Plumbing Africa PA October 2018 | Page 50

48 HEALTH AND SANITATION RETURN TO GHANA This past February, I returned to Ghana. This time my wife joined the team. As we stepped off the plane, I thought of the words of Dr Kevin. The heat, humidity, and smell felt like a homecoming. I was happy to be back in Ghana. Prior to leaving, I asked my friends at IAPMO if they could help me doctor the poster of “The Plumber Protects the Health of the Nation.” With a brilliant graphics department, the plumber became Ghanaian. All of the people in the crowd also became black rather than white. The poster reflected the population of Ghana. It now serves the people and the plumbing profession in Ghana. Fundraising efforts helped to improve what can be done on each visit to Ghana. This year, efforts on providing better water quality resulted in the purchase and donation of many village water filters. The filter can provide clean water each day to an entire (small) village. Funding also allowed six new borehole wells to be added to villages in need. While visiting the village of Saafi, I had the opportunity to interact with the women and children near the new borehole. The borehole had been completed, but the pump had not been installed. As a result, the old dug October 2018 Volume 24 I Number 8 well was still being used. The women wanted the new borehole so they could get clean water. They started to complain to me about the muddy water coming out of the dug well. The gathering at the dug well is a social experience for the women and children. They interact with the families in the village and trade stories. There is also a certain mojo that each one uses to fetch the water. You cannot simply pump or pull up buckets of water, you need to have a specific rhythm. The women then insisted that I pull up some water in the rubbers (their term for the special buckets used in the dug well). The woman in charge first tied the rope connected to the rubber to a concrete weight having a hook. I felt somewhat insulted since they were afraid I might drop the rubber and rope into the well. The rubber was thrown into the well and the women started laughing, telling me to pull up the water. I had no rhythm and only pulled on the rope. It was then that I realised how strong these women are. The rubber full of water was heavy. Yet, they had theatrics pulling up their ropes. The more I pulled, the louder they laughed. I realised that this white man can’t dance. Any attempt www.plumbingafrica.co.za