Developing Country Studies ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.3, No.

4, 2013

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Role of Literacy In Sustainable Boreholes Provision People Empowerment For Poverty Reduction
Auckhinleck, Kwame Adow Atlantic International University, School of Social Studies, Hawaii, USA. E-mail: auckadow@gmail.com Abstract This study examines the role functional adult literacy played in empowering people to sustain boreholes provided and for progressive reduction in poverty. For many governments in sub-Saharan Africa the bane of development interventions is the lack of effective institutions and measures to ensure the sustainability of the vital and high level cost investments made. More so, when the critical mass of the beneficiary population are illiterate and would need training to be able to effectively appreciate, understand, and acquire the rudimentary requisite skills to be able to participate and implement sustainability strategies. The sample size for the study was 1,200 household respondents drawn from 240 communities provided with boreholes selected by simple random sampling technique. Primary data was collected from eight Districts through the use of quantitative and qualitative research instruments. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS software. Findings included a 98.3% success rate of literacy project implementation; 74.6% of respondents indicated literacy project contributing to their individual well being; 85.1% indicated literacy project facilitated the availability of trained hand pump maintenance technicians; 87.6% indicated the literacy project facilitated ownership of boreholes by communities; 73.0% indicated literacy project contributing to community borehole sustainability; and, 73.3% of respondents could relate the continual sustainability of boreholes to low level poverty in their communities. Thus, basic adult literacy for the sustainability of boreholes is considered quintessential for continual improvement in the quality of human lives and ultimately for reduction in poverty, and should be pursued. Key words: Boreholes; Empowerment; Illiteracy; Literacy; Sustainability.

1. Introduction As at year 2008, UNESCO indicated that there was in existence over 774 million illiterate adults and youth. By implication, about one in five adults as at then did not have access to written communication through literacy to make them effectively functional in society. The obvious situation is that adult illiteracy has become a growing problem despite efforts to eradicate it. To affirm the important role literacy plays in the development process the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012, was launched with the focus and vision as Literacy as Freedom and Literacy for All. Among its priority population groups were illiterate youth and adults, especially women (UNESCO, 2008). Bohla (1990), indicated that literacy had become a human rights issue and serves as a means of liberating a peoples mind from the burden and bondage of ignorance and dependency to producing people of capacity, capable, self-supporting and independent. He indicated further that literacy plays a central role in development and though not always understood, there exists an inseparable beneficial relationship between literacy provision and development. So the lack of literacy jeopardizes development efforts especially in rural communities in developing countries. The way literacy is defined has changed over several decades. For example, literacy was considered simply as the ability to read and write messages in the 1930s to 1940s. However, recent emphasis has been on the effective applications of reading, writing and computational skills. Thus, the concept of literacy being functional has eventually emerged to describe the application of basic reading, writing, computational skills, and links to occupational livelihoods skills learning. UNESCO defines literacy as: literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals in life, develop their knowledge and potential and participate fully in community and wider society (UNESCO, 2005:21). The empowerment aspect of literacy has also been recognized because it paves the way for knowledge acquisition, building self-confidence and self-esteem, and with increased awareness created, individuals, households and communities behaviors are influenced positively for development (UNESCO, 2008). In some countries illiteracy is regarded as a barrier preventing the poor from improving their lives, while in others illiteracy is regarded as one of the major causes and determinants of poverty (UNESCO, 2008). The indication worldwide is that as a country develops, illiteracy generally declines when more children enroll in school. However, in rural areas and among deprived population groups high illiteracy rates often persist as access to education is limited. Many people believe outlays towards literacy provision are a waste of national resources

Developing Country Studies ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.3, No.4, 2013

