Quenching Thirst and Changing Lives in Ghana

Building water facilities and wells sounds like work for engineers and plumbers. And, usually it is.

But wells have been dug in Ghana under the guidance of the Rev. Carol Robinson, who didn’t even know where the West African nation was when this aspect of her calling became clear to her. Now, her nonprofit organization, The Waymakers, is working out its unique ministry in Ghana. And Ghana — where she lives six months out of the year — has become a second home to her native New Jersey, where she lives with her family.

Right now, her attention is on a small village in the eastern part of Ghana called Kpanorkle, where they’ve recently completed facilities to bring fresh water to the entire village. “I don’t even know how we found them, they’re so far off the beaten path. I’m sure it was the Lord guiding us,” she says.

The United Nations country team in Ghana reported in 2023 that only 42% of people in the nation are “accessing safely managed water, far behind the global average of 74%.” In addition, the organization reported that “the sanitation situation in Ghana is very poor, with only 25% having access to basic services, about 57% using shared or public facilities and 18% still defecating in open defecation.”

Robinson says she encountered people taking care of private needs in public places in the village.

“Everyone drank from open wells that held unsanitary water since they went to the bathroom wherever they needed to, and the sewage drained into whatever water was there,” she says. “They were also unsafe in that people often fell into the wells while trying to draw water, especially the children.”

But when the first borehole was finished, it was a defining moment.

“The adults jumped up out of their chairs, and the children ran around. Their eyes were wide like Christmas morning,” says Deacon Samantha Pompey, The Waymakers’ chief operating officer, who’s been with Robinson from the beginning.

“Everybody was smiling, jumping, and dancing throughout the project site.”

Robinson say they’d sit in the sweltering heat for hours, sweat pouring down their faces, while they prayed silently for the water to come.

“There was a trickle of water, then before you knew it, it gushed out like our own perfect rain storm. I can’t explain the sheer joy that flooded my heart all at once, “ she says. “I thought, these people’s lives would forever be changed. I can’t believe God is using me to do it, and I want to do this over and over and over again. I not only tapped into the fresh water, I tapped into purpose.”

The Waymakers brought the gospel of fresh water to the village — and what a change it effected. These wells and water facilities have a profound effect on the entire life and culture of the village. At every point possible, villagers are hired to do whatever tasks are needed, so those without jobs find work for a season.

When everything goes perfectly, the building process can take 6-8 weeks. But how many times does that happen? First, they have to find a suitable piece of land and have it donated by the owners, who usually have no hesitation, once they know the purpose.

“Then we need the villagers to strip the land of trees and stones and whatever else is in the way of building. They always comply, but rarely on our schedule,” Robinson says.

It’s a real process, and when deadlines are not met, it costs us more money,” Pompey says.

They built the first water facility in 2015 and have finished a total of 17 thus far. Each facility costs around $12,000, which includes salaries for all the workers, the plumbers to dig for water, steel benders to build the towers to hold 5,000-liter polytanks, masons to build the facilities, electricians to wire the facilities; and testing to ensure the water is potable.

“But the benefit of the finished product is like a domino effect. Children who formerly had to draw water with their mothers instead of going to school can start the school day on time. Mothers who had to draw water can now go to work earlier in the morning because what used to take hours just takes minutes now,” Robinson says.

Another aspect is that women were often attacked and even raped as they sojourned on back roads to secluded wells. “So this is another positive effect of our work,” says Robinson, who is now an official resident of Ghana.

And the ministry of The Waymakers is deeply appreciated.

The Obenyemi Electoral Area, Kpanorkle Community – Kpanorkle, Yilo Kronowitz Municipal Assembly recently presented the organization with a certificate recognizing their work.

“We present this to you for making a way in our lives by providing us with a borehole facility that will give us constant clean water,” the certificate says. “You and your NGO are a blessing from God to this community. We will remember you each day we draw water from this borehole.”

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