Managing Cultural Diversity Essay

The following paper brie y debates the rhetoric of managing diversity and considers whether managing diversity is a distinct approach to managing people or a means of diluting equal opportunities in UK organizations. With respect to the realities of the concepts in UK organizations, empirical data from a survey of sixty UK human resource professionals and general line managers is presented. We pose a number of cautionary questions, including what does it matter and to whom? By doing so we intend to encourage further critique and challenges in respect to the concept of managing diversity in organizations. Keywords: Managing diversity, equal opportunities, HRM/D, rhetoric, reality Introduction Today the workforce does not look, think, or act like any workforce of the past, nor does it hold the same values, have the same experiences, or pursue the same needs and desires (Jamieson and O’ Mara 1991). The composition of today’ s workforce has changed signi cantly in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, culture, education, disabilities, and values. Running parallel to these changes is the shift in thinking by human resource theorists and practitioners with regard to addressing equality in the workplace (Cooper and White 1995; Liff and Wacjman 1996). This shift is underpinned by the emergence of the business case argument for equal opportunities, as opposed to the persuasive debate for social justice or equal opportunities as ‘ correcting an imbalance, an injustice or a mistake’ (Thomas 1990). There is now a view that, after twenty years of the ‘ stick’ of legal compliance (which has achieved little), the ‘ carrot’ of underpinning the business case for equal opportunities will perhaps achieve more (Dickens 1994). The business case argument for equal opportunities in organizations is often termed ‘ managing or valuing diversity’ , but, as with most contemporary Human Resource Development International ISSN 1367-8868 print/ISSN 1469–8374 online  © 2000 Taylor & Francis Ltd http://www. tandf. co. uk/journals 420 Peer-Reviewed Articles anagement issues, the underlying principles and interpretation of this concept are open to mass interpretation, criticism, and indeed misunderstanding. D. Miller (1996) argues that the significant widening of the meaning of equal opportunities has brought with it more complex and confusing messages for employers and practitioners. By drawing on literature and empirical data, we consider whether man aging diversity is a distinct approach to managing people or a means of diluting equal opportunities in UK organizations and pose a number of cautionary questions, including: what does it matter and to whom? By doing so, we intend to encourage further critique and challenges in respect to the concept of managing diversity in organizations. What is managing diversity? Thomas (2000) argues that, with the growing number of mergers and acquisitions, workforce diversity will become more of a priority for organizations and, therefore, in the future, people will become clearer on what diversity is and how to manage it. As with the debates surrounding de nitions of human resource management and development (HRM/D), managing diversity as a concept means different things to different people. It can relate to the issue of national cultures inside a multinational organization (Hofstede 1984); it can relate to the further development of equal opportunities or to a distinct method of integrating different parts of an organization and/or managing people strategically. Much of the literature regarding managing diversity relates to the US experience, where the concept is particularly popular; a re ection perhaps of the more pronounced diversity of workforce composition (Cassell 1996). In a recent report 1999), a Department of Education in America described managing and valuing diversity as a key component of effective people management, arguing that it focuses on improving the performance of the organization and promotes practices that enhance the productivity of all staff. Their dimensions of diversity include gender, race, culture, age, family/carer status, religion, and disability. The de nition provided also embraces a range of individual skills, educational quali cations, work experience and background, languages, and other relevant attributes and experiences which differentiate individuals.

Why Not to Legalize Marijuana

Why Not to Legalize Marijuana Marjorie Fleuridor ENG/102 March 10, 2013 Professor Laura Barnes Marijuana is one of the best known drugs that have been widely consumed throughout history which today raises a concerned eyebrow. Those who are advocates consider marijuana a harmless and beneficial substance because of its claimed value in treating symptoms of serious illness or diseases and Jeffrey Miron, a professor of economics at Harvard University in the following viewpoint believes that, â€Å"Legalizing illicit drugs would generate billions in tax revenue† (Forbes, 2012 pp. -1). Just as any drug, marijuana may bring some type of relief with its use, but it also poses risk which in the end poses threat to the economy because of its affects to the human body, open doors to addiction, and worse, harms the youth which is not worth the added benefits for the few legitimate users to make acceptable. Marijuana, which is also referred to as pot, weed, cannabis, refer, and Mary Jane to name a few, is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the U. S. s well as around the world which comes from the stems, seeds, leaves, and flowers of the hemp plant, which is also known as cannabis. Most individuals use the plant by either smoking it or mixing it into food because it is an all-natural substance. Registered nurse Mary Lynn Mathre states, â€Å"The cannabis plant (marijuana) has therapeutic benefits and could ease the suffering of millions of persons with various illnesses such as AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, chronic pain, and other maladies† (Mathre 1997, p. ) and that is one of various reasons advocates on legalizing the plant believe that, the substance relieving and therapeutic benefits should legalize the use of marijuana, but if that were the case, risks that occur from its use would not outweigh the benefits. First, why are the detrimental factors of the substance ignored? If marijuana is legali zed worldwide, through its medicinal or recreational use, the human body will experience short as well as long term effects stemming from the consumption of the plant.Marijuana contains a psychoactive chemical which is called tetrahydrcannabinol or THC and as it enters the brain, the marijuana user starts to feel euphoric, or high, but occasionally the drug makes individuals feel anxious, depressed, distrustful or fearful. THC affects the body in various ways by causing short-term effects which include memory loss, trouble with thinking, diminished motor skills, and an increase of the heart rate which is just the minor damage that pose hazard to the body (Goldstein, 2010).Advocates of marijuana has gone as far as pleading that the substance has no real potential harm compared to the use of tobacco, one of the leading causes of cancer. Crystal Phend, a senior staff writer for MedPage Today discusses a study that indicates that a link is present between smoking marijuana and lung canc er where she notes, â€Å"that the study finds that a single marijuana joint may be as carcinogenic as twenty cigarettes† (MedPage Today, 2008 p. ) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) formulated a chart on the commonly abused drugs in which tobacco which causes greater health risk such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer in various forms, for instance, the lungs, pancreas, and esophagus, but it has yet to be scheduled. Marijuana on the other hand poses less health risk compared to tobacco, but it is labeled as a Scheduled I drug, because for as long as marijuana has been present in the world, the illicit drug has no approved use and the denial from the federal law will definitely cause a harsher dent to the economy. The federal ban will keep the marijuana market fragmented† (Berlatsky, 2012 p. 178) which means the small population of potential growers or distributers will continue to fight or compete on the marijuana market, which may limit tax collection r esources and just proves why it should not be legalized. .To further, the story of former marijuana user shares how difficult it was to withdraw from marijuana concerning the subject of addiction with its use.Mick, a 62 year-old male started smoking pot back in 1969 because he had bouts of anxiety and at times depression, but has been sober for the past 10 years, up until suffering one of those prolonged periods of anxiety, in which he took a few hits on the pipe of the drug. The couple of use he took of the substance caused his level of anxiety to skyrocket, in which Mick then withdrew himself from the illicit drug.On the sixth day of withdrawal from smoking weed, he shared how his stomach thought terrible, which gave Mick an awful feeling. When he ate, he stated how his stomach became upset, but not to the point of vomiting and it brought on anxious as well as irritable feelings to the point where cries and isolates himself. Mick concluded on how he would never lit up again becaus e of the unfortunate risk it caused him when he attempted to misuse the drug (Online Support Groups for your Health Challenges, 2011).Supporters disagree that the plant could be of such sort compared to other drugs because a person who quits the substance will not undergo the painful physical symptoms and cravings compared to the experience which individuals suffer when they try to stop using heroin, but we as human react differently to various things. The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that â€Å"about 9% of users develop an addiction to the drug, and that the number rises to 25% to 50% if people use the drug everyday† (NIDA, 2009 p. ). Some users of marijuana may become dependent on marijuana for various matters, and they become fixated on getting the plant, utilizing it in large quantities, and feel uncomfortable without it. If marijuana does not cause addiction, then why do so many victims of its use enter rehab facilities annually? â€Å"Since 1997, the number of people getting treatment for marijuana each year has increased by roughly 50%, or about 100,000 people† (Stop the Drug War 2009, p. 1).With such an increase, the economy will continue to suffer because of the cost of treatment for individuals battling little to no result with their marijuana addiction. Last, â€Å"Why young people have the need to use cannabis on a frequent basis is an interesting question and may be associated with their underlying personality characteristics, environment during childhood and adolescence, as well as any psychiatric disturbances they have experienced, such as depression, anxiety or even psychotic symptoms† (Camera et al. , 2012 pp. 1-2).The subject of a child’s environment where the use of the plant comes to play may cause an adolescent to suffer. For example, a parent’s state of mind may be altered when he or she needs to be an active, attentive caregiver when children are in their presence. Neglect may be the result because the symptoms interfered in the parent’s responsibilities and in such cases; social services are involved resulting with the system providing further care and parents in jail or rehab centers in which they would have to prove their stability.A child in this type of situation may isolate themselves from others or lash out because what they know as normal and home has been taken away. This particular child may grow up and head down the same path of smoking pot and with the â€Å"high† feeling which supporters advocate is the effects of the â€Å"medicine†, but marijuana as the introduction, opens the door to the potential use of other drugs, which can be detrimental.An adolescent may try marijuana and enjoy it; after a while, in the same environment that led to that first joint, will become curious or peer pressured into the unfamiliarity of other substances that are more exciting, gives a greater stimulation, or is more illicit, but are unaware of the dang ers that lay ahead. Heroin and cocaine are the common â€Å"gateway drugs† from early marijuana use in which both are highly toxic and have led to a number amount of deaths as well. Heroine like marijuana is illegal, highly addictive, true contents is unknown, and also is the most abused.The drug is processed from morphine; a naturally occurring substance removed from the seed pot of a variety of poppy plants and is typically a white or brownish powder. Cocaine is removed from the leaves of a South Africa coca plant, affects the body’s central nervous system and the fact that it is a white crystalline powder; cocaine is often mixed with cornstarch, vitamins, flour, and sugar. In relation to marijuana, the drug creates a strong sense of exhilaration in which users generally feel invisible and happy-go-lucky.Legalization of marijuana may increase the number of users in which† an additional 17 to 34 million young adult users† (US News, 2012 p. 1) which sets a bad example for young adults because with its worldwide acceptance whether it is for medical or recreational use, they will be curious of the feeling and reaction from its use, which will only lead down a road to where the youth will take a toll regarding marijuana use. You see, the youth are most at risk from legalization as well as associated obtainability of recreational drugs. If marijuana were to become more available, acceptable nd inexpensive, the substance will pull in greater numbers of vulnerable youth. †The marketing tactics of drug promoters and the major decline in drug use in the 1990s (due in great part to antidrug, education and awareness campaigns) there is a growing perception among young people today that drugs are harmless. A decade ago, for example, 79% of 12th graders thought regular marijuana use was harmful; only 58% do so today† (Drug Free Foundation, 2004) and pressure from colleagues is such an issue in persuading a peer to test drugs, the way adolescents perceive the dangers of its use is serious.The acceptance of marijuana to where it is provided with the government’s stamp of approval, directs a message to young children that drug use is not only inoffensive, but also normal and this is precisely the opposite message we should be assigning. Teaching children that drug use is dangerous will be even more difficult because advocates declare marijuana as â€Å"medicine,† which just simply opens a window for teens to feel that it is ok to smoke or add into their food however they may choose and through the promotion of the good it brings, this will only open a continual use of the drug and a cost to the economy. Marijuana use accounts for tens of thousands of marijuana related complaints at emergency rooms throughout the United States each year and over 99,000 are young people† (U. S. News 2012, pp. 1-1). The numbers are far too great to promote just the beneficial aspects of marijuana when the potential harmful outcomes cost the economy as far as healthcare costs with the number of young patience that are admitted to the hospital.To conclude, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) declared that responsible adult personal use of marijuana should be legalized, but how can one determine who is responsible to make use of weed? Alcohol and tobacco may stimulate harsher risk factors when consumed, but after more than 40 years of its existence, marijuana remains a Scheduled 1 substance, which is a drug that has a high potential for abuse, have no accepted medical use, and are not safe for use under medical supervision.In the end, the risks of marijuana seem to outweigh the benefits and that is why marijuana should not be legalized. References 42 Years of smoking pot / day 6 of withdrawal. (n. d. ). Online Support Groups for your Health Challenges. Retrieved from http://www. mdjunction. com/forums/marijuana-addiction-discussions/introductions-personal-stories/2 665662-42-years-of-smoking-pot-day-6-of-withdrawal Berlatsky, N. (2012). Legalizing Marijuana in California Would Not Generate Substantial Tax Revenue. In Marijuana (p. 178). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. Camera, A. A. , Tomaselli, V. Fleming, J. , Jabbar, G. A. , Trachtenberg, M. , Galves-Buccollini, J. A. (2012). Correlates to the Variable Effects of Cannabis in Young adults: A Preliminary Study. Harm Reduction, 9(15), 1-2. Cohan, P. (2012, September 7). Is it Time to Legalize Illicit Drugs? – Forbes. Information for the World's Business Leaders – Forbes. com. Retrieved March 16, 2013, from http://www. forbes. com/sites/petercohan/2012/07/09/is-it-time-to-legalize-illicit-drugs/ Drug Free Foundation (2004). Drug Free America Foundation – Medical Marijuana – ProCon. org. Medical Marijuana ProCon. org.Retrieved March 16, 2013, from http://medicalmarijuana. procon. org/view. source. php? sourceID=000810 Drug Free Foundation (2009, October 12). Dr ug Free America Foundation – Medical Marijuana – ProCon. org. Medical Marijuana ProCon. org. Retrieved March 16, 2013, from http://medicalmarijuana. procon. org/view. source. php? sourceID=000810 Evans, D. G. (2012, October 30). Marijuana Legalization's Costs Outweigh Its Benefits | Debate Club | US News Opinion. US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and more. Retrieved March 10, 2012, from http://www. usnews. om/debate-club/should-marijuana-use-be-legalized/marijuana-legalizations-costs-outweigh-its-benefits Goldstein. , M. J. (2010). Legalizing Drugs: Crime Stopper Or Social Risk? (p. 115). Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Pub. Group. Mathre, M. L. (1997). Legal Dilemmas of Cannabis Prohibitation. In Cannabis in medical practice: A legal, historical, and pharmacological overview of the therapeutic use of marijuana (p. 1). Jefferson, N. C: McFarland & Co. National Institue on Drug Abuse (2009). Is marijuana addictive? | National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved March 11, 2013, from