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and such funds should be invested in expanding and providing quality education to the current school-age population. However if adult illiteracy is not addressed over a period of time the literate-illiterate population disparity continue to grow and negatively affect incomes as large deprived groups persistently fall into extreme poverty levels (World Bank, 2010a; Adow, 1993). To the United Nations, the continual existence of adults in countries constitute a major problem to advancing development, retards development initiatives, and in many instances poses great risk to national stability and security, fostering rebels in developing countries who do not understand and appreciate the values of democratic governance, as well as the abuse, misuse and misguidance of the illiterate population by politicians when campaigning for political power. Thus, by declaring 1990 as the International Literacy Year (ILY), the United Nations General Assembly by its Resolution no.42/104 of 1987 completely and emphatically endorsed the ideology and theoretical basis for promoting literacy as a development instrument and means of setting free masses of people from mental bondage and limitations to a parochial world view due to lack of basic capacity to read, write, calculate and acquire occupational skills. Without a country improving the literacy of its population, there cannot be accelerated development, and if not improved, illiteracy causes reversals of gains in national development due to lack of know-how and sustainable capacity of the mass of illiterates as compared to fewer literates (UNESCO, 2006; Bohla, 1990). The inability to read, write, and count limits effective participation in the labor market and also seriously limits sustainability of programs, for instance, the operation and maintenance of potable water infrastructure such as boreholes (Fisher, 2011; Fosenka, 2008). It has also been indicated in other studies that literate adults are more effective workers. This applies both to workers in wage jobs and to the large majority of women and men who are employed through the informal sector (McKay & Aryeetey, 2007; Aryeetey & Kwakye, 2005). The inability of people to read, write and compute limits their capacity to engage effectively in development activities. Providing literacy promotes enhancement of community solidarity and collective capacity to work with development partners to improve their well being and reduce poverty (Carey, 2002). Literacy is therefore one of the major universal issues linked with reduction in poverty, creating wealth and growth in national economies, so the literacy competence of a population is quintessential to economic development of countries. Literacy empowers and facilitates freedoms utilization to redress and ensure consistent emergence from poverty (UNESCO, 2008; UNDP, 1997). When poverty combines with illiteracy it deprives people of essential knowledge, capacity and capabilities, as well as robbing them of dignity, confidence, and self-respect (World Bank, 2006; Nussbaum, 2005). All these lead to the lack of capacity and capability to command resources to meet ones basic needs and enable them live in dignity. Literacy provision therefore constitute a major element in the human development nexus, especially as specifically related to ensuring the emergence of the masses from poverty and their ability to help sustain reduction in poverty consistently. Thus, adult literacy provision should help to reduce basic deprivations in choices and opportunities (Sachs, 2005). In Ghana the efforts to reduce illiteracy, especially in rural areas and among the poor and socially excluded date back to the post-colonial era. Starting in the 1950s, the independent government introduced mass literacy campaigns but success was limited. The reasons for the poor performance were primarily due to supply driven approaches without participant interest, poor links to occupational and civic needs, and ineffective teaching methodologies (Aoki, 2006; Adow, 1993). Also another objective of Ghanas adult literacy program was to develop the nations manpower base for the implementation of the post-colonial Accelerated Development Plan (Community of Learning, 2005). Eradicating illiteracy was declared a national priority in 1991and the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) was established as the institution mandated under the Ministry of Education to implement adult literacy programs in Ghana. The goal was to eliminate illiteracy among the 5.6 million illiterates by the year 2015 (World Bank, 2010a; Owusu-Boampong, 2007; Owusu-Mensah, 2007). Therefore peoples empowerment for selfdevelopment through adult literacy promotion became a major pathway employed by the Government of Ghana to reduce poverty (Aryeetey and Kwakye, 2005; World Vision Ghana, 2003). The NFED developed the inception phase to the National Functional Literacy Program (NFLP I) with the main objective to improve economic opportunities and quality of life for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged Ghanaians. By the end of that phase a large adult literacy program had been developed including a nationwide infrastructure for implementation. The Ghana National Functional Literacy Project Phase 2 (NFLP II) was designed as a follow-up to the first phase of the project organized from 1992-97, taking into account the challenges of the previous program and sector level constraints encountered (World Bank, 2010a). The objective of the NFLP II was consistent with the governments Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (2000-02) which focused on poor peoples capacity to earn incomes to improve the quality of lives and promote reduction in poverty. In the Government of Ghanas Poverty Reduction Strategy (2006-09) the priority of improving literacy rates remained. One of the objectives of the NFLP II was to pilot 500 English Adult Literacy Classes (World Bank, 2010a). This was substantially achieved with a major contribution made by World Vision Ghana.

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2. Issues Trends In Adult Literacy Delivery In Ghana Under the World Vision Ghana Rural Water Project Phase III (1996 to 2003), the target was to drill 600 wet wells for 300 communities in the Greater Afram Plains areas of the Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana. Training was to be organized for 570 borehole hand-pump maintenance and repair technicians to ensure sustainability of the boreholes in beneficiary communities. To ensure continual potable water availability and consistent boreholes patronage to eradicate waterborne/related diseases, especially guinea worm, six thousand (6,000) illiterate members of institutions relating to the management of the boreholes at the community level, such as, Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committee members, Womens groups, and Pump Maintenance Technicians (PMTs) were to be put through literacy classes. The objective was to build their capacity to handle boreholes sustainability issues in the communities after programs phase-out, with the long-term objective of empowering them to take hold of their future to reduce poverty in the study area (World Vision Ghana GRWP, 2003). A survey conducted in 1999 revealed a total of 5,923 non-literate members of local institutions formed in rural communities in the eight districts where World Vision was operating. It was thus imperative that proactive steps have to be taken to redress the situation to guarantee the sustainability of the boreholes investments made. World Vision therefore requested the NFED to provide a functional English literacy project for beneficiaries of its Water and Sanitation Program where the eight Districts were located so as to meet the objective of ensuring sustainability of the borehole investments made in the Greater Afram Plains. Due to the multiplicity of ethnic groups with varied dialects in the Greater Afram Plains, World Vision recommended a functional English Literacy Project instead of several vernacular literacy classes, which the NFED accepted. It was also emphasized that the learners would benefit most because of English being a universal language. More importantly, literacy of borehole hand-pump parts must be in English because the hand-pump parts have no names in the local dialects. By March 2003, in collaboration with the NFED, as shown in Table 1, 7,699 learners were enrolled in adult English literacy classes, facilitated by 270 trained Literacy Facilitators in 202 rural communities. The specific aim was to build the capacity of the Learners to read and write, acquire numeracy skills, and also to enable them monitor and repair the boreholes provided in their communities to promote sustainable boreholes for gradual reduction in poverty (World Vision Ghana, 2004). The typical characteristics of several adult literacy projects globally has been the failure to produce outcomes expected, high drop-out rates, low patronage and low completion rates (Carey, 2002). Despite that grave scenario, out of the number of 7,699 enrolled in the World Vision Literacy Project, 7,565 successfully completed the classes in 24 months. Out of the number who successfully completed, 51.1% were males, and 48.9% were females. World Vision exceeded its target by a margin of 1,565 (26.1%) due to more teaching and learning logistics, and project monitoring support provided by the NFED to enable more classes to be established to meet the high demand in the communities (World Vision Ghana, 2004). This study therefore examines the role the World Vision Literacy Project specifically played in empowering the local rural population to sustain boreholes provided towards reduction in poverty in their households and communities.

