For many years, students of Odortum/Poliwa Anglican primary school in the Upper Manya Krobo district of the Eastern Region faced water challenges which affected teaching and learning.

The lack of potable water compelled the students aged between 4-12years to resort to unhygienic water sources.

The situation has now changed as part of Izwe Savings and Loans 10th-anniversary corporate social responsibility (CSR) impact projects.

Izwe Savings and Loans sunk a mechanised borehole water system to alleviate the plight of the students and their teachers by providing them access to clean water.

The Odortum Anglican Primary School has more than one hundred students from kindergarten to upper primary.

The children come to school from surrounding communities including Poliwa, Kordunya and Kpertim.

The school, managed by Ghana Education Service has been struggling with water scarcity.

On reporting to school, the children would have to walk for about two kilometres to a stream to fetch water for drinking and other sanitary purposes.

“The water situation has always been there. We must sometimes carry water from long distances to the school. What Izwe Savings & Loans has done for us means a lot to me and my friends. We can’t thank Izwe enough,” Daniela, a pupil said.

The headmaster of the school, Christian Tawiah, said the water problem in the school seriously affected academics.

“It affected the academic performance of the students. They always spent a lot of time going to fetch water. This should not happen,” he said.

During the dry season, school children would have to trek extra kilometres in search of water.

The situation does not only affect students’ work output but their health as well.

Assemblyman for the area, Emmanuel Kwaku Asare, said some residents were already suffering from bilharzia, a waterborne disease.

“Many of the children and adults have this infection because of the water. I think this mechanized water system will significantly reduce the risk, " he insisted.

Through the Corporate Social Responsibility of Izwe Savings and Loans Plc, students and residents can now breathe a sigh of relief as water is now pumped through an overhead reservoir and supplied to the school and the community.