The Development of Western Thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Development of Western Thought - Essay Example The Lower Paleolithic, ending with the Mousterian, left no works of art. Consequently, the Upper Paleolithic or Reindeer age, so called because this animal is the characteristic feature of the fauna corresponding to a cold and dry climate analogous to that of the steppes and tundras. (Lewis, 201-45) The Reindeer age commences with the Aurignacian culture and terminates with the Magdalenian. Between the end of the first and the appearance of the second is inserted a period known as the Solutrian, which seems to have existed only in certain regions and to be of but secondary interest from the artistic point of view. The age of the European Paleolithic civilizations corresponds roughly to the Pleistocene period of the geologists. Although their chronological succession appears to be fixed in an almost definite manner, their absolute dates remain undetermined and have been variously estimated by the authorities. After the most moderate estimates the Aurignacian would be placed at from twenty-five thousand to sixteen thousand years before our era, the Magdalenian at from sixteen thousand to twelve thousand. A certain number of the activities classed among the fine arts probably existed in Paleolithic times. A number of wall paintings have been considered as representing dances. (Halverson, p.3) This interpretation, however, is not conclusive, but the representation of several disguised individuals, by analogy with savages, renders the existence of the dance in the Magdalenian highly probable. The dances once admitted, it is likely that, as among the savages and for psychological reasons, they were accompanied by music, if only that of the voice. As for musical instruments discovered in the excavations, some tubes of bird bone considered by Piette as the elements of the pipes of Pan are more probably needle cases. Perhaps one could see a primitive flute in the bone of a hare perforated with several holes, found in an English Paleolithic cavern. In several stations, a number of the phalanges of the antelopidae or cervidae, notably of the reindeer, have been found pierced near their extremities. These are currently considered as whistles comparable to those made by our children with apricot seeds. Their use as whistles is not impossible, but in some of them, notably the most ancient, dating back to the Mousterian levels, the hole is not produced by manual work but by the teeth of carnivorous animals. As to architecture, it is probable that the Paleolithic peoples inhabited, besides the rock shelters and caves where their hearth levels have been found, wattle huts which appear to be represented by figures called "tectiforms," engraved or painted on the walls of caverns. Another form of art, personal decoration, was highly developed among the Paleolithic peoples, as among the savages, to say nothing of the civilized races. Whatever the differences in nature or technique, the works of Paleolithic art form on the whole a homogeneous ensemble. Different culture levels of the same station have yielded almost

Is capital punishment still a relevant form of punishment in today's Essay

Is capital punishment still a relevant form of punishment in today's society - Essay Example By contrast, the abolitionists see the impact of executions as a statement of pervasive importance about the relationship between the government and the individual. (James, 33-40) Abolitionists in the United States view capital punishment as a fundamental political issue; proponents usually assert that the question is neither fundamental nor political. As far as the question of relevance of capital punishment still as a form of punishment in today's society is concerned, it is simply refutable. Though there are many people who support capital punishment, yet they are few and they have not strong justifications to present in its favor. On the other hand, the civilized world has a firm stand and argumentative rebuttal of capital punishment in the contemporary era. While this is just one way in which the disputants talk past each other in the capital punishment debate, this particular disagreement helps to explain other aspects of the capital punishment dispute. ... National government and constitutional values have little direct influence on most punishment decisions. If the availability of death as a criminal punishment were a garden-variety choice of punishment option, state and local power over them would be consistent with an important American tradition. If, on the other hand, one regards capital punishment as a fundamental moral and political question, the national government and constitutional values are the appropriate vehicles for decisions. (Jan, 110-12) The Flaws in Implementation of Capital Punishment The proper way of characterizing the capital punishment may be an important question but it is not a difficult one. Our history, the recent history of other developed nations, and even the importance that the proponents of the penalty attach to it are powerful evidence that the capital punishment is an issue of transcendent importance, one that is principally moral and political. (Zimring, 78-82) There are certain reservations from some corners of public discussions as regards to the unreliable evidences that caused capital punishment but consequently proved false. It is hard to believe how prosecutors can admit evidence from unreliable sources. In some cases witnesses have later recanted or disavowed their testimonies claiming that they had only made their statements under pressure or coercion from prosecution and law enforcement. These false testimonies proved to be the condemning evidence in many cases. Lastly, most of the people charged in capital cases cannot afford defense attorneys. The appointed defense counsels in several cases have exhibited incompetence. Some of them did not even look for or missed important evidence that proved the innocence of their clients.

Stages of Art development for children ages 2 thru 8 Essay

Stages of Art development for children ages 2 thru 8 - Essay Example For instances, the drawings are product oriented, and the child’s characterization and conception about the environment are more pronounced than objects. In this stage, the young adolescent is product oriented and his or her interest in drawing moves from drawing objects to drawing nature’s things such as the human body. He or she may also start drawing cartoons and exaggerated characters such as doodles (Krimsky, 1999). In an effort to improve the art and creativity experiences offered to children, I would provide the children with drawing materials and surfaces on which drawing would be done. I would ensure that the children in class have got enough space that would facilitate the drawing process. In addition to this, I would lay down measures aimed at making the children compete among themselves within the class setting. I would also bring them objects that they would be required to draw when they would be required to do so within the class. For me to implement the above improvements, I would require support from parents and the teaching staff. The parents of the children will contribute to this process by buying the children the required drawing materials. The teaching staff members will assist in guiding the children during learning lessons. I would also involve the school administration by asking them to allocate the students sometime that would be used in carrying out drawing activities. I would want to know the factors that would serve to motivate the children in drawing activities. I would be interested in enabling children to be creative and come up with unique drawings. In addition to this, I would also like to know how the children would be handled so that they develop their careers in drawing. Creativity may reduce with age in children during their growth stages, but it does not disappear permanently. In fact, older people may reclaim creativity that faded away at a young age. Development in artworks should be viewed

Analyzing argement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analyzing argement - Essay Example In â€Å"Execution,† Anna Quindlen argues that death penalty is wrong because it does not achieve its desired ends. She stresses that it cannot provide sufficient justice for victims and their families and it does not make any moral sense. These authors have similarities in the use of personal ideas and anecdotal and hypothetical evidence as evidence, logos through inductive reasoning and agreement on death penalty’s goals, and pathos through an empathic writing style that appeals to justice, although they differ in writing style, audience, and attitude toward death penalty. Quindlen is more persuasive than Mencken because her ironic tone emphatically argues that death penalty is wrong because it is simply morally insufficient as a form of retribution. These authors have similarities in the use of personal ideas and anecdotal and hypothetical evidence. Mencken talks about his personal ideas when attacking the opponents of death penalty. He argues from his personal viewpoint that crime deterrence is not the only goal of death penalty, and instead â€Å"katharsis† is â€Å"practically considered† and â€Å"more important† (1). By saying this, he shows that something more personal and emotional is behind the need for death penalty. Quindlen also offers her personal ideas on death penalty. She admits that her â€Å"guts† â€Å"govern† her ideas on death penalty, which is why she can be â€Å"hypocritical† about it (450.3). Like Mencken, Quindlen personalizes her attack on death penalty by asserting her personal feelings toward it. In addition, both authors use anecdotal evidence as proof for their arguments. For instance, Mencken says he has not heard any executioner who is complaining of his job and instead, he has â€Å"known many who delighted in their ancient art, and practiced it proudly† (1). By saying ancient art, he is underlining the proud tradition behind death penalty. Quindlen also uses anecdotal evidence when she says that the justice system is