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3. Methodology For this study the population of interest was drawn from rural communities in eight districts where World Vision Ghana Rural Water Project drilled 1,146 boreholes in 740 communities in eight Districts in three Regions from 1990 to 2003. The sampling frame was thus based on the database of boreholes drilled (World Vision, 2003). The probability sampling technique was employed to obtain the sample needed for the study.This technique allowed for each individual unit in the population universe to have a chance or probability of being included in the sample (Guiseppe, 2006; Krueger & Neuman, 2006). Specifically, the probability technique - Simple Random Sample (SRS), was used to select the samples (communities and respondents) for this study. Two hundred and forty (240)

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communities, representing 32.0% of communities with boreholes (Program communities) were sampled for this study. Five household respondents were selected from each program community to arrive at a respondents sample size of 1,200. Primary data were collected from communities sampled using a mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Information were collected on the situation before and after boreholes were provided in terms of the sources of water, the availability and access to potable water, the capacity for engaging in livelihoods occupations, health issues, hygiene practices, and issues relating to potable water security assurance through boreholes governance measures and practices towards sustainability, including the functional adult literacy project implementation. Information were also accessed from secondary sources to facilitate the discussions. Questions were structured with responses in basic Yes or No formats for the quantitative. The quantitative data were analyzed through the use of SPSS computer-based analysis applications to generate the results. Qualitative information gathered was analyzed by Content analysis methods to triangulate and also complement quantitative results. The unit of analysis was households. Non-parametric data analysis methods, especially descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data, and EXCEL spreadsheets tools used to depict the results graphically. 3.1 Conceptual /Theoretical Framework The functional adult English literacy project for promoting sustainable boreholes provision aims at the empowerment of community people. One significant purpose that should be achieved was building local capacity of the local population in a community to be able to sustain all investments made in the boreholes provided to be able to sustain gains made in health and time availability and its use to reduce poverty. The conceptual model is as captured in Figure 1, shows the inter-relationships between adult literacy implementation after boreholes provision for people empowerment for poverty reduction which involves: (1) Boreholes provided in rural communities to meet basic potable water needs. (2) WATSAN Committee (borehole oversight institution) formed and trained. (3)WATSAN Committees empowered to select local people to be trained as borehole hand-pump maintenance technicians (PMTs) for their communities. (4) Illiterate members of WATSAN Committees, illiterate PMTs and members of Womens groups enrolled in Literacy classes learn more about borehole hand-pump maintenance and repairs to sustain quality of life through consistent boreholes patronage. (5) WATSAN Committee members and PMTs enrolled in Literacy classes are able to identify handpump parts by name and able to purchase the right hand-pump parts for borehole repairs. (6) Potable water security assurance with beneficial outcomes as: United Nations and World Health Organizations water requirement of 20 litres per person a day met; guarantees eradication of water borne/related diseases; promotes personal hygiene and health; promotes environmental hygiene; saves community folks time from water hunting; time savings from water hunting used for economic activities to create wealth; prevents relapse by community members to patronize surface water sources infested with waterborne/related diseases, especially guinea worm. The theoretical framework as presented in Figure 2 shows the theory of change depicting the role adult literacy plays in the sustainable boreholes provision to empower people towards gradual reduction in poverty. In Figure 2 the INPUTS show as: boreholes provision in rural communities; boreholes sustainability institutions and practices established for assurance of potable water availability all year round in the form of technical, social, financial, institutional, and environmental sustainability. The PROCESS employed is the establishment of 270 functional adult English literacy classes in 202 rural communities. The OUTPUTS were: community ownership of boreholes leading to effective boreholes operation, maintenance and repairs supervised by WATSAN Committees; pool of people literate about boreholes created and can be tapped for training as hand-pump technicians; community populations experience very good health and time gains utilization due to continual potable water availability. The OUTCOMES were: water security assurance which has resulted in all year round availability of potable water as indicated by the ability to engage in occupational livelihoods consistently without being side tracked by trekking in search of water; improved and high labor productivity from time gains applications on occupational livelihoods activities; high returns from occupational livelihoods engagements; economic empowerment investments in livelihood occupations generating incomes and progressive wealth creation in households; human dignity regained and valued as a result of continual improvements in individual and household well being. The IMPACTS were: very strong economic capacity established leading to progressive wealth creation; improved quality of life; emergence from poverty; progressive reduction in poverty; decent living and restoration of human dignity; human capability improvements; and, financial capacity to contribute towards borehole sustainability and also to meet basic household needs.

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Figure 1: Conceptual framework - Inter-relationships between Adult Literacy implementation after boreholes provision for people empowerment for poverty reduction

6. Potable water security assurance, with following benefits: - Meets UN water requirement of 20 litres per person a day. - Guarantees eradication of water borne/related diseases. - Promotes personal hygiene and health. - Promotes environmental hygiene - Saves community folks time from water hunting - Time savings from water hunting used for economic activities to create wealth. - Prevents relapse by community members to

2. WATSAN Committee (borehole oversight institutions) formed and trained.

3. WATSAN Committee empowered to select borehole hand-pump maintenance technicians (PMTs) to be trained for their communities. - Training of WATSAN Committee members and PMTs in boreholes management principles and practices.

