Dominase

Many thanks to everybody who has helped with our 'Buy a Bog' fund-raising campaign to help improve sanitation conditions in our sister community of Dominase. Photographs in earlier messages have shown work taking place on the block of school toilets that we are providing. Here are two more photos (taken in January) which show the building taking shape.

On one of our early visits to Dominase, thanks to village connections with (and the generosity of) Corporate Mobile Recycling Ltd, we were able to take a number of recycled mobile phones with us.

Children in Dominase are not fortunate to have many of the educational aids that we take for granted. Pens, pencils, paper, books and school uniforms are all very expensive for poor families. Without any electricity in their schools, most children can only learn computer skills by looking at books with pictures of keyboards.

There is no running water in this part of Ghana and only a few boreholes and wells. The local river, often used for washing, is very dirty and can cause chronic disease and death. The Village-to-Village Groups in Buriton and Dominase therefore agreed that an early priority should be helping to improve supplies of clean water.

One of the first areas of support provided by villagers in Buriton was to help provide a health clinic with a generator and funding for living quarters for a nurse. Without this effort there was a risk that the health authorities may have closed the clinic.

This annual event in the Village Hall, the antidote to ordinary quiz nights, raises funds for our sister community of Dominase in Ghana. In 2010 we raised over ?1,500 to help with toilets and sanitation. Please help us to raise even more in 2011. Only ?5 per person - and lots of fun !!

Conditions in Dominase are very poor and quite unhealthy. Very few households have their own toilets, there is no running water and many people just go and squat in the grass near to houses and paths.

If you receive a new mobile phone for Christmas, please don't throw away the old one. It can be used to raise money for a good cause! James Raftery, 13, who lives in Buriton, has a scheme whereby old mobiles can be recycled. He will collect your old mobile and help raise money for our "Buy a Bog for Dominase" campaign.