Health and Social Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Health and Social Care - Essay Example Due to technology and modern science outbreaks of diseases like malaria, and water-borne diseases could be prevented. Comparing with the past, it was hard to avoid any disease occurrence. One of the similar strategies that were used currently and it still existed in the past was waste disposal. The sewers systems were considered in the past and currently so that diseases that emanate from poor disposal of waste could be treated and be prevented in advance. To prevent those diseases, city planning was considered so that the outbreaks of diseases that used to kill many individuals could be curbed (Scriven and Garman, 2007). The current features of public health on family planning are operational up to date. Comparing with the past, they did not consider family planning but relied on the natural means to control birth. Currently, the group that is concerned with public health policy is the government, and other agencies like, World Health Organization and United Nations among others. The health of the public in UK is considered a lot and it is monitored. For example in the North West and the South West of England, knowledge and intelligence team significantly considers the health of its residents. For example, in the South West of England, they have intelligence hub that is concerned with improving collection and the analysis that is done in daily routines in all health care centers. The hub is concerned with the quality, volume and the cost that is incurred by the patients to treat a particular disease. For example, one of the tools that are available on the site is the injury profile that is concerned with how injuries can be prevented and if they occur how they are handled. The public health has introduced Sexual Health Balanced Scorecard that is concerned with sexual related health strategies to support both local and nationally residents of South West of England. Others departments that have been used to support the local and international

How Will Astronomy Archives Survive the Data Tsunami Case Study - 1

How Will Astronomy Archives Survive the Data Tsunami - Case Study Example Optimization techniques fail to create an efficient programmable dynamic query in case of astronomical data as data is present in bulk and is not usually centrally located. The disparate sources of data induce issue of network and bandwidth as well. When large chunks of data will be downloaded from disparate sources performance will be impacted as connections need to be established and maintained. Data is divided into different sources by a set criteria. This could be arranged date wise or could be based on specific type. The criteria even if incorporated in queries may not help much as the search that runs in dataset is time consuming. If data does not exist in data set time is required to load data from archives and search becomes intensive. There are various techniques used to provide better response times in such scenarios but the ever increasing data of astronomy that is stored in the database requires some special technique for data mining, machine learning and then update in t he systems (McLeod & Schell,  2007, p.  145). The requests made for specific data can be optimized by saving results of frequent query. Emerging researches will always produce new datasets which will take standard time. The infrastructure of archival data can be improved however the budget constraint of astronomical research hinders them from such an upgrade at the moment. Incompetent Archival Techniques: Modern day data is stored in a special environment that provides virtual drives hosted by third parties. This allows users to store data from different places online. This technology uses a web service that connects the client with the third party host systems. The customer has to depend on the reliability of the hosting party to provide reliability and security. In order to make systems available on cloud the whole time, third parties usually create redundant data on different virtual machines. If one machine is made unavailable due to a fault or network issue, other machines having the same data will be made available instantly. The astronomical data can be set on cloud to make it readily available. However, cloud computing has its own challenges as well. Such challenges include vulnerability of data attacks as the cloud is shared through a network and makes the data available through internet. The second issue is that of the third party supplier stability. The companies might lose down or merge with other companies resulting is partial or complete loss of data or other similar issues hence decreasing reliability of data on the cloud. There are a number of reasons why such a situation can arise. A supplier can go bankrupt, be bought by other large companies, it may expand and change the direction and interest of their business etc. Performance is again an issue in cloud as it is dependent on the available network bandwidth. Availability is impacted if a software failure occurs, network has a bottleneck or if a hardware fails. The last concern is cost of hosting a cloud platform. The budget constraints for an astronomical foundation may not allocate sufficient finances to meet the target of moving astronomical data on cloud. Emerging Technologies: The technologies currently in practice involve applying indexes on databases. These indexes are stored outside the database and increases the data access or recovery time. This does need advancement to a Peta byte level data management though. It is a challenge today to make efficient algorithms

Discuss How Service Operations are Different from Manufacturing Essay

Discuss How Service Operations are Different from Manufacturing Operations - Essay Example Waste in the process or fail points are not obvious in service operations that efforts to reduce cost and control quality before they reach the customer can be very difficult (Wienclaw 2008). This makes the operations of many service oriented companies costly with many customers dissatisfied with the service they received. The need to align service delivery in accordance to customer expectations and the market imperative to reduce cost to remain competitive in the market, however, compels the operations of service oriented industry to adopt and implement manufacturing approaches and systems. By implementing manufacturing approaches and systems, the cost of operations in service oriented companies are being reduced such as the case of McDonalds as stated in this paper. The implementation of quality control system such as Six Sigma also enabled Bank of America not only to increase the level of its customer’s satisfaction but also saved the company $2 billion in expenditures rela ted to areas where Six Sigma was implemented. II. How service operations are different from manufacturing operations.   The most obvious difference between a service operations and manufacturing operations are the products they produce. Service operations sell service that has no physical presence while manufacturing operations produces concrete products that has a physical existence. Unlike manufacturing operations that produces concrete products whose quality can easily determined by its specifications, service operations differs from manufacturing operations because its output is often evaluated in terms of customer experience. Activities of a service operation are often based on the quality, speed, competence and courtesy of its delivery that is not easily quantifiable that could be subjected to the relativity of customer’s experience (Wienclaw 2008). The factors that determine a good service cannot be easily quantified because of the difficulty of operationally definin g what makes a good service delivery. Unlike in manufacturing where fail points in its process can be easily determined and substandard products can be readily rejected before reaching the customer, service operations outputs are subjected to perceptions and expectations of the customer which are relative (Wienclaw 2008). For example, walking through a novice customer in a step by step computer troubleshooting procedure may be very helpful that would constitute a good customer service but the same could also be annoying to a technically proficient customer that could affect the overall customer satisfaction. The differences of service operations from manufacturing operations can be categorized in the factors of intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability that make services difficult to control and improve. Intangibility – plainly, service cannot be recognized by any of the five senses. Unlike in manufacturing operations whose outputs are concrete, services rendered by a service oriented company cannot be seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted (Kotler et al. 2004). It can only be

Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Liberty - Essay Example Other academicians have related life to existence in state of nature under a social contract. Liberty is connoted into two major different kinds. Classical liberalists and individualists have conceptualized liberty as consisting of individual freedom outside coercision and compulsion, this is the kind of liberty known as Negative liberty.Whereas, social liberalists conceptualize liberty with emphasis to the social structure and agency, this is the second kind of liberty known as Positive liberty .In summary we basically have two kinds of liberty which are: positive liberty and negative liberty. Positive liberty explains that a person can find freedom in his ability to exercise agency, by having adequate power and resources to enable him to do his will without being misled by societal views such as sexism, structuralism and racism. Thomas Hobbes explains that``a free man is he that†¦.is not hindered to do what he hath the will to do `` Hobbes (235).John Stuart Mill was the first to recognize that there is a difference between liberty as a freedom of action or to act and liberty as an absence of coercion. According to Berlin (221), the difference between the two perspectives as opposite concepts of liberty; positive liberty and negative liberty where the latter manifested a negative condition of individual protection from tyranny as well as arbitrary exercise to authority. Whereas the former meant the ability to have means or opportunity other than to lack restraint of doing things or acting. The term negative liberty has different noteworthy aspects.Firstly; it defines zones or realms of freedom in the aspect of science (science of law) Hobbes (197).The distinguishing idea between the two kinds of liberty is traced back to Kant who examined it in the year 1940s; he explained that the two kinds of liberty are not merely different but rivals. Positive liberty requires not

Video games and children Essay Example for Free

Video games and children Essay When live in the digital age, it’s a fact. Children are using more technology than ever and in many ways it makes life safer and easier for families. But when 40- 75% of children in middle school already have cell phones, as well as 89% of children have their own laptops, and 97% of children and young adults play video games and/or own a gaming system. With the prevalence of video games obvious many adults have started asking themselves how these games affect their children. Should I be worried that my child is playing violent video games? How long should I allow my child to play video games? These questions are ones parents who are raising children in the era of technology should be asking, these are the questions that have prompted experts to conduct countless studies on the topic. So here it is the good, bad, and ugly of video games effect on children. I will present information on the positive effects of gaming the negative effects of gaming, and what experts recommend is healthy for a child. Violent shoot ‘em up games or seemingly mindless racing games like Mario Kart or time consuming apps like Angry Birds don’t necessarily bring pleasant thoughts to many parents minds but believe it or not there are some positive effects from video games. Video games actually improve problem solving and logic skills. Specifically, the popular app Angry Birds forces children and adults alike to quickly come up with creative solutions to problems. As for those violent video games parents begrudgingly by their children, well they tend to increase hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and spatial skills. Shooting games often require the virtual character to be running and shooting at the same time. In order to be successful the real life controller must keep track of the character, obstacles in the characters way, the targets position, and the speed at which they are pursuing each other and if the gunfire is hitting the target. Processing this information indeed causes the controller to use hand-eye coordination skills as well as using their spatial ability to be successful. Some studies even suggest that experience with video games maybe a contributing factor as to why fighter pilots of today are more successful with the controls. Also making a fast analysis of a situation and then being able to quickly make a decision gives your brain a real work out. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, who is a cognitive scientist, says that gaming simulating stressful events like those found in battle or action games is a training tool for real world situations. Her study suggests that playing action video games prepares the brain to make quick decisions, Video games similar to virtual simulations that already exist could possibly be used to train soldiers and surgeons. Also according to the same study from the University of Rochester action games train the players brains to make decisions quickly with out losing accuracy. Also a study from the Appalachia Educational Laboratory revealed that children with Attention-Deficit Disorder who played the popular arcade game Dance Dance Revolution improved their reading scores by helping them concentrate. Now that we have reviewed the positive effects of video games, it is time to look at how video games can negatively affect children. First from addiction blog. org video games can cause an increase in emotional and behavioral disorder symptoms. It cuts family interaction time in half and it reduces the about of REM or resting sleep you get. Also it can increase children’s violent tendencies. This is because in video games kids are rewarded for the violence, and the violence it committed repeatedly. This participation and reward system are tools that people use for learning behaviors. Also researchers from the University of Minnesota found that game addicts or kids who frequently play video games are more argumentative with teachers, fight with their friends and score lower grades. Also though some studies like the one previously mentioned here say that video games can improve a child’s concentration, this has been proven to only help concentration in short bursts of times but a child’s overall attentiveness can be harmed. Also a study from the National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that video games increase their depression and anxiety levels. Also the University of Texas at Dallas notes that excessive video gaming can lead to eyestrain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and back issues. As well as desensitization which is where people no longer react to a sensory to the condition of fear or violence. Also according to science daily some people can react with seizures to excessive video games. Some people have died after marathon video game binges. Now that we have looked at the positive and negative effects of video games, we can look at what experts recommend for children; in terms of how long they play video games and what games they play. It is suggested that parents monitor the video games kids play just like they monitor websites and television show. As well as abide to the two hours of screen time rule from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Screen time in this case means any time spent in front of a computer, television, or cell phone doing anything besides calling or texting. Also the Palo Alto Medical Foundation recommends withholding from installing video game equipment in children’s bedrooms. Finally experts say to follow the warning labels on games. These warning labels go from EC meaning early childhood to T for teen M for mature and AO for adults only. Although these warnings are out there, no one is enforcing them. Any child or teenager can go into a place like Game Stop and buy any video game regardless of the warning. Many people are fighting to put restrictions on games, such as if a game has a mature label or adult only having to provide identification to purchase it. If we have restrictions on other dangerous substances then why not these? There is no denying that video games can have positive effects. In certain situations they can even be used as learning tools. But parents need to monitor the video games children are playing like they would monitor the television shows they are watching. But one question we need to ask ourselves as a society is, do the pros outweigh the cons or is it the other way around? The negative effects of video games are extreme, but now you now the positive the negative and what to do to make sure you or your child is safe from the dangers of video games.

