Tantuani, is a farming community in the East Gonja District of the Northern Region of Ghana where poverty stares so fearfully in the face of any first-time visitor.
Any curve that one takes, he or she will definitely bump into the glaring signs of poverty and could even be struck down by its devastating nature.
Life is almost wretched in Tantuani as unwanted weeds and grasses, poor sanitary conditions and underdevelopment is hitting the people so hard like an epidemic just about to explode.
The community is one of the over 200 communities in the East Gonja District and has an estimated population of about one thousand people who are mainly subsistence farmers.
Tantuani cannot boast of a clinic or hospital of its own; it has no pipe-borne water, no electricity, market and a modern educational facility that is stocked with textbooks and other learning materials.
The whole community is well dotted with mud houses roofed with thatched/grass, and with an untarred road leading to Salaga, the district capital which is just about 30 kilometres away. The only buildings with zinc roofs are a single bedroom in a compound house, a grinding mill and the only primary school, Tantuani Annex previously hosted in a hut and wooden structure.
The school was given a facelift just some few months ago by Bibir-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation and the Carpenters Guild of Bouken Germany, but it only runs from class one to five including a nursery. The grinding mill was also donated to the community to assist women who trek longer distances to grind their cereals and foodstuffs, but it is also broken down for several weeks.
The nearest clinic to Tantuani is located at a village called Kpalbi, which is about 15miles away; thus the women have no choice than to deliver their babies in the community with the assistance of an aged Traditional Birth Attendant.
Even though the community falls under the East Gonja District, the bad nature of the road leading to Salaga or Kpalbi, force most of the people to rather seek healthcare at the Tamale Teaching Hospital in the regional capital, travelling through a distance of about 40 kilometres.
The only source of drinking water is a dam but according to residents, it dries up during the dry season, and this leave the women with no option than to travel long distances to hunt for water during the dry season for their domestic use. Residents actually compete with animals including ruminants for water at the dam as they drink whilst also defecating and urinating into the only water body.
But from this deprived village, emerged the Best Primary School Teacher at the 2009 Northern Regional Best Teacher Awards. The award winning teacher, Mr. Sulemana Issahaku, is the head-teacher of Tantuani Annex Primary School.
Speaking to savannahnews at a handing over ceremony of the refurbished Tantuani Primary School Annex, Director of Bibir Ghana, Joseph Charles Osei, said the organisation was also providing assistance in the form of bursaries, school uniforms, learning materials, school bags and among others to the children.
He urged the people to unite in order to get the needed development to their area, stressing that they should not allow partisan politics or chieftaincy issues to divide them but rather put their heads together to achieve their set goals.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Carpenters Guild of Bouken Germany, Mr. Roger Hangemann who expressed shock and disbelief at the level of deprivation in Tantuani promised his group’s unflinching support to the community. He also assured the people he will help address the acute water problem in the community by providing them with a rain water harvesting system and revamping their dam to enable them engage in irrigation activities all year farming.
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