[LM_NET] Off Topic--Clean water and books for Ghana

[Mary Ludwick <ludwick@SWBELL.NET>]

Chris is the son of a friend. He spent time in Ghana with the Peace
Corp.(.even married another Peace Corp worker). I offer his letter for those
who might want to participate. If you send me a PM, I will share his email
address if you want to ask questions.  I noticed on the web site that the
community recently completed a library and are soliciting library books
also.  FWIW, the schools teach in English.

Subject: An effort to get clean water for my Peace Corps community in Ghana 

Greetings friends and family! 

Six years after I left Ghana, the people of Tsumpko, (the community where I
served as a Peace Corps Volunteer), have finally been given the potential
opportunity to have clean drinking water piped to the community. Providing
access to clean water was an issue I worked on the entire two years I lived
in Tsumpko. 

Currently, those living in my community access water one of three ways: from
dirty ponds and streams in the immediate area (see attached photo); from
small rain-water collection pots that a previous Peace Corps Volunteer
constructed; or by making the young girls in the community walk nearly one
hour to Lindsey's former community (the nearest source of piped water) and
then carry it back on huge buckets balanced on their heads for another hour.
Needless to say, none of these options are very good ones and the
opportunity to have clean, piped water is huge. 

Through a partnership with the governments of Denmark and the United
Kingdom, the Ghanaian government is partnering with communities to provide
access to clean water. As part of the deal, however, Tsumpko is required to
contribute 5% of the project costs, approx. $4,000. This is no small feat,
as the combined weekly income for the entire community is less than
$400/week. And while the community has been organizing themselves and
collecting money to contribute, they really don't have the capacity to raise
that kind of money. 

Brendon Best, my Peace Corps predecessor in Tsumpko, helped set up a
nonprofit organization called Atidekate (meaning "Under One Tree"), which is
dedicated to assisting small rural development projects in Ghana. Atidekate
is trying to raise the funds to help Tsumpko meet its contribution. Please
consider donating a tax-deductible gift through Atidekate so that the
wonderful people of Tsumpko can finally have access to clean drinking water
and improved health. 

The deadline for collecting this contribution is this month, December 2007. 

For more information about the project please visit:
http://www.atidekate.com/current-projects/tsumkpo 

Or to make a tax-deductible contribution (check, money order, Visa,
Mastercard) click here: http://www.atidekate.com/how-to-donate. 

If you know anyone you think might be interested in supporting this very
worthy cause please forward this message and/or my contact information. I
would be happy to share more about the project with anyone. 

Thanks very much. 

Peace, 

Chris



Mary Croix Ludwick
Librarian, Thomas Haley Elementary
Irving, Texas (near Dallas)
mludwick@irvingisd.net
ludwick@swbell.net (home)


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