For residents of Nungo Daborin, a suburb of Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga East District of the Upper East Region, waking up to the commissioning of a borehole in the community could only gladden their hearts. The daily struggle, scramble and fights resulting from the desire to get water after trekking several kilometers to the custom barrier to fetch water can only now have a place in their memory.
For students who either wake up as early as 4:00am to begin the struggle for water only to report to school late or go to the borehole after closing from school only to return home late in the night tired and unable to revisit the day’s activities in school, the constructed borehole will not only make access to clean water easy and convenient but will go a long way to help improve their performance in school since they no longer have to spend several hours struggling to get water which forces them to report to school late.
The borehole in Nungu Daborin is one of three constructed in the Upper East Region by the Northern Ghana Association of New England-USA (NGANE), a group of Ghanaians of Northern extraction based in the United States of America.
In all, the group constructed 9 boreholes this year in the traditional three regions of the north that previously existed which has since seen the creation of the Savannah and North East Region out of the Northern Region.
At the commissioning ceremony, animals including goats and cattle defied the presence of the heavy crowd to drink water at the newly constructed borehole thereby giving credence to the narration of the Assembly Member of the Zuarungu North Electoral, Clement Atakimah Atinga, that the borehole comes as a huge relief to both the people of the community and their animals.
He explained that the distance covered to get water by that section of the community remained a major worry as he expresses gratitude to the group.
“Some of the students, they go there to fetch water and they come back home late and they can’t go to school. So, now that there is water here, I think it will help us and then our animals. You see, we’re here doing the commissioning but the animals are coming to drink because there is no dam here. They used to fight but with this, we’re happy”.
Representative of NGANE, Matilda Adombire-naba, who spoke on behalf of the association at the commission of the project on Saturday, November 13, 2021, explained that one of the objectives of the association is to help accelerate development in communities back home and has therefore made the provision of clean water a top priority.
She therefore admonished the community members to take good care of the borehole.
“NGANE is therefore honored to present to the people of Nungu Daborin a source of clean drinking water in the hope that this little project will go a long way to improving the health and quality of lives of the people of Nungu Daborin. Providing clean water is just but one of the several projects that NGANE has embarked upon. Other areas include education, agriculture and health, just to mention a few.
In return for this favor, NGANE expects the people of Nungu Daborin to collectively take good care of this borehole so that it will serve your water needs for a long time. We are convinced that the people of Nungu Daborin will claim this project as their own and be good caretakers of the borehole. Should you prove to be good stewards, it will go a long way to attracting other developmental initiatives coming from NGANE”.
Leadership of NGANE include Dr. Valerian Nakaar as president, Boniface Dakurah as Vice President and Vivian Adombire-naba who coordinated the construction of the project.
