US Pupils Forgo Soft Drinks For A Water Project In Ho

Some 500 students at the St Margaret School and Faith Formation Programme, New York,United States, gave up their usual soft drinks with food for two weeks to garner funds for a water project at Atikpui in the Ho Municipality. The project was under the aegis of the International Help Missionaries (IHS) New York and facilitated by Reverend Father Francis Perry Azah, a native of Atikpui and currently Associate Pastor at the St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Pleasant Valley, New York. The 30,000 Ghana cedi mechanized borehole with initial five standpipes, spread across the community of about 3,000 people, replaces the River Tordze which had been source of water for the people. Very Rev Francis Anani Lodonu, Bishop of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church, who consecrated and commissioned the borehole, said the gesture of friendship and savings habit exhibited by the young school children was worth emulating. Rev Father Azah said the students who partly financed the project expressed surprise and showed empathy with the people of Atikpui when he showed slides of the drudgery they went through to get water from the River Tordze. The students came up with interesting suggestions such as bringing the children of Atikpui to the US or sending water from US to them. Rev. Father Azah hinted of a sister school relationship between schools at Atikpui and schools in the US. The project was coordinated by Mr Don Magnotta, President of IHM, who was represented at the commissioning by Mrs Dolores Hinrichs Voyer, Director of Faith Formation Programme. Mrs Voyer was installed an honoury Queen and Mr Magnotta, king of Atikpui. Mr Patrick Stone, Assemblyman of the area, appealed to the benefactors, the Municipal Assembly and individuals to help extend the water to nearby communities. Mr Foster Kojo Soley, Technical Coordinator of the project, commended the citizens for doing the excavation work on the project leaving only the very skilled jobs to paid labour. He expressed the hope that the borehole would not run out of water as previous ones few dug in the area. Mr Soley advised the citizens to pay for the water to enable the system, which has a 20,000 litter over head reservoir, to be managed efficiently.