The Livelihood Project

Procedure:

9:00 AM - DEPARTURE: Departure of AFAWI Interns from office in Adenta to GA East Municipal Building 

10:00 AM - ARRIVAL: Team arrival at GA East Municipal Building

10:00 AM - 10:05 AM: Set-up projector and presentation and waited for the arrival of the women

10:05 AM - 10:15 AM: Greeted and registered women and passed out questionnaires and handouts

10:15 AM - 10:20 AM: Brief message to the women from Philip about loans and repayments

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM: Kayla and Jennifer went through questionnaire with the women

10:40 AM - 11:30 AM: Presentation on WASH and COVID-19 BEGAN

Kayla began the presentation starting with WASH. The presentation began with the women explaining what they knew about WASH and continued with further information regarding water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as information on certain water-borne illnesses or illnesses caused from bacteria. The presentation then proceeded with information on COVID-19 and handwashing. The women already had a good knowledge of COVID-19 and protocols, so it served as more of a review. The presentation ended with a brief message about the emerging Marburg Virus. 

11:30 AM - 11:40 AM: COMPLETION OF TNT FORMS AND LUNCH

Kayla and Becky administered the TNT funds to the women and lunch was served by Naa to all of the women involved.

12:00 PM: DEPARTURE OF AFAWI TEAM TO ADENTA OFFICE

Summary

The fourth Livelihood Training Session on WASH and COVID-19 was a successful and educational session. All of the women who were invited to the training were in attendance, along with several of the women from other groups. The women were not initially aware of what WASH stood for, but after group discussion the words of the acronym were guessed by several of the women. They all had an understanding of the concept and were knowledgeable on different illnesses that can result from unclean drinking water and bacteria. The women were also knowledgeable on ways to prevent these and stay healthy, i.e. handwashing and drinking lots of fluids. The question was raised about what to do if they do not enjoy drinking water, and they were informed of the benefits and necessity of drinking water. 

The women were all aware of COVID-19 and protocols and methods to prevent it. Most of the women in the group were vaccinated against COVID-19 as well. We discussed handwashing and the importance of washing your hands for at least 20 seconds and multiple times a day. The question was raised about needing to preserve water, that 20 seconds may be too long and wasteful of water, but it was suggested to turn the tap off while scrubbing hands and then to resume with the water to quickly rinse. At the end we briefly discussed the Marburg Virus to make sure the women were aware of the two cases in Ghana, and we instructed them to visit a hospital if they begin to feel any symptoms and to be on the side of caution. 

Links:

• More information on this project here