The objective of this project was to construct a twelve-seater KVIP for the villages of Atakrom and Amanfrom in the Akwapim South District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Over 2000 people reside in Atakrom and Amanfrom which is home to six of Blue Skies pineapple suppliers.
Previously the community had no public place of convenience and only a few residents had their own toilet facilities. Many residents therefore used the ‘bush’ or even the roadside to relieve themselves. This had serious health implications and there are cases over the past few years where people have died as a result of cholera.
KVIP stands for ‘Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit’ and is a pit latrine commonly used in Ghana usually constructed with hand-washing stations that collect rain water. This type of latrine is designed to control odour and the presence of houseflies.
The project was officially opened in October 2009 and is already widely used by the community. One resident commented that Members of Parliament would often promise to provide a KVIP for a community as part of an election pledge, and would bring concrete blocks to villages as a sign of their intentions, however if they were elected many would fail to deliver. The same resident commented that the Blue Skies Foundation was the first to have brought a project to their community and expressed thanks on behalf of all the residents.
Having served the community for ten years, and after experiencing infrastructural problems including some damage from a storm, in 2019, the community worked with the government to provide a new facility to replace the project that was started with the Foundation.