1.Boreholes provided in rural communities. Borehole sustainability through patronage of adult literacy classes.

5. WATSAN Committee members and PMTs enrolled in Literacy Classes are now able to identify hand-pump parts by name and able to purchase the right hand-pump parts for borehole repairs. -Regular borehole maintenance and repairs.

4. Illiterate members of WATSAN Committee and illiterate PMTs and members of Womens groups enrolled in Literacy Classes learn more about borehole hand-pump maintenance and repairs to improve and sustain quality of life.

Source: Authors Construct

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Developing Country Studies ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.3, No.4, 2013

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4. Results As depicted in Figure 3, 56.5% of respondents in this study indicated they have ever attended school, while 43.5% indicated they have not. The literacy in the study area has serious implications for borehole sustainability towards potable water availability and cultivating the culture of borehole ownership, maintenance and repairs. Figure 3: Ever attended school

Series1, No, 43.5%

Series1, Yes, 56.5%

Source: Field work 2006 The literacy status of respondents as depicted in Figure 4 shows 52.5% indication that they could neither read nor write. 41.2% of respondents could read and write, while 3.8% could only read and 2.5% could only write. This reveals that even despite the literacy project a high number of people in the study area are still illiterate and much effort has to be made to get them literate by the NFED organizing more literacy classes on a continual basis. This will help people appreciate better the need to sustain the boreholes provided. Figure 4: Literacy Status Series 1, Read, 3.8%, 4% Series1, Write, 2.5%, 2%

Series1, Neither, 52.5%, 53%

Series1, Both, 41.2%, 41%

Read

Write

Both

Neither

Source: Field work, 2006 In this study, 80.3% of respondents indicated their main occupation as farming. Sustainable potable water availability therefore positively impacts their time and health and by implication boreholes sustainability should be a core concern to them as farmers. Getting level headed through effective participation in the literacy project also enabled them better know the need to collectively own and sustain their boreholes. In Figure 5, 89.5% of respondents indicated their household members having low incomes before the provision of boreholes in their community. This was due to the extensive trekking in search of water which deprived them of the time to engage in income earning livelihood activities. Also many household members were incapacitated by water borne/related diseases such as guinea worm and diarrhea and thus poor health prevented them from engaging in activities to earn income. This condition entrenched them in opportunistic and occupational poverty. However, through the literacy project they are better able to appreciate the essence of borehole sustainability for continual supply of potable water for their economic empowerment and gradual emergence from poverty.

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Figure 5: Household members having low incomes before the provision of boreholes Series1, Don't Know, 1.2% Series1, No, 9.3%

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Series1, Yes, 89.5%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 As depicted in Figure 6, 84.7% of respondents indicated awareness of direct linkage between household water security and the ability of their households to generate income all year round. Their ability to earn income from their occupational livelihoods facilitated emergence out of poverty in their households and reduction of poverty progressively. It is now known that engaging in the literacy project enabled them to understand the endless possibilities for emergence out of poverty through boreholes provision. Figure 6: Water Security and the ability of households to generate income all year round Series1, Don't Know, 9.0%, 9% Series1, No, 6.3%, 6% Series1, Yes, 84.7%, 85%

Yes

No

Don't Know

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 As shown in Figure 7, responses from 74.6% of respondents indicated that the literacy project contributed to the well being of their households. With the knowledge gained from the literacy classes they indicated their new role as guardians for the effective operation and maintenance of the boreholes in their community, which saves them much time to engage in occupations to earn income to meet their basic needs. Figure 7: Literacy project contributing to households well being Series1, Don't Know, 18.6% Series1, No, 6.8%

Series1, Yes, 74.6%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 As depicted in Figure 8, 84.8% of respondents indicated boreholes provision being an intentional effort of eradicating illiteracy and poverty due to the high impact implementation of the functional literacy classes. This, they believe was to empower communities to enable them operate, maintain and repair the boreholes, and which support people to attend to their occupational livelihoods. They indicated adult literacy also facilitates childrens school participation, as the adults now better appreciate and value education and support their children to be regular at school to be able to move to the tertiary levels.

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Figure 8: Borehole provision being an intentional effort of eradicating illiteracy and poverty Series1, Yes, 84.8%

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Series1, No, 13.8%

Series1, Don't Know, 1.4%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 As shown in Figure 9, 88.7% of respondents indicated that there is the availability and access to pump parts to ensure borehole sustainability. This a high sustainability indicator and a very crucial factor in borehole sustainability (maintenance and repairs) for the continual availability of potable water in communities. Through the literacy classes learners got to know the names of the borehole hand-pumps parts and how to access the spare parts supply chain. Figure 9: Ensuring borehole sustainability through the availability and access to pump parts

Series1, Don't Know, 2.7%

Series1, No, 8.6%

Series1, Yes, 88.7%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 Figure 10 shows 85.1% of respondents who affirmed the availability of trained Pump Maintenance Technicians (PMTs) in the community as way of ensuring sustained and effective borehole operation, maintenance and repairs to ensure borehole sustainability. Success of PMTs was directly attributed to the effective literacy classes they participated in. Figure 10: Literacy Project facilitated availability of Pump Maintenance Technicians Series1, Don't Know, 9.3%