Study on Steps to Christ Essay Example for Free

Study on Steps to Christ Essay He took man’s nature, that He might reach man’s wants. The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. Such is the character of Christ as revealed in His life. This is the character of God. It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and died. He became a Man of Sorrows, that we might be made partakers of everlasting joy. But this great sacrifice was not made in order to create in the Father’s heart a love for man, not make Him willing to save. No, no! God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son. John 3:16. The Father loves us, not because of the great propitiation, but He provided the propitiation because He loves us. None but the Son of God could accomplish our redemption. What a value this places upon man! Through transgression the sons of man become subjects of Satan. Through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ the sons of Adam may become the sons of God. The matchless love of God for a world that did not love Him! The thought has a subduing power upon the soul and brings the mind into captivity to the will of God. Man was originally endowed with noble powers and a well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. His nature became so weakened through transgression that it was impossible for him, in his own strength, to resist the power of evil. It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness. To all, there is but one answer, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Let us avail ourselves of the means provided for us that we may be transformed into His likeness, and be restored to fellowship with the ministering angels, to harmony and communion with the Father and the Son. How shall a man be just with God? How shall the sinner be made righteous? It is only through Christ that we can be brought into harmony with God, with holiness; but how are we to come to Christ? Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life. But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God’s holy law, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth. Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart. The prayer of David, after his fall, illustrates the nature of true sorrow for sin. His repentance was sincere and deep. There was no effort to palliate his guilt; no desire to escape the judgment threatened, inspired his prayer. David saw the enormity of his transgression; he saw the defilement of his soul; he loathed his sin. It was not for pardon only that he prayed, but for purity of heart. He longed for the joy of holiness, to be restored to harmony and communion with God. A repentance such as this, is beyond the reach of our own power to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ. Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does not force the will. If we refuse, what more can He do? Study God’s Word prayerfully. As you see the enormity of sin, as you see yourself as you really are, do not give up in despair. It was sinners that Christ came to save. When Satan comes to tell you that you are a great sinner, look to your Redeemer and talk of His merits. Acknowledge your sin, but tell the enemy that Christ came into the world to save sinners and that you may be saved (1 Tim. 1:15). He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Proverbs 28:13. The conditions of obtaining mercy of God are simple and just and reasonable. Confess your sins to God, who only can forgive them, and your faults to one another. Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first step of acceptance. We must be willing to humble our hearts and comply with the conditions of the Word of truth. The confession that is the outpouring of the inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges particular sins. All confession should be definite and to the point. It is written, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). God’s promise is, Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13. The whole heart must be yielded, or the change can never be wrought in us by which we are to be restored to His likeness. The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness. In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worthless. When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be so filled with His love, with the joy of communion with Him, that it will cleave to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, self will be forgotten. Love to Christ will be the spring of action. Such do not ask for the lowest standard, but aim at perfect conformity to the will of their Redeemer. Do you feel that it is too great a sacrifice to yield all to Christ? Ask yourself the question, What has Christ given for me? The Son of God gave all—life and love and suffering—for our redemption. And can it be that we, the unworthy objects of so great love, will withhold our hearts from Him? What do we give up, when we give all? A sin-polluted heart, for Jesus to purify, to cleanse by His own blood, and to save by His matchless love. And yet men think it hard to give up all! God does not require us to give up anything that it is for our best interest to retain. In all that He does, He has the well-being of His children in view. Many are inquiring, How am I to make the surrender of myself to God? You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you; but you need not despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him. Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians. They do not come to the point of yielding the will to God. They do not now choose to be Christians. Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in your life. You will have strength from above to hold you steadfast, and thus through constant surrender to God you will be enabled to live the new life, even the life of faith. As your conscience has been quickened by the Holy Spirit, you have seen something of the evil of sin, of its power, its guilt, its woe; and you look upon it with abhorrence. It is peace that you need. You have confessed your sins, and in heart put them away. You have resolved to give yourself to God. Now go to Him, and ask that He will wash away your sins and give you a new heart. Then believe that He does this because He has promised. The gift which God promises us, we must believe we do receive, and it is ours. You are a sinner. You cannot atone for your past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give yourself to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His Word to you. If you believe the promise,—God supplies the fact. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, I believe it; it is so, not because I feel it, but because God promised. —Summary of all the key points in Steps to Christ, pp. 9-51, in the author’s own words. Part Two – How Can I Remain True to God? Jesus says, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24). There is a condition to this promise—that we pray according to the will of God. But it is the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. So we may ask for these blessings, and believe that we receive them, and thank God that we have received them. Henceforth you are not your own; you are bought with a price. Through this simple act of believing God, the Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are a child born into the family of God, and He loves you as He loves His Son. Now that you have given yourself to Jesus, do not draw back, do not take yourself away from Him, but day by day say, I am Christ’s; I have given myself to Him; and ask Him to give you His Spirit and keep you by His grace. As it is by giving yourself to God, and believing Him, that you become His child, so you are to live in Him. Here is where thousands fail; they do not believe that Jesus pardons them personally, individually. They do not take God at His Word. It is the privilege of all who comply with the conditions to know for themselves that pardon is freely extended for every sin. Put away the suspicion that God’s promises are not meant for you. They are for every repentant transgressor. Look up, you that are doubting and trembling; for Jesus lives to make intercession for us. Thank God for the gift of His dear Son. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17. A person may not be able to tell the exact time or place, or trace all the chain of circumstances in the process of conversion; but this does not prove him to be unconverted. A change will be seen in the character, the habits, the pursuits. The contrast will be clear and decided between what they have been and what they have become. Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ’s, our thoughts are with Him. There is no evidence of genuine repentance unless it works reformation. The loveliness of the character of Christ will be seen in His followers. It was His delight to do the will of God. There are two errors against which the children of God especially need to guard: The first is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, which can make us holy. The opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our redemption. Obedience is the fruit of faith. Righteousness is defined by the standard of God’s holy law, as expressed in the ten commandments (Exo. 20:3-20). That so-called faith in Christ, which professes to release men from the obligation of obedience to God, is not faith, but presumption. The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been,—just what it was in paradise before the fall of our first parents,—perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized. Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer. This is evidence that Satan’s delusions are losing their power. No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His character. A view of our sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon; and when the soul, realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ, He will reveal Himself in power. The more our sense of need drives us to Him and to the Word of God, the more exalted views we shall have of His character, and the more fully we shall reflect His image. The change of heart by which we become children of God is in the Bible spoken of as birth. Again it is compared to the germination of the good seed sown by the husbandman. It is God who brings the bud to bloom and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops. As the flower turns to the sun, that the bright beams may aid in perfecting its beauty and symmetry, so should we turn to the Sun of Righteousness, that heaven’s light may shine upon us, that our character may be developed into the likeness of Christ. Do you ask, How am I to abide in Christ? In the same way as you received Him at first. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Colossians 2:6. By faith you became Christ’s, and by faith you are to grow up in Him—by giving and taking. You are to give all,—your heart, your will, your service,—give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; and you must take all—Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart, to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper—to give you power to obey. Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee. This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ. A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be no ecstasy of feeling, but there should be an abiding, peaceful trust. When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ, the source of strength and life. Hence, it is Satan’s constant effort to keep the attention diverted from the Saviour and thus prevent the union and communion of the soul with Christ. When Christ took human nature upon Him, He bound humanity to Himself by a tie of love that can never be broken by any power save the choice of man himself. Satan will constantly present allurements to induce us to break this tie—to choose to separate ourselves from Christ. But let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ, and He will preserve us. Looking unto Jesus, we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of His hand. All that Christ was to the disciples, He desires to be to His children today. Jesus prayed for us, and He asked that we might be one with Him, even as He is one with the Father. What a union is this! Thus, loving Him and abiding in Him, we shall grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ (Ephesians 4:15). God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe. Wherever the life of God is in the hearts of men, it will flow out to others in love and blessing. Our Saviour’s joy was in the uplifting and redemption of fallen men. For this He counted not His life dear to Himself, but endured the cross, despising the shame. When the love of Christ is enshrined in the heart, like sweet fragrance it cannot be hidden. Love to Jesus will be manifested in a desire to work as He worked for the blessing and uplifting of humanity. It will lead to love, tenderness, and sympathy toward all the creatures of our heavenly Father’s care. Those who are the partakers of the grace of Christ will be ready to make any sacrifice, that others for whom He died may share the heavenly gift. They will do all they can to make the world better for their stay in it. This spirit is the sure outgrowth of a soul truly converted. No sooner does one come to Christ than there is born in his heart a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus. If we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, we shall have something to tell. We shall seek to present to others the attractions of Christ and the unseen realities of the world to come. There will be an intensity of desire to follow in the path that Jesus trod. And the effort to bless others will react in blessings upon ourselves. Those who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to their Creator. The spirit of unselfish labor for others gives depth, stability, and Christlike loveliness to the character, and brings peace and happiness to its possessor. Strength comes by exercise. We need not go to heathen lands, or even leave the narrow circle of the home, if it is there that our duty lies, in order to work for Christ. With a loving spirit we may perform life’s humblest duties unto the Lord (Col. 3:23). If the love of God is in the heart, it will be manifested in the life. You are not to wait for great occasions or to expect extraordinary abilities before you go to work for God. The humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing to others. Many are the ways in which God is seeking to make Himself known to us and bring us into communion with Him. If we will but listen, Nature speaks to our senses without ceasing. God’s created works will teach us precious lessons of obedience and trust. No tears are shed that God does not notice. There is no smile that He does not mark. If we would but fully believe this, all undue anxieties would be dismissed. Our lives would not be so filled with disappointment as now; for everything, whether great or small, would be left in the hands of God. God speaks to us through His providential works and through the influence of His Spirit upon the heart. God speaks to us in His Word. Here we have in clearer lines the revelation of His character, of His dealings with men, and the great work of redemption. Fill the whole heart with the words of God. They are the living water, quenching your burning thirst. They are the living bread from heaven. The theme of redemption is one that the angels desire to look into; it will be the science and the song of the redeemed throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. Is it not worthy of careful thought and study now? As we meditate upon the Saviour, there will be a hungering and thirsting of soul to become like Him whom we adore. The Bible was written for the common people. The great truths necessary for salvation are made as clear as noonday. There is nothing more calculated to strengthen the intellect than the study of the Scriptures. But there is little benefit derived from a hasty reading of the Bible. One passage studied, until its significance is clear to the mind and its relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained. Keep your Bible with you. As you have opportunity, read it; fix the texts in your memory. We cannot obtain wisdom without earnest attention and prayerful study. Never should the Bible be studied without prayer. Before opening its pages, we should ask for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and it will be given. Angels from the world of light will be with those who in humility of heart seek for divine guidance. How must God esteem the human race, since He gave His Son to die for them and appoints His Holy Spirit to be man’s teacher and continual guide! Through nature and revelation, through His providence, and by the influence of His Spirit, God speaks to us. But these are not enough; we need also to pour out our hearts to Him. In order to commune with God, we must have something to say to Him concerning our actual life. Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him. Our heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the fullness of His blessing. What a wonder it is that we pray so little! God is ready and willing to hear the sincere prayer of the humblest of His children. What can the angels of heaven think of poor helpless human beings, who are subject to temptation, when God’s heart of infinite love yearns toward them, ready to give them more than they can ask or think, and yet they pray so little and have so little faith? The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin; and it is all because they do not make use of prayer. Yet prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence. There are certain conditions upon which we may expect that God will hear and answer our prayers: One is that we feel our need of help from Him. If we regard iniquity in our hearts, if we cling to any known sin, the Lord will not hear us; but the prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is always accepted. When all known wrongs are righted, we may believe that God will answer our petitions. Another element of prevailing prayer is faith. When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most. But to claim that prayer will always be answered in the very way and for the particular thing that we desire, is presumption. When we come to God in prayer, we should have a spirit of love and forgiveness in our own hearts. Perseverance in prayer has been made a condition of receiving. We must pray always if we would grow in faith and experience. We should pray in the family circle, and above all we must not neglect secret prayer, for this is the life of the soul. Family or public prayer alone is not sufficient. Secret prayer is to be heard only by the prayer-hearing God. There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God and plead for divine guidance. Let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a breath of the heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He is not indifferent to the wants of His children. We sustain a loss when we neglect the privilege of associating together to strengthen and encourage one another in the service of God. If Christians would associate together, speaking to each other of the love of God and the precious truths of redemption, their own hearts would be refreshed and they would refresh one another. We must gather about the cross. Christ and Him crucified should be the theme of contemplation, of conversation, and of our most joyful emotion. We should keep in our thoughts every blessing we receive from God, and when we realize His great love we should be willing to trust everything to the hand that was ailed to the cross for us. The soul may ascend nearer heaven on the wings of praise. As we express our gratitude, we are approximating to the worship of the heavenly hosts. Many are at times troubled with the suggestions of skepticism. God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. Disguise it as they may, the re al cause of doubt and skepticism, in most cases, is the love of sin. We must have a sincere desire to know the truth and a willingness of heart to obey it.

Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions

Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions ABSTRACT This thesis examines the socio-cultural and demographic factors influencing sanitation conditions, identifies the presence of Escherichia coli in household drinking water samples and investigates prevalence of diarrhoea among infants. It is based on questionnaire interviews of 120 household heads and 77 caretakers of young children below the age of 5years, direct observation of clues of household sanitation practice as well as analyses of household water samples in six surrounding communities in Bogoso. Data collected was analysed using SPSS and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Value(R) technique. The findings revealed that the sanitation condition of households improved with high educational attainment and ageing household heads. On the contrary, sanitation deteriorated with overcrowding in the household. Furthermore, in houses where the religion of the head of household was Traditional, sanitation was superior to those of a Christian head and this household also had better sa nitary conditions than that with a Moslem head of household. Water quality analysis, indicated that 27 samples out of the 30 representing 90% tested negative for E. Coli bacteria whilst 17(56.7%) samples had acceptable levels of total Escherichia coli. Finally, it was found out that diarrhoea among infants were highly prevalent since 47 (61.04%) out of the 77 child minders admitted their wards had a bout with infant diarrhoea. Massive infrastructural development, supported by behavioural change education focussing on proper usage of sanitary facilities is urgently needed in these communities to reduce the incidence of public health diseases. Intensive health education could also prove vital and such programs must target young heads of household, households with large family size and households whose heads are Christians and Moslems. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Efforts to assuage poverty cannot be complete if access to good water and sanitation systems are not part. In 2000, 189 nations adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, and from that, the Millennium Development Goals were made. Goal 4, which aims at reducing child mortality by two thirds for children under five, is the focus of this study. Clean water and sanitation considerably lessen water- linked diseases which kill thousands of children every day (United Nations, 2006). According to the World Health Organization (2004), 1.1 billion people lacked access to an enhanced water supply in 2002, and 2.3 billion people got poorly from diseases caused by unhygienic water. Each year 1.8 million people pass away from diarrhoea diseases, and 90% of these deaths are of children under five years (WHO, 2004). Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) had traditionally been the major stakeholder in the provision of safe water and sanitation facilities. Since the 1960s the GWSC has focussed chiefly on urban areas at the peril of rural areas and thus, rural communities in the Wassa West District are no exception. According to the Ghana 2003 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ II) Survey Report (GSS, 2005), roughly 78% of all households in the Tamale Metropolis, 97 percent in Accra, 86% in Kumasi and 94% in Sekondi-Takoradi own pipe-borne water. Once more, the report show that a few households do not own any toilet facilities and depend on the bush for their toilet needs, that is 2.1%, 7.3%, and 5% for Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi-Takoradi correspondingly. Access to safe sanitation, improved water and improved waste disposal systems is more of an urban than rural occurrence. In the rural poor households, only 9.2% have safe sanitation, 21.1% use improved waste disposal method and 63.0 % have access to improved water. The major diseases prevalent in Ghana are malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis (bilharzias), typhoid and diarrhea. Diarrhea is of precise concern since it has been recognized as the second most universal disease treated at clinics and one of the major contributors to infant mortality (UNICEF, 2004). The infant mortality rate currently stands at about 55 deaths per 1,000 live births (CIA, 2006). The Wassa West District of Ghana has seen an improvement in water and sanitation facilities during the last decade. Most of the development projects in the district are sponsored by the mining companies, individuals and some non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Between 2002 and 2008, Goldfields Tarkwa Mine constructed 118 new hand dug wells (77 of which were fitted with hand pumps) and refurbished 48 wells in poor condition. Also, a total of 44 modern style public water closets, were constructed in their catchment areas. The company also donated 19 large refuse collection containers to the District Assembly and built 6 new nurses quarters. The Tarkwa Mine has so far spent 10.5million US dollars of which 26% went into health, water and sanitation projects, 24% into agricultural development, 31% into formal education and the remaining went into other projects like roads and community centre construction ( GGL, 2008). Golden Star Resources (consist of Bogoso/Prestea Mine and Wassa Min e at Damang) also established the community development department in 2005 and has since invested 800 thousand US dollars. Their projects include 22 Acqua-Privy toilets, 10 hand dug wells (all fitted with hand pumps) and supplied potable water to villages with their tanker trucks (BGL, 2007). Other development partners complimenting the efforts of the central government include NGOs WACAM, Care International and Friends of the Nation (FON). WACAM is an environmentally based NGO which monitors water pollution by large scale mining companies. They have sponsored about 10 hand dug wells for villages in the district. Care International sponsors hygiene and reproductive health programmes in schools and on radio. They have also donated a couple of motor bicycles to public health workers in the district who travel to villages. The aims of all these projects were to improve hygiene and sanitation so as to reduce disease transmission. Despite efforts by the development partners, water supply and sanitation related diseases are highly prevalent in the district. Data obtained from the Public and Environmental Health Department of the Ministry of Health (M.O.H., 2008) showed that the top ten most prevalent diseases in the district include malaria, acute respiratory infections, skin diseases and diarrhoea. The others are acute eye infection, rheumatism, dental carries, hypertension, pregnancy related complications and home/occupational accidents. A lot more illnesses occur but on a lower scale and these include intestinal worms, coughs and typhoid fever. A complete data on the top ten diseases prevalent in the district is attached as Appendix D but below is a selection of the illnesses that directly result from bad water and sanitation practices. The number of malaria cases decreased from 350 in 2006 to 300 cases per 1000 population in 2008. Despite the decrease, the values involved are still quite high. The incidence of diarrhoea among infants and acute respiratory infection remained 30 and 60 cases per 1,000 populations respectively. This can be attributed to several reasons, including population boom, lack of uninterrupted services and inadequate functioning facilities. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2004), an estimated 90% of all incidence of diarrhoea among infants can be blamed on inadequate sanitation and unclean water. For example, in a study of 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, only between 35-80% of water systems were operational in the rural areas (Sutton, 2004). Another survey in South Africa recognized that over 70% of the boreholes in the Eastern Cape were not working (Mackintosh and Colvin, 2003). Further examples of sanitation systems in bad condition have also been acknowledged in rural Ghana, where nearly 40% of latrines put up due to the support of a sanitation program were uncompleted or not used (Rodgers et al., 2007). The author had a personal communication with the District Environmental Officer and he estimated that, approximately there are 224 public toilets, 560 hand dug wells, 1,255 public standpipes and 3 well managed waste disposal sites in the district. According to the 2006 projection, the population of the district is expected to reach 295,753 by the end of the year 2009 (WWDA, 2006). Development partners in the past have concentrated their efforts on facilities provision only. They have not looked well at the possible causes of the persistence of disease transmission despite the effort they are making. Relationships between households socio cultural demographic factors and peoples behaviour with respect to the practice of hygiene could prove an essential lead to the solution of the problem. The fact is, merely providing a water closet does not guarantee that it could be adopted by the people and used well to reduce disease transmission. Epidemiological investigations have revealed that even in dearth supply of latrines, diarrhoeal morbidity can be reduced with the implementation of improved hygiene behaviours (IRC, 2001: Morgan, 1990). Access to waste disposal systems, their regular, consistent and hygienic use and adoption of other hygienic behavioural practices that block the transmission of diseases are the most important factors. In quite a lot of studies fro m different countries, the advancement of personal and domestic hygiene accounted for a decline in diarrhoeal morbidity (Henry and Rahim, 1990). The World Bank, (2003) identifies the demographic characteristics of the household including education of members, occupation, size and composition as influencing the willingness of the household to use an improved water supply and sanitation system. Education, especially for females results in well spaced child birth, greater ability of parents to give better health care which in turn contribute to reduced mortality rates among children under 5years (Grant, 1995). In a study into water resource scarcity in coastal Ghana, Hunter (2004) identified a valid association between household size, the presence of young children and the gender of the household head. It was noted that, female heads were less likely to collect water in larger households. Furthermore, increasing number of young children present increased the odds of female head/spouse being the household water collector. Cultural issues play active part in hygiene and sanitation behaviour especially among members of rural communities. For example, women are hardly seen urinating in public due to a perceived shame in the act but men can be left alone if found doing it. Also, the act of defecation publicly is generally unacceptable except when infants and young children are involved. The reason is that the faeces from young people are allegedly free from pathogens and less offensive (Drangert, 2004). Ismails (1999) work on nutritional assessment in Africa, detected that peoples demographic features, socioeconomic and access to basic social services such as food, water and electricity correlate significantly to their health and nutrition status. Specifically, factors such as age, gender, township status and ethnicity, which are basic to demography, can play a role in the quality of life especially of the elderly. This research assessed peoples practice of personal hygiene in Bogoso and surrounding villages. It also identified the common bacteria present in household stored water sources. Furthermore, the research identified the relationships between some socio-cultural demographic factors of households and the sanitation practice of its members. THE PROBLEM STATEMENT The Wassa West District in the Western Region is home to six large scale mining companies and hundreds of small scale and illegal mining units. Towns and villages in the district have been affected by mining, forestry and agricultural activities for over 120 years (BGL EIS, 2005). Because of this development, the local environment has been subjected to varying degrees of degradation. For example, water quality analysis carried out in 1989 by the former Canadian Bogoso Resources (CBR) showed that water samples had Total coliform bacteria in excess of 16 colonies per 100ml (BGL EIS,2005). Most of the water and sanitation programs executed in the district exerted little positive impact and thus, diarrhoeal diseases are still very high in the towns and villages (See Appendix D on page 80). However, in order to solve any problem it is important to appreciate the issues that contribute to it; after all, identifying the problem in itself is said to be a solution in disguise. Numerous health impact research have evidently recognized that the upgrading of water supply and sanitation alone is generally required but not adequate to attain broad health effects if personal and domestic hygiene are not given equivalent prominence (Scherlenlieb, 2003). The troubles of scarce water and safe sanitation provisions in developing countries have previously been dealt with by researchers for quite some time. However, until recent times they were mostly considered as technical and/or economic problems. Even rural water and sanitation issues are repeatedly dealt with from an entirely engineering point of view, with only a simple reference to social or demographic aspects. Therefore, relatively not much is proven how the socio-cultural demographic influences impinge on hygiene behaviour which in turn influences the transmission of diseases. The relationship between household socio cultural factors and the sanitation conditions of households in the Wassa West District especially the Bogoso Rural Council area has not been systematically documented or there is inadequate research that investigates such relationship. THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions were posed to help address the objectives; Why are the several sanitation intervention projects failing to achieve desired results? Why is the prevalence of malaria and diarrhea diseases so high in the district? What types of common bacteria are prevalent in the stored drinking water of households? OBJECTIVES The main aim of this research was to investigate peoples awareness and practice of personal hygiene, access to quality water and sanitation and the possible causes of diarrhoeal diseases and suggest ways to reduce the incidence of diseases in the community. The specific objectives were; To assess the quality of stored household drinking water To establish the extent to which sanitation behaviour is affected by household socio-cultural demographic factors like age and education level of the head. To investigate the occurrence of diarrhoea among young children (0-59 months old) in the households. To identify and recommend good intervention methods to eliminate or reduce the outbreak of diseases and improve sanitation. HYPOTHESIS In addition to the above objectives, the following hypotheses were tested; Occurrence of infant diarrhoea in the household is independent on the educational attainment of child caretakers. There is no relationship between households background factors and the sanitation conditions of the household. