Remembering Water in a Village in Ghana
by Susan Caster (Ghana 77-81)
 
I grew up taking water for granted.  We had a seemingly endless supply
of fresh water in the house, access to pools, ski slopes, and an ocean
front beach house.  Before joining Peace Corps, I could not imagine
living in the Savannah grassland without rain for six months each year.
But upon being posted to the Sissala village of Tassow in Ghana, I
learned quickly about collection and use of water.  And gradually,
something about whom had control of this valuable resource. 
    At daybreak women from all seven compounds of the village walked to one
of the two shiny red bore hole pumps at the edge of the village.  The
only source of water before the installation of the boreholes in the
1970s was the dam.  And while Hajagama told me she still collected her
drinking water from the dam because it tasted better, the line that
formed early each day at the bore hole confirmed its popular use. 
After hand pumping enough water to fill her head pan or pot, woman
would say, carry me  and another woman would help her lift the pan of
water to her head.  Then it took a strong neck and very good posture to
get the water back to the house.  It often took several trips to the
pump to meet the morning drinking, bathing, and cooking requirements. 
This water collection process was repeated when women returned from
farming in the late afternoon.
      In the home, drinking water was stored in clay pots that sweated and
actually kept the water cool.  Bath water was put in a bucket from
which it was splashed on the body.  On cold mornings it might be heated
over the fire before bathing.  The bathhouse was a tiny mud brick
structure built into the compound, with walls about four to five feet
tall and no roof. 
      Women keep a large container of water for cooking and cleaning dishes. 
However, rather than carry enough water to wash cloths at the house
many women carried dirty cloths to the bore hole and did their wash
there.   
        After the bore holes were dug and pumps installed, men with the bore
hole project trained the village blacksmith to maintain the pumps. 
Being mechanically inclined, he seemed a logical choice.  Using a
traditional forge outside his compound he made hoes, guns, and almost
any other metal item one could want.  He did not, however, collect
water for his household, and therefore, he did not go to the bore hole
unless someone told him one needed to be fixed. 
        It was a morning like any other that Fatima lost her finger while
pumping water at the bore hole.  It was due to the lack of maintenance
of the pump that Fatima was hurt.  Perhaps she would not have been hurt
if the women who are responsible for collecting water were given the
training to maintain the pumps.  In fact, if women had been involved
from the start of the bore hole project their might have been different
placement of the pumps, larger collection pads, and daily maintenance
of the pumps.  All of these would facilitate the water collection
process and put control over the water resources in the hands of those
responsible for meeting their familys water needs.

(In the Peace Corps, Susan Caster was a teacher and consultant to
womens groups. On returning to the U.S. she became administrative
director of a nonprofit hunger publication and taught in a variety of
settings from preschool to university.  She currently teaches high
school science.)