Through improved sanitation and hygiene, the Ghana WASH Project aims to improve girls' education outcomes. Here's how.

1. PROJECT SPOTLIGHT - GHANA:
BY VICTORIA OKOYE
DATA & OUTREACH HEALTH
CONSULTANCY, USAID/GHANA
Position number: 20040
WRITING SAMPLE
Text, photography and infograph
produced by VICTORIA OKOYE
Text originally written for USAID
communications document:
“Washing Away School Absences”
USAID Global Waters
June 2013
http://www.usaid.gov/node/40731
Washing away school absences
Clad in their orange shirts and brown jumpers, Maybelle and Comfort are two bright-eyed young girls who have been given a chance
at better health, better education, and increased lifetime earnings.
Thanks to the USAID Ghana WASH project, Assin Kumasi Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior High School in the rural community of
Beposo, Ghana got access to improved sanitation for the first time
in the form of a four-seater institutional latrine. This new facility has
made going to school a safer, more comfortable experience, especially for junior high school girls like Maybelle and Comfort.
Despite educating more than 400 students, the school only had
one latrine that had two seats. Maybelle said that she and her
friends were forced to resort to open defecation in the nearby bush,
sometimes taking as long as ten minutes to find a private place to
go. “We would have to search to find a place to go [in the bush],”
she said. “If you want to use the toilet, there were kinder­ arten
g
and primary [students] there and it was so full you didn’t have any
privacy.”
When the young girls started menstruating, the school’s lack of
sanitation and privacy began to threaten their education. In Ghana
and much of the developing world, it is common for pubescent
girls to stop attending school when they lack proper sanitation and
privacy during their periods. So the USAID Ghana WASH Project
Students read the educational comic book "Who Will Go For the Ball?" which was
developed through WASH education and storywriting workshops held at the school.
(Photo Credit: Victoria Okoye/ USAID Ghana WASH Project)
1

2. 10
“out of
households,
just may have a
household latrine.”
1
-- Ms. Gloria Duha, a teacher,
School Health Education Program
club leader, Assin Kumasi Schools
constructed a new institutional latrine that provided the proper sanitation and privacy to enable all students to thrive.
The new institutional latrine is divided into two sides by a cement wall
and includes a changing room. The existing latrine is now for the kindergarten and primary school students.
Now, Maybelle and Comfort say they do not have to worry about
missing class time to take care of their needs. “We have more privacy now,” Comfort said. She said nearly everyone uses the latrine now
because there are enough stalls. And the benefits spread across the
entire community by reducing the risk of diseases that result from open
defecation.
The school has become the center of efforts to build demand for sanitation and hygiene throughout the com­ unity. “In [students’] homes,
m
out of 10 households, just one may have a household latrine,” said
Ms. Gloria Duha, a teacher and the School Health Education Program
(SHEP) club leader. Ms. Duha teaches her students how to keep their
hands, bodies, and surroundings clean to protect their health. Most of
these students are learn­ng about sanitation and hygiene for the first
i
time. By observing the students that she works with – almost half of
whom are girls – Ms. Duha sees the teachings having a ripple effect:
As she passes these lessons onto her students, the students in turn
educate and influence their classmates at school and families at home.
Ms. Duha and her students further build demand for sanitation and
hygiene in the community by developing and performing educational
dramas about hygiene issues at the school’s regular Parent Teacher
Association meet­ngs. Their first drama focused on the importance of
i
washing your hands with soap at critical times, including after using the
toilet and before cooking and eating. The students applied the lessons
they learned in the SHEP club and made them relevant to community
members through the shows – reaching adults in a new way.
“With our school-based initiatives, it is remarkable how young leaders step to the forefront and take an active role in the health clubs,”
said Sean Cantella, Chief of Party of the USAID Ghana WASH Project.
“When you see them in action, it reconfirms that we’re making a difference in these kids’ lives.”
2

3. How can
92%
of Ghana’s
rural population
lacks access
to improved
sanitation.
1in10
sanitation
improve girls’
education
in Ghana?
students at Assin Kumasi Schools have a household latrine at home.
Improved sanitation a flush or pour-flush toilet,
a ventilated improved pit
latrine, or composting toilet
- supports improved hygiene
health and education.
>
Girls need privacy and
dignity when menstruating.
Without a latrine or toilet facility,
girls are more likely to miss
classes or entire school days
when menstruating.
>
Providing separate toilets at school (institutional
latrines) with a changing room for girls mean more
girls are likely to stay on after puberty and can
complete their education.
Verbal abuse, humiliation, and
sexual harassment and rape are a risk for
the many girls who do not have access to
a safe clean, toilet.
70,140
community members and students gained improved sanitation access through USAID’s Ghana WASH Project:
31,500
people
158 institutional latrines
38,640
students
4830
household latrines
5000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
Information sources: UNICEF (2013) World Toilet Day Factsheet, Water and
Sanitation Monitoring Program (2010), USAID Ghana WASH Project (2013)
35,000
40,000