Series1, No, 5.6%

Series1, Yes, 85.1%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006

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The present and long-term sustainability of the boreholes depend on training and occasional re-training of the Pump Maintenance Technicians. Generational training has been a key element in the trainings organized in communities provided with boreholes. As shown in Figure 11, 85.1% of respondents indicated that the Literacy project has facilitated effective community level borehole operation, and maintenance. In effect, the Literacy project created a pool of available persons who are members of the communities borehole sustainability institutions established and therefore trainable and available for capacity building. Figure 11: Literacy Project facilitated effective community borehole operation and maintenance Series1, Don't Know, 9.0% Series1, No, 5.9%

Series1, Yes, 85.1%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 As shown in Figure 12, 96.5% respondents considered borehole sustainability as key to sustainable quality livelihoods in their households. This appreciation flows from insight gained into boreholes operation and maintenance built into the Literacy curriculum and emphasized by the literacy facilitators. Figure 12: Seeing borehole sustainability as key to sustainable quality livelihoods of households

Series1, No, 3.5%

Series1, Yes, 96.5%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 Figure 13 depicts 87.6% of respondents indicating that the Literacy Project has facilitated community ownership of boreholes provided. This is an indicator of high level awareness and acceptance of responsibility for borehole maintenance for long-term sustainability. Figure 13: Literacy Project has facilitated Community Ownership of boreholes Series2, Community, 87.6%

Series2, World Vision, 10.8%

Series2, District Series2, Traditional Authority, 0.9% Assembly, 0.4%

Series2, The Church, 0.3%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 Figure 14 shows a 73.0% response rate indicating that the literacy project was contributing to borehole sustainability. As many participants in the Literacy Project made themselves available to be trained as hand pump technicians and others also monitored the operation of the boreholes, they recognized and reported any malfunctioning or faults they noticed to the WATSAN Committees for immediate redress.

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Figure 14: Literacy project contributing to community borehole sustainability Series1, Don't Know, 20.2%

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Series1, No, 6.8%

Series1, Yes, 73.0%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 As many as 73.3% of respondents were able to relate the presence of boreholes to low level poverty in their households, as shown in Figure 15. This indicates their high level awareness of transformational change in their lives. Figure 15: Relating the continual availability of potable water from boreholes to low level poverty

Series1, High level, 26.7%

Series1, Low level, 73.3%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 Figure 16 shows 90.8% of respondents indicating that their community borehole as currently working, as at the time of the survey. This is a practical evidence of community ownership and a key sustainability indicator. Much of this can be attributed to the effectiveness of the literacy classes in which participants indicated they participated. Figure 16: Community borehole currently working

Series1, No, 9.2%

Series1, Yes, 90.8%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 As shown in Figure 17, 89.2% of respondents indicated the availability of potable water from boreholes provided all year round in their households. This, they indicated was due to the great awareness gained from the literacy classes and the effective work done on the boreholes by the Pump Maintenance Technicians and effective monitoring of boreholes performance by the WATSAN Committees to support boreholes sustainability to foster their emergence from poverty and gradual reduction of poverty from their households.

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Figure 17: Availability of potable water from borehole all year round in households

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Series1, No, 10.8%

Series1, Yes, 89.2%

Source: Fieldwork, 2006 From the qualitative information gathered in this study, it was further revealed that the Literacy project impacted the beneficiary communities in multiple ways. For instance, borehole hand-pump maintenance and repair technicians were now able to identify pump parts by name and purchase them for repair work on community boreholes. This has promoted the availability of potable water all year round. Thus, water security was guaranteed in all the project communities. In terms of social impact, it has fostered social cohesion in and among communities. There is a more peaceful environment and it is now easier to call for community meetings to plan and implement community development interventions. Increased disposable household incomes through regained health and time savings invested in income earning livelihoods were related as economic gains made as a result of the continuous availability of water from the boreholes. This also enabled funds contributions to facilitate prompt repairs of boreholes in the communities. Beneficiaries of the Literacy project were able to help their children understand and carry out their school home assignments. Beneficiaries also felt so much empowered and expressed much gratitude for being liberated from limited life options and choices due to illiteracy. The civic and development inertia in communities prior to boreholes provision has given way to dynamic and proactive participation in community development activities. Very high patronage of the literacy classes was recorded and the demand for the next phase was very high. 5. Discussions Lind, in her article in the Springer, offers personal reflections on literacy programs to adults. With over thirty years field experience relating to literacy provision for adults she indicated that a Literacy program should not be considered a failure due to fifty per cent of learners drop out. Instead she considers such a Literacy program a success if 50% of learners stayed on and acquired the necessary skills to be able to read, write and compute (Lind, 2008a). The results from this study however indicated a 98.3% success or participation rate which greatly exceeds Linds criterion. As to what should be the basic aim of literacy delivery there exist several schools of thought. One school proposes mass education to eradicate illiteracy and improve human well-being. Another proposes project-specific solutions to empower community people for sustainability of programs implemented in those communities and also improvement in the quality of life (Prahalad, 2010; Lind, 2008b; Adow, 1993). In Ghanas experience, the mass delivery of adult literacy approach employed in the 1950s failed, but this study discovered that the Projectspecific delivery approach used by World Vision succeeded excellently. To another school of thought, financing adult literacy programs is a waste of resources and prefers such investment be channeled into basic education delivery (Bornstein, 2007; Payne, 2007; Adow, 1993). However this study shows that functional adult literacy can also be a catalyst to foster income earnings from occupations through building the needed capacity to sustain boreholes In the World Vision literacy project what kept learners in classes for most of the twenty-four months were: personal interest; having community class mates created social cohesion which could be tapped into for community mobilization for development; also the novelty and excitement about the project created community buy-in and enthusiasm; learning English to be empowered was a critical social status for those who missed-out on formal education; and, the literacy project served as opportunity and potential for accessing higher education. All these were critical success factors which motivated many of the learners to participate and complete the 24 months project duration (World Vision Ghana, 2004). The teaching and learning approach adopted in implementing the project was also a key contributory

