sector presence and space. In our on-going work we work closely with sectors agencies such as Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and Environmental Health and Sanitation Department (EHSU). At the local government level, we collaborate with District Assemblies (DAs) who are the planning authorities of their jurisdictions according to Act 462. We have an existing healthy working relationship with SHEP of Ghana Education Service (GES) at all levels – national, regional and district. We would explore our ever growing relationship with all these actors to ensure effective and efficient project delivery.

1.5.3 Participation

Participation enhances ownership. In this regard, we have facilitated participatory analysis of the WASH situation in the various schools to identify and prioritise their specific WASH needs. This is to ensure that we avoid a one-size-fit-all approach but rather design of tailor-made solution(s) for every school. Schools would participate by way of constituting management committees for the interventions so that they are directly in charge of how those interventions run. Ours would be to facilitate the process and build their capacity. Often the girl child is sidelined. We would encourage girls’ participation by supporting them to hold executive positions and take part in competitions, etc.

1.6 Sustainability

1.6.1 Ownership and Management

The concept of community ownership and management (COM) would be adopted for the project. Facilities and services to schools are demand-driven as a starting point. Schools through their pupils and PTAs actively participated in needs assessment and design of appropriate solutions. They would also participate in implementation and post-construction management. We would facilitate them to form management committees for the projects and these committees would be given training on their roles and responsibilities and how to effectively perform them.

1.6.2 Facility Management Plan (FMP)

In each school and for each facility, there would be a Facility Management Plan (FMP) put in place. This would describe management arrangements, roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders, structures and user groups. It would define what services would be offered to what user group against what fee; who will take what kind of decisions and how coordination procedures and mechanisms would operate. Responsibilities for supervision, money handling, operation, maintenance, cleanliness of the facilities, etc would be clearly identified in the FMP.

1.6.3 Appropriate Technology

The choice of technology has a bearing on sustainability. For this reason, we would be guided by the principle of Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM). It is for this reason that we are opting for pipe extension against other options such as rainwater harvesting, which does not provide all-year round water supply and boreholes, which are challenged by hydro-geological difficulties. We would also encourage technologies that support income generation and reuse of human waste.

1.6.4 Linkage with Other efforts or Interventions:

The Rotary School Adoption Programme would forge close collaboration with all on-going and past projects to learn and share, to avoid duplication and to fill-in critical gaps. These include, for example, water and sanitation projects by CWSA in the oprational area; SHEP by GES across the operational area; the University of Development Studies (UDS) research work(s) into reuse of faecal sludge (FS) and others; UNICEF’s other WASH activities in the districts; the Ghana Urban Water Limited (GUWL) operations; and the Metropolitan Assembly’s own investments in WASH from their share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) and from their internally generated funds (IGF). Consultations would be held with these actors to share information and map out areas of critical attention and strategies to complement each other to achieve greater impact.

1.6.5 Post-Implementation Support:

The follow-up provided for under SHEP is one way of supporting the schools to sustain the interventions after direct implementation. In addition, provision is made for monitoring, which would be used to provide backstopping to technical and management issues that arise post-implementation. Another post-implementation support to be provided is linking the projects with suppliers and artisans. This is to assist the schools know where to go for a spare part and who can fix it whenever the need arises.

1.7 Outcome/Impact

This project targets 3 schools in 2013 with the hope of expansion in subsequent years. The current enrolment for the 3 schools is 461 boys, 404 girls and 35 teachers, making a total of 900 persons that would be reached directly. In addition to this, another 1,500 persons are projected to be reached through community outreach, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 2,400 persons.

The benefits of the programme to beneficiaries (end-users) would reflect in the following:

Þ	Improved access to WASH facilities

Þ	Improved hygiene behaviour

Þ	Reduced disease load of diarrhoea

Þ	Reduced school absenteeism

Þ	Improved school performance

Þ	Firm foundation for long-term relationship

1.8 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E):

There would be a detailed baseline survey from the onset of the project in both hard and soft versions (using the Akvo FLOW platform) to set benchmarks for measuring progress. On a quarterly basis, there would field visits to project sites to support, track and sustain implementation progress. Reports of such visits would inform management decision(s) about the way forward. We would also ensure regular updates via the Akvo RSR medium.

Apart from our internal monitoring system, we remain open to external monitoring of both our work and books by Simavi, Aqua for All (A4A), Rotary Club or their appointed representative.

1.9 Implementation Schedule

It is proposed that implementation commences in May 2013 and end in December 2013. However, during this period, we would negotiate/discuss future engagements.

SECTION II: SCHOOL SPECIFIC

2.1 Garizegu Primary School

Garizegu Primary School consists of 254 boys, 186 girls and 16 teachers, making a total of 456 persons. It is in the Sagnarigu district of the Northern region. The school has a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which is currently being chaired by Mr. Mahami Sulemana. The PTA assists the school management to administer the school, enforce discipline and occasionally provide some basics needs of the school. Madam Mercy Nabia is the current Head Teacher of the school.

The school has only 1 latrine and 1 urinal, shared by both male and female pupils and teachers. There has not been any active School Health Education Programme (SHEP) in the school and so has no School Health Club (SHC). There is no drinking water facility in the school and pupils and teachers either bring drinking water from home or return to their houses during breaks to satisfy their drinking water needs. In the process, some do not return, missing out on the rest of the lessons for the day. What is heart-warming, however, is that the school compound is only 150m away from the urban water network connection line. There are no hygiene facilities such as hand washing facility in the school, making pupils and teachers practice good hygiene only on a limited scale. In addition to the dire Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) situation, the school is also challenged by the lack of a library, information communication technology (ICT) facility and a football pitch for recreation and games.

