The catholic diocese of Damongo lies in northwest Ghana. It has a land area of 24,627 sq.km. with approximately 410,000 inhabitants, who consist of 22 various tribes spread over 6,000 settlements. As the diocese is located in one of the poorest areas in Ghana, the school education is generally very bad. The highest illiteracy rate in the country exists here. About 96% of the girls cannot read or write, for boys this statistic is about 74%. This remote area of Ghana is provided very little help from the government. The academic development of women suffers strongly under these circumstances. Most women have no education. Their responsibilities include labour work and having children. Many parents only let their sons go to school, so that the number of female students is quite low. Therefore, we financially support poor families with the payment of school fees.
The West Gonja hospital is managed by the diocese of Damongo and is the only hospital within a radius of 130km. The hospital management came forward and requested our help to correct the desolate condition of the water supply in the hospital. The well water pump was damaged and needed to be replaced. The water lines from the high-level water tank running to hospital buildings had leaks. In a single day, nearly 6m³ of water was lost, seeping away back into the earth. Needless to say, a hospital with a lack of sufficient water has a serious health issue at hand.
We also made sure that surrounding homes, a school, and a public well had a sufficient water supply.
Additional projects include starter loans for womens’ groups, financial support for hospitalized children and special financial support for the very needy.
More information is available under “Projects”.