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factor for its success. These included the use of context appropriate primers which allowed a learner to catch-up even when he/she missed classes for some few days. Class registers were marked at each attendance and the importance of continual attendance stressed. The Facilitator lived in the community and encouraged learners not to fall behind. Training and learners logistics, incentives in the form of gifts-in-kind protective clothing for learners and facilitators, as well as bicycles purchased for each facilitator were rare motivators provided to support the project (World Vision Ghana, 2004). According to Senge and Sachs, postulating that economic growth singularly resolves the challenges of poverty is a basic fallacy. Should that even be the case, economic growth should be proactively induced. For instance, intentionally empowering rural inhabitants through literacy projects to sustain boreholes to guarantee the continual availability of potable water in rural communities for progressive reduction in poverty (Senge, 2008; Sachs, 2005). In this study, sustainability is used to imply the continual performance or not, of a borehole over a period of time. This further implies that for a borehole, there is continuous flow of water over its lifespan as originally designed, in terms of quantity and quality, and indicating that during its lifespan the borehole has not dysfunctioned to warrant complete rehabilitation (Abrams, 2011; Koestler and Koestler, 2008; Fosenka, 2008). Studies conducted by Montgomery and others have indicated that the large percentage of non-functioning boreholes in Africa depicts the lack of adequate repairs and maintenance and the unavailability of institutions to ensure rural communities have boreholes sustainability. As an example, eleven countries surveyed in Africa south of the Sahara revealed that 35-80% of facilities provided to serve potable water as being operative (Montgomery, et al, 2009). However, a study in South Africa indicated seventy per cent of Eastern Cape boreholes inoperative. Another survey of seven thousand boreholes and wells indicated about 45.0% functional in Tanzania. Meanwhile only ten per cent of the water facilities provided twenty-five years and over were operative (World Bank, 2010b). In this study it was noted that the philosophy undergirding boreholes provision was to get some of the illiterate population literate through the literacy project to enable them be custodians and effective managers of the boreholes. As Harvey and Reed have indicated a non-functioning hand pump is a stark symbol of unfulfilled expectations and unchanging poverty (Harvey & Reed, 2004:84). By implication, wherever boreholes are functioning consistently over a long haul in rural communities, there must be obvious evidence of progressive poverty reduction. Thus, functional adult literacy is quintessential for the sustainability of potable water infrastructure, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank, 2010b; UNESCO 2005). This study found out that the proactive introduction of the literacy project forestalled the tragic findings as indicated by Montgomery and others. This study further revealed that the sustainability of boreholes was a high priority for implementing the literacy project as indicated by 88.7% of respondents. Otherwise for lack of knowledge of the names of borehole hand-pump parts, spare parts could not have been purchased by inhabitants of rural communities and broken down boreholes could not have been repaired. This would have led to communities resorting to patronizing their polluted traditional surface water sources infested with guinea worm, and which incapacitated them physically and prevented them from engaging in productive occupational livelihoods and could draw them back into opportunistic and occupational poverty (Mba & Kwankye, 2007; Jamison, et, al, 2006). Conversely, with support of the Literacy classes, hand pump parts are known by name and could be easily sought for and purchased in local shops for the repair of boreholes as indicated by 85.1% of respondents in this study. Comparative analysis estimates indicate that as at 2006, 60.2% of hand pumps fixed on boreholes in Nigeria were non-functioning. The main reason assigned for these hand pump failures was lack of maintenance of the hand pumps after installation. So with continued usage, serious wear and tear occurred until they finally ceased functioning (Eduvie, 2006). In this study however, 85.1% of respondents surveyed gave indication that the Literacy project facilitated the availability of Pump Maintenance Technicians in their communities. Therefore boreholes were promptly repaired by the trained Pump Maintenance Technicians when they become dysfunctional. This has helped to prevent people from reverting to old sources of surface water and resulting in sustained reduction in poverty in the study area. It has been noted that poverty reduction can be a reality through the implementation of functional adult literacy projects for poor people. Such projects help learners/participants through the strengthening of their occupational skills and the capacity to earn income and also build their capabilities (McKay & Aryeetey, 2007; Aoki, 2006; UNESCO, 2006). As indicated in both the conceptual and theoretical framework (Figures 1&2) in this study, it was noted that as learners acquired communication skills both orally and in writing they were better informed about water-borne/related diseases and the associated health-related problems leading to incapacitation and poverty as indicated also by other studies (Bartram, 2008; Pruss-Ustun, et al,2008). Learners became aware of how productive they have become due to effective utilization of time gains as a result of the continual operation of the boreholes in their communities. This allowed for increased income, improved quality of life, emergence from poverty, and progressive reduction in poverty (Blackden & Wodon, 2006;