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, various literature related to the subject matter of study are reviewed. Areas covered are sanitation, hygiene, water quality and diarrhoeal diseases. Theories and models the study contributed to include USAIDs Sanitation Improvement Framework, the F diagram by Wagner and Lanois and the theory of Social learning. SANITATION Until recently, policies of many countries have focused on access to latrines by households as a principal indicator of sanitation coverage, although of late there has been a change and an expansion in understanding the term sanitation. Sanitation can best be defined as the way of collecting and disposing of excreta and community liquid waste in a germ-free way so as not to risk the health of persons or the community as a whole (WEDC, 1998). Ideally, sanitation should end in the seclusion or destruction of pathogenic material and, hence, a breach in the transmission pathway. The transmission pathways are well known and are potted and simplified in the F diagram (Wagner and Lanois 1958) shown below by figure 3.1. The more paths that can be blocked, the more useful a health and sanitation intervention program will be. It may be mentioned that the health impact indicators of sanitation programmes are not easy to define and measure, particularly in the short run. Therefore, it seems more reasonable to look at sanitation as a package of services and actions which taken together can have some bearing on the health of a person and health status in a community. According to IRC (2001:0), issues that need to be addressed when assessing sanitation would include: How complete the sanitation programme is in addressing major risks for transmitting sanitation-related diseases; Whether the sanitation programme adopted a demand driven approach, through greater peoples participation, or supply driven approach, through heavy subsidy; Whether it allows adjustment to peoples varying needs and payment; If the programme leads to measurably improved practices by the majority of men and women, boys and girls; If it is environmentally friendly. That is; if it does not increase or create new environmental hazards (IRC, 2001) Sanitation is a key determinant of both fairness in society and societys ability to maintain itself. If the sanitation challenges described above cannot be met, we will not be able to provide for the needs of the present generation without hindering that of future generations. Thus, sanitation approaches must be resource minded, not waste minded. HYGIENE Hygiene is the discipline of health and its safeguarding (Dorland, 1997). Health is the capacity to function efficiently within ones surroundings. Our health as individuals depends on the healthfulness of our environment. A healthful environment, devoid of risky substances allows the individual to attain complete physical, emotional and social potential. Hygiene is articulated in the efforts of an individual to safeguard, sustain and enhance health status (Anderson and Langton, 1961). Measures of hygiene are vital in the fight against diarrhoeal diseases, the major fatal disease of the young in developing countries (Hamburg, 1987). The most successful interventions against diarrhoeal diseases are those that break off the transmission of contagious agents at home. Personal and domestic hygiene can be enhanced with such trouble-free actions like ordinary use of water in adequate quantity for hand washing, bathing, laundering and cleaning of cooking and eating utensils; regular washing and change of clothes; eating healthy and clean foods and appropriate disposal of solid and liquid waste. Diarrheal Dise ases Diarrhoea can be defined in absolute or relative terms based on either the rate of recurrence of bowel movements or the constancy (or looseness) of stools (Kendall, 1996). Absolute diarrhoea is having more bowel movements than normal. Relative diarrhoea is defined based on the consistency of stool. Thus, an individual who develops looser stools than usual has diarrhoea even though the stools may be within the range of normal with respect to consistency. According to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2006), with diarrhoea, stools typically are looser whether or not the frequency of bowel movements is increased. This looseness of stool which can vary all the way from slightly soft to watery is caused by increased water in the stool. Increased amounts of water in stool can occur if the stomach and/or small intestine produce too much fluid, the distal small intestine and colon do not soak up enough water, or the undigested, liquid food passes too quickly through the small intestine and colon for them to take out enough water. Of course, more than one of these anomalous processes may occur at the same time. For example, some viruses, bacteria and parasites cause increased discharge of fluid, either by invading and inflaming the lining of the small intestine (inflammation stimulates the lining to secrete fluid) or by producing toxins (chemicals) that also fire up the lining to secrete fluid but without caus ing inflammation. Swelling of the small intestine and/or colon from bacteria or from ileitis/colitis can increase the haste with which food passes through the intestines, reducing the time that is available for absorbing water. Conditions of the colon such as collagenous colitis can also impede the capacity of the colon to soak up water. Escherichia coli O157:H7 is probably the most dreaded bacteria today among parents of young children. The name of the bacteria refers to the chemical compounds found on the bacteriums surface. Cattle are the main sources of E. coli O157:H7, but these bacteria also can be found in other domestic and wild mammals. E. coli O157:H7 became a household word in 1993 when it was recognized as the cause of four deaths and more than 600 cases of bloody diarrhoea among children under 5years in North-western United States (US EPA, 1996). The Northwest epidemic was traced to undercooked hamburgers served in a fast food restaurant. Other sources of outbreaks have included raw milk, unpasteurized apple juice, raw sprouts, raw spinach, and contaminated water. Most strains of E. coli bacteria are not dangerous however, this particular strain attaches itself to the intestinal wall and then releases a toxin that causes severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhoea and vomiting that lasts a week or longer. In small children and the elderly, the disease can advance to kidney failure. The good news is that E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by cooking to 160F throughout. Reducing diarrhoea morbidity with USAIDs Framework To attain noteworthy improvement in reducing the number of deaths attributed to diarrhoea, its fundamental causes must be addressed. It is approximated that 90% of all cases of diarrhoea can be attributed to three major causes: insufficient sanitation, inadequate hygiene, and contaminated water (WHO 1997). According to USAID, for further progress to be made in the fight against diarrhoea, the concentration will need to include prevention, especially in child health programs. The first method, case management of diarrhoea, has been tremendously successful in recent years in reducing child mortality. The primary process of achieving effect has been through the initiation and operation of oral rehydration therapy; i.e. the dispensation of oral rehydration solution and sustained feeding (both solid and fluid, including breast milk). In addition, health experts have emphasized the need for caretakers to become aware of the danger signs early in children under their care and to obtain suitable, appropriate care to avoid severe dehydration and death. The second approach, increasing host resistance to diarrhoea, has also had some victory with the enhancement of a childs nutritional status and vaccination against measles, a familiar cause of diarrhoea. The third element is prevention through hygiene improvement. Although the health care system has dealt comprehensively with the symptoms of diarrhoea, it has done insufficiently to bring down the overall incidence of the disease. Despite a drop in deaths owing to diarrhoea, morbidity or the health burden due to diarrhoea has not decreased, because health experts are treating the symptoms but not addressing the causes. Thus, diarrhoeas drain on the health system, its effects on household finances and education, and its additional burden on mothers has not been mitigated . Programs in several countries have confirmed that interventions can and do reduce diarrhoea morbidity. A critical constituent of successful prevention efforts is an effective monitoring and appraisal strategy. In order to reduce transmission of faecal-oral diseases at the household level, for example, an expert group of epidemiologist and water supply and sanitation specialist concluded that three interventions would be crucial. These are: Safer disposal of human excreta, particularly of babies and people with diarrhoea. Hand washing after defecation and handling babies faeces and before feeding, eating and preparing food, and; Maintaining drinking water free from faecal contamination in the home and at the source (WHO, 1993). Studies on hand washing, as reported in Boot and Cairncross (1993), confirm that it is not only the act of hand washing, but also how well hands are washed that make a difference. To prevent diarrhoea, its causes must first be fully tacit. According to the USAIDs hygiene improvement framework, a thorough approach to diarrhoea at the national level must tackle the three key elements of any triumphant program to fight disease. These are; contact with the necessary hardware or technologies, encouragement of healthy behaviours, and assistance for long-term sustainability. The concept is explained by figure 3.3 below; The first part, water supply systems, addresses mutually the issue of water quality and water quantity, which reduces the risk of contamination of food and drink. Similarly, ensuring access to water supply systems can greatly ease the time women spend collecting water, allowing more time to care for young children and more time for income generating activities. The third element, household technologies and materials, refers to the increased accessibility to such hygiene supplies as soap (or local substitutes), chlorine, filters, water storage containers that have restricted necks and are covered, and potties for small children. The second element of the hardware component, toilet facilities, involves providing facilities to dispose off human excreta in ways that safeguard the environment and public health, characteristically in the form of numerous kinds of latrines, septic tanks, and water-borne toilets. Sanitation reporting is important because faecal contamination can spread from one household to another, especially in closely populated areas. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES Water quality is defined in terms of the chemical, physical, and biological constituents in water. The word standards is used to refer to legally enforceable threshold values for the water parameters analyzed, while guidelines refer to threshold values that are recommended and do not have any regulatory status. This study employs the world health organization (WHO) and the Ghana standards board (GSB) standards and guidelines in determining the quality of water. Water Quality Requirements for Drinking Water – Ghana Standards The Ghana Standards for drinking water (GS 175-Part 1:1998) indicate the required physical, chemical, microbial and radiological properties of drinking water. The standards are adapted from the World Health Organizations Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, Second Edition, Volume 1, 1993, but also incorporate national standards that are specific to the countrys environment. Physical Requirements The Ghana Standards set the maximum turbidity of drinking water at 5 NTU. Other physical requirements pertain to temperature, odour, taste and colour. Temperature, odour and taste are generally not to be objectionable, while the maximum threshold values for colour are given quantitatively as True Colour Units (TCU) or Hazen units. The Ghana Standards specify 5 TCU or 5 Hazen units for colour after filtration. The requirements for pH values set by the Ghana Standards for drinking water is 6.5 to 8.5 (GS 175-Part1:1998). Microbial Requirements The Ghana Standards specify that E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria and total coliform bacteria should not be detected in a 100ml sample of drinking water (0 CFU/100ml). The Ghana Standards also specify that drinking water should be free of human enteroviruses. WHO Drinking Water Guidelines Physical Requirements Although no health-based guideline is given by WHO (2006) for turbidity in drinking water, it is recommended that the median turbidity should ideally be below 0.1 NTU for effective disinfection. Microbial Requirements Like the Ghana Standards, no E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria should be detected in a 100 ml sample of drinking water. Water Related Diseases Every year, water-related diseases claim the lives of 3.4 million people, the greater part of whom are children (Dufour et. al, 2003). Water-related diseases can be grouped into four categories ( Bradley, 1977) based on the path of transmission: waterborne diseases, water-washed diseases, water-based diseases, insect vector-related diseases. Waterborne diseases are caused by