BERNICE LIFTS THE bucket of murky water onto her young daughter’s head; standing knee deep they collect the day’s rations. Bare tree stumps protrude starkly out of the lake, and algae congregates on the surface.

Bernice lives in the Afram Plains in east Ghana, where fresh-water shortages are a major problem. Most people walk miles to collect dirty, untreated water from Lake Volta, the world’s largest artificial lake. More than 9 million people have no access to safe drinking water in Ghana, with thousands suffering waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, bilharzia, guinea worm disease, trachoma ...

 

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