Ebuakwa

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Water
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

Ebuakwa is located near the coast in the Central Region of  Ghana.  People in Ebuakwa are primarily dedicated to farming and charcoal sales.  There is a health clinic in Ebuakwa.  There is a kindergarten, primary school, and junior high in the community, but for higher education community members must look elsewhere. There is a Community Bank in the community offering savings and loans services. As of 2017, there are 5 standpipes that provide clean drinking water to the population. Approximately 2% of homes have their own toilet facilities. The community expressed that their top needs are renovations to the health clinic, a vocational school, and agricultural input.

District: Ekumfi

Region: Central

Homes : 500
Population : 1066
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : Yes
Electricity : Yes
Health Clinic : Yes
Midwife at clinic : No
Homes with toilet facility : 2%
Education : Up to Junior High
Distance From Lodging Facility : 45 Minutes

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS:

There are two types of public health clinics available to rural Ghanaians: Health Centers and Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds. Health Centers serve large geographic areas within a district and are staffed by physicians. CHPS compounds serve small clusters of communities and are staffed by live-in nurses. The nurses provide basic services and, if capacity allows, they conduct home visits to families in the communities. 

Even with this coverage, it is important to note that medications, equipment, and essential infrastructure are often not available in these clinics and the physician density in Ghana remains around 0.2 physicians per 1,000 people. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a minimum of 2.3 physicians per 1,000 people to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.

Another key factor for healthcare access in Ghana is insurance. Ghana’s National Health Insurance plan offers universal coverage, but few rural community members are actively enrolled. During Medical Brigades, community members are educated about the benefits of health insurance and are encouraged to enrol (or re-enrol) in the National Health Insurance Plan.

Ebuakwa has a CHPS compound in the community which is staffed by nurses but no midwife. The most common illnesses in Ebuakwa are malaria, diarrhoea, hernia, and strokes.

307

Volunteers

2917

Patient Consultations

621

Vision Screenings Provided

37

Health Education Workshops

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Ebuakwa CHPS Zone compound

Medical Brigade clinics are hosted in Ebuakwa’s CHPS Compound. Volunteers assist local doctors and community nurses to serve patients at each station of the clinic. Each day of the brigade, an average of 6 educational workshops are facilitated with the clinic’s patients.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 643
  • NEARBY COMMUNITIES SERVED: Atwa, Twa

MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS IN EBUAKWA:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
San Diego State University Medical Brigade January 2013 53
University of Connecticut Medical Brigade May 2013 41
University of California Los Angeles Medical Brigade December 2013 45
University of San Diego Medical Brigade June 2017 32
University of Connecticut Medical Brigade May 2018 38
University of Missouri May 2019 31
North Carolina State University Medical May 2022 29
University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign May 2023 23
King’s College London June 2024 15

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EBUAKWA’S WATER CHALLENGE:

One of the major challenges for the development of the community was the lack of access to clean, sufficient water. As it is closely located in the Gulf of Guinea, community members’ options to collect fresh water were limited since many of the underground water sources are saline and not usable for basic consumption needs. Community members, mostly women and children, were forced to make numerous trips per day to the neighbouring community of Nananom to retrieve and carry water back to their homes.

20

Volunteers

1,693

Project Beneficiaries

3

Standpipes Installed

1

Rainwater Harvesters Installed

A standpipe constructed by Ghana Water Company in Ebuakwa

EBUAKWA’S WATER SOLUTION:

The Ghana Water Company (GWC) is in charge of water distribution and treatment in the region where Ebuakwa is located. In 2016, Global Brigades worked with the GWC to modify and expand its distribution infrastructure to get treated water to strategic points within Ebuakwa where 3 standpipes were built.

Community rainwater harvester in Ebuakwa

These standpipes give the 1,693 community members living in Ebuakwa, access to clean water, and meet the standards of the World Health Organization. By placing them in areas near the population, families spend less time and energy retrieving water for use in their homes. In addition to the standpipes, GB worked with community members to install a rainwater harvesting unit at the community’s school.

WATER VOLUNTEERS IN EBUAKWA:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
The University of Birmingham Water July 2012 20

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EBUAKWA’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE

Community members in Ebuakwa, rely primarily on farming and selling charcoal to make a living. The primary products produced in Ebuakwa are cassava, maize, pineapple, plantains and sugarcane. Reliance on agriculture means community members do not have a consistent income. Without this, they are excluded from formal financial institutions.

Other than the Susus (the traditional savings system), there was no other access to credit or savings in rural areas. The way Susus are structured, money just moved from one community member’s hand to another’s, so there was very low capital injection into the community, which made economic growth in the community a serious challenge.

117

Volunteers

N/A

Savings Accounts Opened

N/A

Loans Disbursed

$2,083

Capital Invested

EBUAKWA’S MICRO-FINANCE SOLUTION

GB Ghana Business Program Manager, Shiella, consults with an MHope Group in Ekumpoano

The GB Business Program works with Microfin Rural Bank to stimulate the local economy by organizing community volunteers around a community bank which is entirely owned and operated by its members. Focusing on providing access to credit and savings for their fellow community members, its volunteers are tasked with socializing the community bank and managing the funds. Microfin and the GB Business Program provide training and support to help strengthen these community banks and stimulate the flow of capital within the community. These financial services are especially beneficial for subsistence farmers and entrepreneurs, who can invest more heavily in their production with a loan, pay back the loan after sales, and generate an income with any excess.

Ebuakwa does not have a Microfin “MHope Group” established yet. The Global Brigades Business team will engage with community members about this opportunity as soon as feasible.

EBUAKWA’S BUSINESS SOLUTION

In general, baked goods are hard to come by in the Ekumfi district. Community members had to go either to Mankessim (45 mins away for 8 GHS) or to Kasoa (90 mins away from 12 GHS), which is far and expensive for a simple trip to get some bread. The community of Ekumfi Ebuakwa had some individuals that were already semi-skilled in baking and saw an opportunity to produce bread in the community.

The community members came together to establish the bakery in May 2014. The bakery has three basic departments – production, distribution and finances. The production team handles all aspects of the production process managed by trained bakers in the community. The community shopkeepers’ act as distributors and the bakery manager in addition to operations handles the finances. The community gave up a portion of community land for the project and put in all the necessary labor, sand and water needed to build the structure to house the bakery.

BUSINESS VOLUNTEERS IN EBUAKWA:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Columbia University Microfinance Brigade 2013 14
London Business School Business Brigade 2013 14
London School of Economics Microfinance Brigade 2013 31
Emory University, University of Oxford, & Wesleyan University Business Brigade 2013 22
Columbia University Microfinance Brigade 2013 26
University of California Los Angeles Business Brigade 2014 10

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Ebuakwa but has not yet begun with the Public Health Brigades program. Now in the planning phase, implementation of a public health solution will start as soon as feasible.

 

Homes with toilet facility : ~2%
Common house materials : concrete, mud bricks, wood

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

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