the ingestion of water contaminated by human or animal faeces or urine containing pathogenic bacteria or viruses. These include cholera, typhoid, amoebic and bacillary dysentery and other diarrhoeal diseases. Water washed diseases are caused by poor personal hygiene and skin or eye contact with contaminated water. These include scabies, trachoma and flea, lice and tick-borne diseases. Water-based diseases are caused by parasites found in intermediate organisms living in contaminated water. These include dracunculiasis, schistosomiasis and other helminths. Water related diseases are caused by insect vectors, especially mosquitoes that breed in water. They include dengue, filariasis, malaria, onchocerciasis, trypanosomiasis and yellow fever. The Theory of Social Learning Learning is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that can be attributed to experience (Coon, 1989). According to the social learning theory, behavioural processes are directly acquired by the continually dynamic interplay between the individual and its social environment (Mc Connell, 1982). For example, children learn what to do at home by observing what happens when their siblings talk back to their parents or throw rubbish into the household compound. The learning process occurs through reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement refers to any event that increases chances that a response will occur again (Coon, 1989). Reinforcement and punishment can be learned through education where the person can read about what happens to people as a result of actions they make. The elementary unit of society is the household and this can be defined as a residential group of persons who live under the same roof and eat out of the same pot (Friedman, 1992). Social learning is necessary for the household in acquiring the skills pertinent to the maintenance of health promoting behaviour. Most of our daily activities are learned in the household. Individuals begin to learn behaviour patterns from childhood by observing especially the parents and later on their siblings. The environment is understood as comprising the whole set of natural or biophysical and man-made or socio-cultural systems, in which man and other organisms live, work or interact (Ocran, 1999). The environment is human lifes supporting system from which food, air and shelter are derived to sustain human life. Humans interact with the physical and man-made environment and this interaction creates a complex, finely balanced set of structures and processes, which evolve over the history of a people. These structures and processes determine the culture of the society, their social behaviour, beliefs and superstition about health and diseases. Social relationships seem to protect individuals against behavioural disorders and they facilitate health promoting behaviour (Barlow and Durand, 1995; Ho Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions Factors Influencing Sanitation Conditions ABSTRACT This thesis examines the socio-cultural and demographic factors influencing sanitation conditions, identifies the presence of Escherichia coli in household drinking water samples and investigates prevalence of diarrhoea among infants. It is based on questionnaire interviews of 120 household heads and 77 caretakers of young children below the age of 5years, direct observation of clues of household sanitation practice as well as analyses of household water samples in six surrounding communities in Bogoso. Data collected was analysed using SPSS and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Value(R) technique. The findings revealed that the sanitation condition of households improved with high educational attainment and ageing household heads. On the contrary, sanitation deteriorated with overcrowding in the household. Furthermore, in houses where the religion of the head of household was Traditional, sanitation was superior to those of a Christian head and this household also had better sa nitary conditions than that with a Moslem head of household. Water quality analysis, indicated that 27 samples out of the 30 representing 90% tested negative for E. Coli bacteria whilst 17(56.7%) samples had acceptable levels of total Escherichia coli. Finally, it was found out that diarrhoea among infants were highly prevalent since 47 (61.04%) out of the 77 child minders admitted their wards had a bout with infant diarrhoea. Massive infrastructural development, supported by behavioural change education focussing on proper usage of sanitary facilities is urgently needed in these communities to reduce the incidence of public health diseases. Intensive health education could also prove vital and such programs must target young heads of household, households with large family size and households whose heads are Christians and Moslems. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Efforts to assuage poverty cannot be complete if access to good water and sanitation systems are not part. In 2000, 189 nations adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, and from that, the Millennium Development Goals were made. Goal 4, which aims at reducing child mortality by two thirds for children under five, is the focus of this study. Clean water and sanitation considerably lessen water- linked diseases which kill thousands of children every day (United Nations, 2006). According to the World Health Organization (2004), 1.1 billion people lacked access to an enhanced water supply in 2002, and 2.3 billion people got poorly from diseases caused by unhygienic water. Each year 1.8 million people pass away from diarrhoea diseases, and 90% of these deaths are of children under five years (WHO, 2004). Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) had traditionally been the major stakeholder in the provision of safe water and sanitation facilities. Since the 1960s the GWSC has focussed chiefly on urban areas at the peril of rural areas and thus, rural communities in the Wassa West District are no exception. According to the Ghana 2003 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ II) Survey Report (GSS, 2005), roughly 78% of all households in the Tamale Metropolis, 97 percent in Accra, 86% in Kumasi and 94% in Sekondi-Takoradi own pipe-borne water. Once more, the report show that a few households do not own any toilet facilities and depend on the bush for their toilet needs, that is 2.1%, 7.3%, and 5% for Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi-Takoradi correspondingly. Access to safe sanitation, improved water and improved waste disposal systems is more of an urban than rural occurrence. In the rural poor households, only 9.2% have safe sanitation, 21.1% use improved waste disposal method and 63.0 % have access to improved water. The major diseases prevalent in Ghana are malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis (bilharzias), typhoid and diarrhea. Diarrhea is of precise concern since it has been recognized as the second most universal disease treated at clinics and one of the major contributors to infant mortality (UNICEF, 2004). The infant mortality rate currently stands at about 55 deaths per 1,000 live births (CIA, 2006). The Wassa West District of Ghana has seen an improvement in water and sanitation facilities during the last decade. Most of the development projects in the district are sponsored by the mining companies, individuals and some non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Between 2002 and 2008, Goldfields Tarkwa Mine constructed 118 new hand dug wells (77 of which were fitted with hand pumps) and refurbished 48 wells in poor condition. Also, a total of 44 modern style public water closets, were constructed in their catchment areas. The company also donated 19 large refuse collection containers to the District Assembly and built 6 new nurses quarters. The Tarkwa Mine has so far spent 10.5million US dollars of which 26% went into health, water and sanitation projects, 24% into agricultural development, 31% into formal education and the remaining went into other projects like roads and community centre construction ( GGL, 2008). Golden Star Resources (consist of Bogoso/Prestea Mine and Wassa Min e at Damang) also established the community development department in 2005 and has since invested 800 thousand US dollars. Their projects include 22 Acqua-Privy toilets, 10 hand dug wells (all fitted with hand pumps) and supplied potable water to villages with their tanker trucks (BGL, 2007). Other development partners complimenting the efforts of the central government include NGOs WACAM, Care International and Friends of the Nation (FON). WACAM is an environmentally based NGO which monitors water pollution by large scale mining companies. They have sponsored about 10 hand dug wells for villages in the district. Care International sponsors hygiene and reproductive health programmes in schools and on radio. They have also donated a couple of motor bicycles to public health workers in the district who travel to villages. The aims of all these projects were to improve hygiene and sanitation so as to reduce disease transmission. Despite efforts by the development partners, water supply and sanitation related diseases are highly prevalent in the district. Data obtained from the Public and Environmental Health Department of the Ministry of Health (M.O.H., 2008) showed that the top ten most prevalent diseases in the district include malaria, acute respiratory infections, skin diseases and diarrhoea. The others are acute eye infection, rheumatism, dental carries, hypertension, pregnancy related complications and home/occupational accidents. A lot more illnesses occur but on a lower scale and these include intestinal worms, coughs and typhoid fever. A complete data on the top ten diseases prevalent in the district is attached as Appendix D but below is a selection of the illnesses that directly result from bad water and sanitation practices. The number of malaria cases decreased from 350 in 2006 to 300 cases per 1000 population in 2008. Despite the decrease, the values involved are still quite high. The incidence of diarrhoea among infants and acute respiratory infection remained 30 and 60 cases per 1,000 populations respectively. This can be attributed to several reasons, including population boom, lack of uninterrupted services and inadequate functioning facilities. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2004), an estimated 90% of all incidence of diarrhoea among infants can be blamed on inadequate sanitation and unclean water. For example, in a study of 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, only between 35-80% of water systems were operational in the rural areas (Sutton, 2004). Another survey in South Africa recognized that over 70% of the boreholes in the Eastern Cape were not working (Mackintosh and Colvin, 2003). Further examples of sanitation systems in bad condition have also been acknowledged in rural Ghana, where nearly 40% of latrines put up due to the support of a sanitation program were uncompleted or not used (Rodgers et al., 2007). The author had a personal communication with the District Environmental Officer and he estimated that, approximately there are 224 public toilets, 560 hand dug wells, 1,255 public standpipes and 3 well managed waste disposal sites in the district. According to the 2006 projection, the population of the district is expected to reach 295,753 by the end of the year 2009 (WWDA, 2006). Development partners in the past have concentrated their efforts on facilities provision only. They have not looked well at the possible causes of the persistence of disease transmission despite the effort they are making. Relationships between households socio cultural demographic factors and peoples behaviour with respect to the practice of hygiene could prove an essential lead to the solution of the problem. The fact is, merely providing a water closet does not guarantee that it could be adopted by the people and used well to reduce disease transmission. Epidemiological investigations have revealed that even in dearth supply of latrines, diarrhoeal morbidity can be reduced with the implementation of improved hygiene behaviours (IRC, 2001: Morgan, 1990). Access to waste disposal systems, their regular, consistent and hygienic use and adoption of other hygienic behavioural practices that block the transmission of diseases are the most important factors. In quite a lot of studies fro m different countries, the advancement of personal and domestic hygiene accounted for a decline in diarrhoeal morbidity (Henry and Rahim, 1990). The World Bank, (2003) identifies the demographic characteristics of the household including education of members, occupation, size and composition as influencing the willingness of the household to use an improved water supply and sanitation system. Education, especially for females results in well spaced child birth, greater ability of parents to give better health care which in turn contribute to reduced mortality rates among children under 5years (Grant, 1995). In a study into water resource scarcity in coastal Ghana, Hunter (2004) identified a valid association between household size, the presence of young children and the gender of the household head. It was noted that, female heads were less likely to collect water in larger households. Furthermore, increasing number of young children present increased the odds of female head/spouse being the household water collector. Cultural issues play active part in hygiene and sanitation behaviour especially among members of rural communities. For example, women are hardly seen urinating in public due to a perceived shame in the act but men can be left alone if found doing it. Also, the act of defecation publicly is generally unacceptable except when infants and young children are involved. The reason is that the faeces from young people are allegedly free from pathogens and less offensive (Drangert, 2004). Ismails (1999) work on nutritional assessment in Africa, detected that peoples demographic features, socioeconomic and access to basic social services such as food, water and electricity correlate significantly to their health and nutrition status. Specifically, factors such as age, gender, township status and ethnicity, which are basic to demography, can play a role in the quality of life especially of the elderly. This research assessed peoples practice of personal hygiene in Bogoso and surrounding