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La Frenierre, 2009). These experiences served as motivation for community ownership of boreholes and assumption of sustainability responsibilities on a continual basis. 6.0 Conclusions As explained in the conceptual theoretical frameworks, the prime objective in the World Vision Ghana Literacy Project was to empower learners in communities for the sustainability of boreholes provided in the rural communities so that people did not relapse to former status of poverty due to the prevalence of water borne diseases, especially guinea worm. Secondly, for gaining of freedoms, for instance, time savings made from trekking extensively in search of water used for participating in Literacy classes for gaining knowledge, and to become effective and useful citizens. Thirdly, also as indicated by Mc Caffery, for mobilization, planning and implementation of community development plans; and freedoms gained which express and manifests increase in lifes choices and options and improved quality of life (McCaffery, 2007). To these rural communities therefore, sustaining their boreholes is an essential factor in their daily lives. They would go to any length (including patronage of Literacy classes) to ensure their boreholes function all year round because they have become highly aware of the essence of water security assurance for individuals, households and the fostering of community well-being. The objectives of an adult literacy program thus became two-edged. First, for personal development; and second, for empowerment to facilitate emergence out of poverty and gradual reduction in poverty. The personal development objective focused more on individual development, and thus, literacy acquisition was viewed as a skill that would eventually enable the adult to make progress in his/her life. The empowerment objective increased communitys ability to take control of their destiny and thus positioned them to be less susceptible to environmental vulnerabilities entrenching them in poverty (Fisher, 2011; Ademiluyi & Odugbesan, 2008). In terms of innovation and example of peoples empowerment and development practice, the following results have been documented for policy formulation the World Vision Ghana Literacy Project influenced national Adult English Literacy policy formulation and the development and use of appropriate Primers. Community mobilization strategies were employed to mobilize learners and enrolled 7,699 Learners for the Adult English Literacy Project, out of which a record 98.3% (7,565 learners) completed the learning cycle in 24 months. Communities receptivity to the English Adult Literacy Project was very high and exceeded expectations. Learner/participants indicated that they have been empowered beyond their expectations. The demand for the program is still very high. In terms of well being, 74.6% of respondents indicated the literacy project had contributed to their individual well being; 85.1% indicated the literacy project had facilitated the availability of trained hand pump maintenance technicians; 87.6% indicated the literacy project has facilitated ownership of boreholes by communities; 73.0% indicated the literacy project as contributing to community borehole sustainability; and, 73.3% of respondents could relate the continual sustainability of boreholes to low level poverty in their communities. From the fore-going discussions the policy implications the study identified are that: functional literacy projects that empower households in rural communities to sustain development infrastructure (such as boreholes provided) should be a continuous post-program-support built into program design in order to ensure the sustainability of poverty reduction programs. NFEDs capacity needs strengthening and it needs to collaborate with other literacy providers. NFED was the main provider of adult literacy in Ghana but the community of able non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is growing. Therefore, there is the need for NFED to look out and establish very strong partnerships with such NGOs to help deliver on its objectives to achieve effective nationwide coverage of adult literacy progressively. Adult literacy promotes transformational development in human lives and it being a major human development and crucial poverty reduction factor, as much as possible, many people should be given the opportunity in their lifetime to participate in literacy projects. Thus, the onus is on every national Government to recognize this salient fact and plan proactively to redress the challenge of illiteracy in their countries on a continual basis. This step will also go a long way to facilitate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. References Abrams, L. ( 2011). Understanding Sustainability of Local Water Services. The African Water Page: http://www.africanwater.org/sustainability.htm Ademiluyi, I.A., Odugbesan, J.A. (2008). Sustainability and Impact of community water supply and sanitation programmes in Nigeria: An Overview. Africa Journal of Agricultural Research Vol.3 (12), pp.811-817, December, 2008. Adow, K.A., (1993). Population Growth And Primary School Education In Ghana. Unpublished Masters Thesis, University of Ghana, 1993. Cited in Ghana Statistical Service Population Data Analysis Report, Volume 1: Socio-Economic and Demographic Trends, 2005.

