Ghanaian Presbyterian Minister attends Clean Water U

by Janet Hilley

Clean Water U in northwestern Mississippi is going international. At the training event in October, there were attendees from seven different countries. These included the Rev. Kofi Amfo-Akonnor who recently traveled over 5000 miles to attend.

The Rev. Kofi Amfo-Akonnor of Ghana with Pat Welsh of Anchorage, KY

While at Clean Water U Mr. Amfo-Akonnor attended the partnership development class with the long-term goal of establishing other purification systems in Ghana. The first such system was installed at the Ramseyer Training Center in March. The Ramseyer Center, the major training center for the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, hosts over 9,000 guests each year.

Water for such a community is difficult because Ghana has only two seasons. From October through February is the dry season when there is almost no rain. The rainy season is from March through September, making it necessary to collect and store all of the water to be used at the center for the yea20-Dec-2006 8:57 PM system and storage units have been a Godsend.

Advent Presbyterian Church in Memphis brought Rev. Amfo-Akonnor to Clean Water U. His training will enable him to spearhead the establishment of a Clean Water U at Ramseyer Training Center. Clean Water U in Ghana will serve to establish water systems in other parts of Ghana by representatives from the Presbyterian, Catholic and Pentecostal churches, as well as community leaders. "The hope is that neighboring communities where there is a big problem with water born diseases, will be able to install and maintain systems," Amfo-Akonnor said. By teaming with other churches and with community leaders they hope to share responsibility for maintaining the units and installation costs.