As way forward, the school seeks support from individual and corporate partners to address its development challenges. It perceives the Rotary School Adoption WASH Programme in this light. The plan is to take advantage of its closeness to the urban water line to extend pipe-borne water to the school. The pipe extension project is estimated to cost about GH¢20,000.00 (or €8,000.00) – specific bill of quantities (BOQ) attached – with a design capacity to serve up to 1,200 persons. By this, some of the water can be retailed as community outreach to meet operation and maintenance (O&M) needs as well as accommodate future expansion of the school.

On sanitation, the plan is to construct 1 additional 6-seater latrine to increase access and allow for separation of males and females. This is estimated to cost approximately GH¢14,000.00 (or €5,500.00) and would serve 300 persons. This facility would have a pad changing room for menstruating girls to ease themselves. This would improve menstrual hygiene and increase their attendance, retention and concentration in school as the inconvenience of menstruation is an inhibiting factor to adolescent girls’ education.

2.2 Garizegu Junior High School

Garizegu Junior High School (JHS) consists of 67 boys, 53 girls and 10 teachers, making a total of 130 persons. It is in the Sagnarigu district of the Northern region. The school has a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which is currently being chaired by Mr. Paul Issah. The PTA assists the school management to administer the school, enforce discipline and occasionally provide some basics needs of the school. Madam Priscilla Kuupuolo is the current Head Teacher of the school.

The school has only 1 latrine and 1 urinal, shared by both male and female pupils and teachers. There has not been any active School Health Education Programme (SHEP) in the school and so has no School Health Club (SHC). There is no drinking water facility in the school and pupils and teachers either bring drinking water from home or return to their houses during breaks to satisfy their drinking water needs. In the process, some do not return, missing out on the rest of the lessons for the day. What is heart-warming, however, is that the school compound is only 150m away from the urban water network connection line. There are no hygiene facilities such as hand washing facility in the school, making pupils and teachers practice good hygiene only on a limited scale. In addition to the dire Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) situation, the school is also challenged by the lack of library books, electricity and computers for information communication technology (ICT) lessons and a classroom for basic design technology (BDT) lessons.

As way forward, the school seeks support from individual and corporate partners to address its development challenges. It perceives the Rotary School Adoption WASH Programme in this light. The plan is to have a standpipe extended to the school premises from the proposed primary school pipe extension project since the two are adjacent to each other. This would cost about GH¢1,500.00 (or €600.00).

On sanitation, the plan is to construct (within the limited funds currently available) 1 additional 2-seater latrine to increase access and allow for separation of males and females. This is estimated to cost GH¢7,350.00 (or €2,940.00) and would serve 100 persons. This facility would have a pad changing room for menstruating girls to ease themselves. This would improve menstrual hygiene and increase their attendance, retention and concentration in school as the inconvenience of menstruation is an inhibiting factor to adolescent girls’ education.

Alongside the above would be vigorous SHEP activities leading to the establishment of SHC to promote and sustain hygiene behaviour change. The activities would include sensitisation, training and provision of hand washing facilities, all estimated to nominally cost GH¢4,025.00 (or €1,600.00). In real terms, however, the cost would be about GH¢1,500.00 (or €600.00) since the school adjoins the primary school and the bulk of the costs would be absorbed under the proposed primary school project.

2.3 Cheshei Primary School

Cheshei Primary School consists of 140 boys, 165 girls and 9 teachers, making a total of 314 persons. It is in the Tamale metropolis of the Northern region. The school has a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which is currently being chaired by Mr. Timothy Dokurugu. The PTA assists the school management to administer the school, enforce discipline and occasionally provide some basics needs of the school. Madam Veronica Tigenoah is the current Head Teacher of the school.

The school has 2 2-seater latrines and 2 urinals shared by both pupils and teachers. There has been School Health Education Programme (SHEP) in the school and so has a School Health Club (SHC). There are 1 ferrocement rainwater harvesting tank and 1 poly tank in the school to provide pupils and teachers drinking water. Because Northern region has a long dry spell (7 months of dry season and only 5 months of wet season), these tanks do not provide all-year-round water, forcing pupils to sometimes bring drinking water from home or return to their houses during breaks to satisfy their drinking water needs. In the process, some do not return, missing out on the rest of the lessons for the day. What is heart-warming, however, is that the school compound is only 150m away from the urban water network connection line. There are 2 hand washing facilities in the school, making pupils and teachers practice good hygiene only on a limited scale. In addition to the dire Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) situation, the school is also challenged by the lack of a computer laboratory and electricity, inadequate furniture, uncompleted school structure and insufficient indoor and outdoor game accessories.

On sanitation, the plan is to construct (within the limited funds currently available) 1 additional 4-seater latrine to increase access and allow for separation of males and females. This is estimated to cost approximately GH¢12,000.00 (or €4,800.00) and would serve 200 persons. This facility would have a pad changing room for menstruating girls to ease themselves. This would improve menstrual hygiene and increase their attendance, retention and concentration in school as the inconvenience of menstruation is an inhibiting factor to adolescent girls’ education.

Alongside the above would be vigorous SHEP activities leading to the strengthening of the SHC to promote and sustain hygiene behaviour change. The activities would include sensitisation, refresher training and provision of additional hand washing facilities, all estimated to cost GH¢4,025.00 (or €1,600.00).

SECTION III: BUDGET

Attached as appendix are details of the various costs.