An Oxford University professor has praised the work of a charity helping communities in Ghana.
Community Action Ghana was set up by Adrian and Heather Rosser and their daughter Alyrene.
It was officially registered as a charity in 2020 and Mr and Mrs Rosser, of Botley Road, have had ties to the country for some 50 years.
Donations so far have built three toilet blocks and refurbished five libraries. A fourth toilet block is almost finished and three more villages have expressed interest.
Writing on the charity's website Professor Sir Muir Gray, director of the Optimal Ageing Programme at Oxford University, said: “Amazing developments have taken place in healthcare in the last 50 years, for example hip replacements and chemotherapy, but at least as, and probably even more even more, important than the provision of high value healthcare are two other determinants – clean, clear water and literacy, particularly the educational level of girls and women.
"Community Action Ghana is unique in building libraries, water supplies and toilets.
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“The internet of course is a wonderful source of knowledge but there is much that is wrong and misleading on the internet so there is no guarantee that the knowledge is clean, and not biased, and clear, so people need to learn from childhood on how to find and appraise knowledge.
“This is the role of education and within education the role of libraries.
“By building toilets, water supplies and libraries in the Volta Region, Community Action Ghana is the perfect example of a health service which will help people live longer better.”
Mr Rosser explained some of the history behind the charity. He said: “Heather and I were both on VSO in Ghana in 1967 and travelled to Timbuktu Easter 1968. Married in 1970. We then worked in Nigeria and Botswana for many years.
“In 2009 Alyrene (a professional charity fundraiser) was looking for some voluntarily work and saw that there were volunteers needed in Ghana in a village close to where I had worked so I went.
“I returned the following year to finish the project with donations from friends. I made a very good friend of a Ghanaian builder Clemence Kitsi. His village saw the reduction in child deaths from fly carried disease and he asked us to help. We then applied for and got charitable status.”
Mr Rosser is next going to Ghana from November 17-29 to evaluate finished projects and to work on a new borehole water project in Abunyanya near Kpasa where the village currently uses a river as its water supply.
He added: “When we go on trips like this we pay our own expenses, we do not believe that donors should subsidise our travel expenses.”
For more details about the charity, visit communityactionghana.org.
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About the author
Toby is a senior reporter who has a particular interest in covering planning and local government.
He joined in September 2024 having been a reporter at the Hampshire Chronicle for three years.
Toby studied at the University of Brighton and can be found on X through the handle @JournoToby
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