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Aoki, A. (2006). Research on Learning Achievements and Development Impact of Adult Education: The Case of Ghanas National Functional Literacy Program. Dissertation. Tokyo Institute of Technology. Aryeetey, E., Kwakye, E., (2005). Policy Case Study: Functional Literacy: National Functional Program (NFLP II) in Ghana. July, 2005. Addis Abba. Bartram, J. (2008). Flowing Away: water and health opportunities. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, January 2008, 86(1). WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. Blackden, M.C., and Wodon, Q. (2006). Gender, Time Use And Poverty In Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Working Paper No. 73.World Bank, Washington, DC. Bohla, H.S. (1990). An Overview of Literacy in Sub-Sahara Africa Images in the Making. African Studies Review, vol.33 No.3. pp. 5-20. Bornstein, D. (2007). How to Change the World Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. Updated Edition. Oxford University Press, New York. Carey, T. (2002). Literacy pulls people out of poverty. In Education highlights, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) 2005. University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. Commonwealth of Learning (2005). Literacy And Livelihoods: Learning For Life In A Changing world. Published by Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada. Eduvie, M.O, (2006). Borehole failures and groundwater development in Nigeria. Water Africa Exhibition, Lagos, Nigeria. Fisher, J (2011). Operation and Maintenance for Rural Water Service. WELL Briefing Note 15. Water Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC), Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK. Fosenka, H.P.S.S (2008). Rural Water Supply sustainability And Impact. Access To Sanitation And Safe Water: Global Partnerships And Local Actions. 33rd WEDC International Conference, Accra, Ghana, 2008. Guiseppe, I (2006). The Power of Survey Design. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, Washington, DC. Harvey, PA, Reed, RA (2004), Rural Water Supply In Africa: Building Blocks For Handpump Sustainability. WEDC, Loughborough University, U.K. Jamison, DT, Breman, JG, Measham, AR (2006). Disease Control in Developing Countries: Chapter 41: Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Promotion, Sandy Cairncross and Vivian Valdmanis. 2nd Edition. World Bank, Washington, DC. Koestler, AG, Koestler, L (2008). Sustainability of rural water supplies through monitoring. Access To Sanitation And Safe Water: Global Partnerships And Local Actions. 33rd WEDC International Conference, Accra, Ghana. Kreuger, LW., Neuman, WL (2006). Social Research Methods - Qualitative and Quantitative Applications. Pearson Education, Inc, Boston, USA. La Frenierre, J., (2009). The Burden of Fetching Water: Using Caloric Expenditure as an Indicator of Access to Safe Drinking Water - Case Study - Xieng Khouang Province, Lao PDR. University of Denver, USA. Lind, (2008a). Literacy Programs For Adults: What can we expect? International Review of Education (2008) 54:755761, Springer 2008 . Lind, (2008b). Literacy For All Making a Difference, UNESCO International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP), 2008. Mba, CJ., Kwankye, SO. (2007). Population, Health And Development In Ghana: Attaining The Millennium Development Goals. Population Association of Ghana, University of Ghana. Sub-Saharan Publishers, Accra. McCaffery J, (2007). Developing Adult Literacy: Approaches to Planning, Implementing, and Delivering Literacy Initiatives. Oxford Publishers, England,Great Britain. McKay, A., Aryeetey, E. (2007) Ghana: The Challenge of Translating Sustained Growth into Poverty Reduction. Delivering on the Promise of Pro-Poor Growth. The World Bank/ Palgrave Macmillan, Washington, DC. Montgomery, MA, Bartram, J, Menachem, E. (2009). Increasing Functional Sustainability of Water and Sanitation Supplies in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental Engineering Science Journal, Volume 26, Number 5, 2009, Mary AnnLiebert, Inc. USA. Nussbaum, M.C. (2005). Women And Human Development The Capabilities Approach. Cambridge University Press, New York. Owusu-Boampong, A. (2007). Compilation of Data on Non-Formal Education Provision and Policies. Country profile prepared for the Education For All Global Monitoring Report, 2008, UNESCO. Owusu-Mensah, F. (2007). Ghana Non-Formal Education. Country profile prepared for the Education For All Global Monitoring Report, 2008, UNESCO. Payne, J. (2007). Adult Learning In Rural Areas: www.niace.org.uk/lifelonglearninginquiry/docs/Rural.pdf Prahalad, CK. (2010). The Fortune At The Bottom of The Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits. Updated 5th Anniversary Edition. Pearson Education, Inc. Wharton School Publishing, New Jersey.

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Pruss-Ustun, A, Bos, R, Gore, F, Bartram, J (2008). Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health. World Health Organization. WHO Press, Geneva. Switzerland. Sachs, J. D., (2005). The End of Poverty: How we can make it happen in our lifetime. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., New York. Senge, P, Bryan, S, Nina, K, Laur, J, Sara, S, (2008) The Necessary Revolution How Individuals And Organizations Are Working Together To Create A Sustainable World. First Edition. Doubleday Publishing Group, New York. UNDP, (1997). Human Development Report: Human Development to Eradicate Poverty. Palgrave MacMillan Publishers, New York. UNESCO, (2008). The Global Literacy Challenge: A profile of youth and adult literacy at the mid-point of the United Nations Literacy Decade, 2003 2012. UNESCO, Paris, France. ------------- (2006). Handbook For Literacy And Non-Formal Education Facilitators in Africa. UNESCO, Paris, France. ------------- (2005). EFA Global monitoring Report 2006, Education for All Education for All Literacy for Life. UNESCO, Paris, France. World Bank, (2010a). Project Performance Assessment Report Republic of Ghana, Second Phase of The National Functional Literacy Project, June 2010. Sector Evaluations Independent Evaluation Group (IEGSE), World Bank Report No. 54813. Washington, DC. --------- (2010b). Africas Infrastructure - A Time for Transformation. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development /World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank, (2006). World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation. The World Bank, Washington, DC. World Vision Ghana, (2004). Central Sector Operations, Annual Report. World Vision Ghana, Accra. World Vision Ghana (2003). World Vision Ghana Rural Project (GRWP) Phase III Final Evaluation Report. World Vision Ghana, Accra.

The author, Auckhinleck Kwame Adow, was born on 1st January 1955 at Anum, in the Eastern Region of the Republic of Ghana. He is currently a PhD student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. He currently holds qualifications as follows: Master of Public Health, May 2011, Atlantic International University, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; M.A. Population Studies, United Nations Institute of Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, 1993; B.A. (Hons.) Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, 1988. His almost 30 years career experience covered 16 years in rural development and program management with World Vision Ghana from January 1996 to February 2012; 4 years in academia as a Teaching Assistant; 7 and half years in commercial and development banking; 2 years with the Ghana Civil Service. He currently resides in Accra - Ghana, as a Development and Research & Evaluation Consultant. He can be reached through e-mail: auckadow@gmail.com

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