EWB-ISU's Clinic Project in Ullo, Ghana

Generous donors have offered a 1:1 match for the first $7,500 contributed to double your impact and help EWB-ISU continue building a medical clinic to serve the Ullo-Dhantie community. Thank you for your support!

Who is EWB-ISU? 

Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization established to support community-driven development programs worldwide through partnerships that design and implement sustainable engineering projects, while providing transformative experiences for university students that enrich global perspectives and create responsible leaders. EWB-ISU is a student-led organization at Iowa State University consisting of about 60 students. Since 2014, our chapter has partnered with the Ullo Traditional Area, in the Upper West Region of Ghana, to plan, design, and implement sustainable solutions that respect and engage local knowledge and practices. Our first project in Ullo was implementing a mechanized, solar-powered borehole that has been pumping 20,000 L of water per day for the past seven years into storage tanks next to the boys and girls dorms of the Ullo Senior High boarding school. Up to 1,000 students no longer have to fetch water early mornings from off-campus boreholes for the school kitchen and their personal hygiene.

Since then, our partnership has resulted in:

• Engineering solution for community-built dam spillway that now holds water in the reservoir and allows the community to produce vegetables in downstream gardens well into the dry season thanks to partnering with Self-Help International.
• Partnership with Self-Help International in locating and staffing an office in the Jirapa District that serves the Ullo Traditional Area through training and microcredit loans to smallholder farmers.
• Improved cook stoves in the school kitchen that reduce smoke inhalation and heat exposure of female staff thanks to partnering with KNUST.
• Partnership with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) and collaboration on bilateral project implementation in Ullo with their EWB-KNUST student chapter.
• Rainwater catchment and micro-irrigation system for school garden that allows hands-on learning of vegetable production in the school's agriculture curriculum.
• Conversion of two unused septic tanks into temporary latrines for female students who no longer have to relieve themselves in the bushes.
• Solar water heating system that preheats cooking water for the school kitchen and cuts back on the unsustainable use of large quantities of firewood thanks to partnering with Design Engineers and ASHRAE grant funds.
• Solar panels and battery back-up on boy’s dorm that powers new lights and ceiling fans to improve security and comfort levels in shared bedrooms thanks to partnering with Design Engineers and ASHRAE grant funds.
• Partnership with Design Engineers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, mentoring student teams in the design of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems for the clinic project.
• Refurbished laptop computers for the high school’s IT department that allows students learn keyboarding and access basic computer software.
• Planning, design, fund-raising, site preparation and Phase 1 and 2 construction of a new poly clinic that will improve health care delivery in the Ullo Traditional Area.   

What is the Ullo poly clinic project? 

During our visit in 2018-19 we learned that the current clinic in Ullo is insufficient in meeting the needs of the community. The clinic consists of five rooms in two buildings and a temporary waiting room structure, which is insufficient to provide adequate healthcare. The maternity ward consists of a converted staff apartment and is not capable of handling multiple births at the same time. The clinic is also in high demand during malaria season. Community members expressed that the lack of access to adequate healthcare has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of too many community members. Since the start of our project, the clinic now has a doctor on staff in anticipation of the new poly clinic coming online. Most medical emergencies require a 45-minute trip to St. Joseph Hospital in Jirapa on roads that during the rainy season are not always passable.

Upon return, the 2018-19 travel team presented this need to the EWB-ISU chapter membership as the next project to partner on with the Ullo Traditional Area. The year was spent exploring the possibility, developing an initial concept, and securing permission from EWB-USA and the ISU College of Engineering administration to undertake such an ambitious project. The 2019-20 travel team presented the concept to the leaders and members of the Ullo community, and government officials of the Jirapa District and Ghana Health Service. Five potential sites the community had identified were evaluated, and a recommendation of the most suitable site presented to the Ullo Paramount Chief and his Council. The recommendation was accepted, and letters of commitment were secured. The Ullo Paramount Chief agreed in writing to provide $5,000 in materials and supplies to prepare the site and start work on the foundation. The Chief Executive and Assembly of the Jirapa District committed to supplying furnishings and medical supplies once the clinic was completed. The district’s Ghana Health Service Directorate committed to staffing, equipping and operating the clinic. 

In the spring of 2020, the membership of the EWB-ISU student organization voted to move forward with the planning, design, fundraising and construction of a new medical clinic in Ullo-Dantie. This new clinic is envisioned to provide the facilites that will allow the district’s health service meet the medical needs of the Ullo Traditional Area including the students of the Ullo Senior High boarding school and about 15,000 people living in Ullo-Dantie and 28 other nearby communities. The new clinic will have a walk-in urgent care building with waiting and consultation rooms and a pharmacy plus an attached maternity ward wing and a 16-bed overnight observation and recovery wing. The construction and completion of the clinic have been broken down into multiple phases over several years. Ground-breaking and site preparation took place in the summer of 2022. Thanks to the generous support of our donors and fund-raising efforts by EWB-ISU students, we initiated construction of the foundation for the entire clinic in 2023 (Phase 1), and completed construction of the main building superstructure in 2024 (Phase 2). 

Pictures and videos of the progress can be seen in the image carousel above. 

The next phase of construction is the roof for the first wing. To see a rendition of what the final structure will look like, please take a look at the image below. The 2024-25 travel team met with representatives of the roofing company, reviewed plans for the roof structure, and obtained an updated budget estimate and design drawings. In spring of 2025, we invested additional funds to add columns to the superstructure in preparation for the third phase which is to add the roof on the main building. To see a rendition of what the final structure will look like, please take a look at the image below.

If we meet (or ideally exceed) our stated FundISU goal, we should be able to initiate roof construction soon after the 2025-26 travel team returns from Ullo in January. Supporting the progress of this project is an investment in improving the overall healthcare and quality of lives and livelihoods in Ullo. Boarding school students and community members will be able to access the new poly clinic for urgent care needs, medicine, vaccines, maternal and infant health, and physical and mental health care consultation. Improving the health of community members is a major step in promoting the development of a more sustainable and prosperous society. You can be part of Ullo's growth by enabling EWB-ISU to support their needs through this poly clinic project!

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