A Letter To The DCE, Wa East District, U/W/R

There is a saying that “it is only when you travel out of your comfort zone that you can learn new things”. I felt so comfortable in my little corner until that very hot afternoon I received my appointment letter indicating I was to work in a village in the Wa East district called Luggo. It was a mixed feeling. I felt happy because I just secured a job, on the other hand I felt bad because I was going to a community I had never heard off or never even knew existed. This was the beginning of a new challenge for me.

On my first visit to Luggo, I saw a picture I had been imagining become a reality. The stories I was told of the bad roads, the poor network and the lack of toilet facilities. But man had no choice than to adapt to the conditions in the new environment. It was a lovely first four months with lovely staff at my work site.

I left for vacation at one of my favorite locations. However, the road to Luggo was an eyesore on my return early September, 2018 with the rains pouring day-in-day-out. The one time dusty road was now full of pot holes filled with water on all stretches. The first taste of the bumpy road was just right behind Wa SHS, Danko. Despite the proximity of Danko to the main Wa township, the road linking that community to Wa is an eyesore. From Danko down to Sing is nothing to write home about. I thought I was going to see a better road as we moved towards Bole but the situation worsened. The small “dams” or “rivers” if you wish to call them that covered larger portions of the road made my heart skip a beat any time the car has to drive through them. ''What if this car enters this small “dam” or “river’ and gets stacked How was I going to continue my journey?'' Finally the vehicle in which I was travelling sped past Bole and headed straight into Luggo. I looked keenly through the window where I sat trying to do an assessment of the road. It was really bad. I have not travelled beyond Luggo on that stretch of the road but from the narrations I got, the road that passed through to Kulpong and the subsequent villages is also in a sorry state. Probably the nature of the roads is the reason why I have never sat in or seen any comfortable or new passenger vehicle travelling along that route except the old and worn out vehicles even with which passengers are packed like sardine just to maximize profit.

Interestingly, along this road are sign posts that indicate that the road has been awarded to a contractor yet no work is being done on it. Market women, teachers and other people who commute this road on daily basis are left to their fate.

In this modern era where various governments and other NGOs are wagging wars against open defecation, the people of Luggo are yet to get their share of education on the need to stop open defecation. On the first day I landed in my room at my new station, the first thing I asked my landlord was where i could free myself when nature calls. Surprisingly, I was told the house in which I stay has no toilet and that the only public toilet that serves the community was several miles at the outskirts of the community. Because of the location of the public toilet (which I have not taken the pain to visit anyway), residents prefer to go to the nearby bushes to make themselves comfortable when nature calls. My checks through other houses in the neighborhood showed no sign of households with toilet facilities. Everyone resorts to free range. This is very bad and the consequences can be so daring if nothing is done about the situation. The district sanitation team will need to ensure that the government’s policy of ensuring all households have toilet facilities is adhered to. Luggo can be made an open defecation free community in the near future.

Mr DCE, the last issue I will like to present to you is the state of telecommunication in many of the communities in your district, especially the Luggo stretch. The first day I landed in Luggo the first thing I did after getting down from my motorbike was to check the network. My heart jumped, my Vodafone sim card indicated emergency whilst my MTN sim told me no network. I began wondering how I was going to survive in a community without network in modern era where almost everything is done using the internet. But once again man had to adapt and even become happy anytime I kept my phone data on and edge appeared as the network strength despite the fact it could take me 30 minutes, I mean 30 minutes downloading a 50kb picture. I had to become used to receiving my whatsapp messages 20 or 30 minutes late after they were sent. I had to sometimes move around the community just trying to locate network so I could check my whatsapp messages in order to abreast myself with happenings around the world. Mr DCE something needs to be done about this. The effects of lack of access to proper internet connections in your district as a result of poor network are enormous. Teachers and students are the most affected since they are not able to conduct research in their various fields and subjects as and when the need arises. I know you do not have any power over any telecommunication company but I believe you have the power to contact these companies and lobby for them to erect poles in several parts of your district to help improve the network system. This I believe will make life a bit more comfortable for the indigines, workers and visitors.

Mr. DCE I wil pause here. I will return in the near future to update you with more issues in your district tha need urgent attention.

Yours truly,
Pius Doozie
0206964971
@Emerging Hope Group