For many years, the people of Kusali, a farming community in the Sisala West District of Ghana’s Upper West Region yearned to have their own health centre. Their motivation stemmed from a prolonged conflict with a neighbouring community which robbed them of a Community Health Planning Service (CHPS) facility funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JiCA). The project was located on the boundary of the two communities, for the benefit of both communities, but due to a deep-seated misunderstanding, they had to let go off the facility. Also, they had relied on the district assembly for support and it was not forthcoming. But considering the difficulties they had to go through to access health, especially with pregnant women having to travel a long distance for delivery, they resolved to take bold steps towards the achievement of their collective desire.
During the latter part of 2019, the people of Kusali started building their own 3-room health facility (CHPS compound) through a self-reliant initiative. Led by their chief and assembly member, the community was divided into eight sections. Each section was tasked to contribute some money with which they used to mold blocks. Early 2020, they started building and managed to raise the structure to an appreciable height. Then they run out of funds. It was at that critical point that the Community Development Alliance (CDA) an NGO they already knew of, came in to facilitate the progress of the health facility. CDA is a key implementing partner of Giving for Change (GfC) project, a pioneering transformative local philanthropy initiative by STAR-Ghana Foundation and the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WASCI).
At a community durbar, CDA programme officers introduced the concept of Giving for Change and it was all music to the ears of community members as they needed timely support and the requisite skills to mobilise funds to complete the CHPS compound which was their ultimate need.
“The Giving for Change fundraising strategies introduced to us by CDA helped a lot because it got to a point there was apathy,” recalls, Tahiru Ali, the assembly member. “When CDA came in and we all agreed that the CHPS compound was a priority, a lot of people in the community got involved. We made a commitment to complete the project,” he says.
CDA facilitated a community fundraising drive. Those who did not have money at the fundraising event, pledged and indeed honoured their pledges. Apart from the money, there were other significant contributions in kind, notably the enthusiasm and readiness of the youth in the community to volunteer their time and labour. The chief also donated two goats for preparing meals for the workers and a tractor (with trailer) for carting sand and other items to the construction site.
According to Tahiru, “the active participation of community members was backed by our chief’s directive that anyone who failed to go for communal labour on the project would be fined. That also increased the attendance.”
The Kusali Assembly man and some community members used social media tools, especially a Facebook page, to mobilise more resources from citizens of the community who now reside in the cities of Ghana or abroad. For instance, a community member who lives and works in the UK as a psychiatrist nurse donated some amounts of money and medical tools for primary healthcare.
“What we have done at Kusali has made impacts on other communities”
At the end of the pilot of CDA’s initiative under the Giving for Change local philanthropy programme, the health facility at Kusali was fully completed. What is now left is for the Ministry of Health to approve it and bring health professionals to man it.
“What we have done at Kusali has made impacts on other communities,” says Tahiru, “Our initiative has encouraged other colleagues in the assembly who reached out to find out how we were able to raise funds to complete our project. By sharing the experiences of Kusali, communities such as Liplime and Bullu have also undertaken community self-help projects.”