villages. It also identified the common bacteria present in household stored water sources. Furthermore, the research identified the relationships between some socio-cultural demographic factors of households and the sanitation practice of its members. THE PROBLEM STATEMENT The Wassa West District in the Western Region is home to six large scale mining companies and hundreds of small scale and illegal mining units. Towns and villages in the district have been affected by mining, forestry and agricultural activities for over 120 years (BGL EIS, 2005). Because of this development, the local environment has been subjected to varying degrees of degradation. For example, water quality analysis carried out in 1989 by the former Canadian Bogoso Resources (CBR) showed that water samples had Total coliform bacteria in excess of 16 colonies per 100ml (BGL EIS,2005). Most of the water and sanitation programs executed in the district exerted little positive impact and thus, diarrhoeal diseases are still very high in the towns and villages (See Appendix D on page 80). However, in order to solve any problem it is important to appreciate the issues that contribute to it; after all, identifying the problem in itself is said to be a solution in disguise. Numerous health impact research have evidently recognized that the upgrading of water supply and sanitation alone is generally required but not adequate to attain broad health effects if personal and domestic hygiene are not given equivalent prominence (Scherlenlieb, 2003). The troubles of scarce water and safe sanitation provisions in developing countries have previously been dealt with by researchers for quite some time. However, until recent times they were mostly considered as technical and/or economic problems. Even rural water and sanitation issues are repeatedly dealt with from an entirely engineering point of view, with only a simple reference to social or demographic aspects. Therefore, relatively not much is proven how the socio-cultural demographic influences impinge on hygiene behaviour which in turn influences the transmission of diseases. The relationship between household socio cultural factors and the sanitation conditions of households in the Wassa West District especially the Bogoso Rural Council area has not been systematically documented or there is inadequate research that investigates such relationship. THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions were posed to help address the objectives; Why are the several sanitation intervention projects failing to achieve desired results? Why is the prevalence of malaria and diarrhea diseases so high in the district? What types of common bacteria are prevalent in the stored drinking water of households? OBJECTIVES The main aim of this research was to investigate peoples awareness and practice of personal hygiene, access to quality water and sanitation and the possible causes of diarrhoeal diseases and suggest ways to reduce the incidence of diseases in the community. The specific objectives were; To assess the quality of stored household drinking water To establish the extent to which sanitation behaviour is affected by household socio-cultural demographic factors like age and education level of the head. To investigate the occurrence of diarrhoea among young children (0-59 months old) in the households. To identify and recommend good intervention methods to eliminate or reduce the outbreak of diseases and improve sanitation. HYPOTHESIS In addition to the above objectives, the following hypotheses were tested; Occurrence of infant diarrhoea in the household is independent on the educational attainment of child caretakers. There is no relationship between households background factors and the sanitation conditions of the household. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, various literature related to the subject matter of study are reviewed. Areas covered are sanitation, hygiene, water quality and diarrhoeal diseases. Theories and models the study contributed to include USAIDs Sanitation Improvement Framework, the F diagram by Wagner and Lanois and the theory of Social learning. SANITATION Until recently, policies of many countries have focused on access to latrines by households as a principal indicator of sanitation coverage, although of late there has been a change and an expansion in understanding the term sanitation. Sanitation can best be defined as the way of collecting and disposing of excreta and community liquid waste in a germ-free way so as not to risk the health of persons or the community as a whole (WEDC, 1998). Ideally, sanitation should end in the seclusion or destruction of pathogenic material and, hence, a breach in the transmission pathway. The transmission pathways are well known and are potted and simplified in the F diagram (Wagner and Lanois 1958) shown below by figure 3.1. The more paths that can be blocked, the more useful a health and sanitation intervention program will be. It may be mentioned that the health impact indicators of sanitation programmes are not easy to define and measure, particularly in the short run. Therefore, it seems more reasonable to look at sanitation as a package of services and actions which taken together can have some bearing on the health of a person and health status in a community. According to IRC (2001:0), issues that need to be addressed when assessing sanitation would include: How complete the sanitation programme is in addressing major risks for transmitting sanitation-related diseases; Whether the sanitation programme adopted a demand driven approach, through greater peoples participation, or supply driven approach, through heavy subsidy; Whether it allows adjustment to peoples varying needs and payment; If the programme leads to measurably improved practices by the majority of men and women, boys and girls; If it is environmentally friendly. That is; if it does not increase or create new environmental hazards (IRC, 2001) Sanitation is a key determinant of both fairness in society and societys ability to maintain itself. If the sanitation challenges described above cannot be met, we will not be able to provide for the needs of the present generation without hindering that of future generations. Thus, sanitation approaches must be resource minded, not waste minded. HYGIENE Hygiene is the discipline of health and its safeguarding (Dorland, 1997). Health is the capacity to function efficiently within ones surroundings. Our health as individuals depends on the healthfulness of our environment. A healthful environment, devoid of risky substances allows the individual to attain complete physical, emotional and social potential. Hygiene is articulated in the efforts of an individual to safeguard, sustain and enhance health status (Anderson and Langton, 1961). Measures of hygiene are vital in the fight against diarrhoeal diseases, the major fatal disease of the young in developing countries (Hamburg, 1987). The most successful interventions against diarrhoeal diseases are those that break off the transmission of contagious agents at home. Personal and domestic hygiene can be enhanced with such trouble-free actions like ordinary use of water in adequate quantity for hand washing, bathing, laundering and cleaning of cooking and eating utensils; regular washing and change of clothes; eating healthy and clean foods and appropriate disposal of solid and liquid waste. Diarrheal Dise ases Diarrhoea can be defined in absolute or relative terms based on either the rate of recurrence of bowel movements or the constancy (or looseness) of stools (Kendall, 1996). Absolute diarrhoea is having more bowel movements than normal. Relative diarrhoea is defined based on the consistency of stool. Thus, an individual who develops looser stools than usual has diarrhoea even though the stools may be within the range of normal with respect to consistency. According to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2006), with diarrhoea, stools typically are looser whether or not the frequency of bowel movements is increased. This looseness of stool which can vary all the way from slightly soft to watery is caused by increased water in the stool. Increased amounts of water in stool can occur if the stomach and/or small intestine produce too much fluid, the distal small intestine and colon do not soak up enough water, or the undigested, liquid food passes too quickly through the small intestine and colon for them to take out enough water. Of course, more than one of these anomalous processes may occur at the same time. For example, some viruses, bacteria and parasites cause increased discharge of fluid, either by invading and inflaming the lining of the small intestine (inflammation stimulates the lining to secrete fluid) or by producing toxins (chemicals) that also fire up the lining to secrete fluid but without caus ing inflammation. Swelling of the small intestine and/or colon from bacteria or from ileitis/colitis can increase the haste with which food passes through the intestines, reducing the time that is available for absorbing water. Conditions of the colon such as collagenous colitis can also impede the capacity of the colon to soak up water. Escherichia coli O157:H7 is probably the most dreaded bacteria today among parents of young children. The name of the bacteria refers to the chemical compounds found on the bacteriums surface. Cattle are the main sources of E. coli O157:H7, but these bacteria also can be found in other domestic and wild mammals. E. coli O157:H7 became a household word in 1993 when it was recognized as the cause of four deaths and more than 600 cases of bloody diarrhoea among children under 5years in North-western United States (US EPA, 1996). The Northwest epidemic was traced to undercooked hamburgers served in a fast food restaurant. Other sources of outbreaks have included raw milk, unpasteurized apple juice, raw sprouts, raw spinach, and contaminated water. Most strains of E. coli bacteria are not dangerous however, this particular strain attaches itself to the intestinal wall and then releases a toxin that causes severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhoea and vomiting that lasts a week or longer. In small children and the elderly, the disease can advance to kidney failure. The good news is that E. coli O157:H7 is easily destroyed by cooking to 160F throughout. Reducing diarrhoea morbidity with USAIDs Framework To attain noteworthy improvement in reducing the number of deaths attributed to diarrhoea, its fundamental causes must be addressed. It is approximated that 90% of all cases of diarrhoea can be attributed to three major causes: insufficient sanitation, inadequate hygiene, and contaminated water (WHO 1997). According to USAID, for further progress to be made in the fight against diarrhoea, the concentration will need to include prevention, especially in child health programs. The first method, case management of diarrhoea, has been tremendously successful in recent years in reducing child mortality. The primary process of achieving effect has been through the initiation and operation of oral rehydration therapy; i.e. the dispensation of oral rehydration solution and sustained feeding (both solid and fluid, including breast milk). In addition, health experts have emphasized the need for caretakers to become aware of the danger signs early in children under their care and to obtain suitable, appropriate care to avoid severe dehydration and death. The second approach, increasing host resistance to diarrhoea, has also had some victory with the enhancement of a childs nutritional status and vaccination against measles, a familiar cause of diarrhoea. The third element is prevention through hygiene improvement. Although the health care system has dealt comprehensively with the symptoms of diarrhoea, it has done insufficiently to bring down the overall incidence of the disease. Despite a drop in deaths owing to diarrhoea, morbidity or the health burden due to diarrhoea has not decreased, because health experts are treating the symptoms but not addressing the causes. Thus, diarrhoeas drain on the health system, its effects on household finances and education, and its additional burden on mothers has not been mitigated . Programs in several countries have confirmed that interventions can and do reduce diarrhoea morbidity. A critical constituent of successful prevention efforts is an effective monitoring and appraisal strategy. In order to reduce transmission of faecal-oral diseases at the household level, for example, an expert group of epidemiologist and water supply and sanitation specialist concluded that three interventions would be crucial. These are: Safer disposal of human excreta, particularly of babies and people with diarrhoea. Hand washing after defecation and handling babies faeces and before feeding, eating and preparing food, and; Maintaining drinking water free from faecal contamination in the home and at the source (WHO, 1993). Studies on hand washing, as reported in Boot and Cairncross (1993), confirm that it is not only the act of hand washing, but also how well hands are washed that make a difference. To prevent diarrhoea, its causes must first be fully tacit. According to the USAIDs hygiene improvement framework, a thorough approach to diarrhoea at the national level must tackle the three key elements of any triumphant program to fight disease. These are; contact with the necessary hardware or technologies, encouragement of healthy behaviours, and assistance for long-term sustainability. The concept is explained by figure 3.3 below; The first part, water supply systems, addresses mutually the issue of water quality and water quantity, which reduces the risk of contamination of food and drink. Similarly, ensuring access to water supply systems can greatly ease the time women spend collecting water, allowing more time to care for young children and more time for income generating activities. The third element, household technologies and materials, refers to the increased accessibility to such hygiene supplies as soap (or local substitutes), chlorine, filters, water storage containers that have restricted necks and are covered, and potties for small children. The second element of the hardware component, toilet facilities, involves providing facilities to dispose off human excreta in ways that safeguard the environment and public health, characteristically in the form of numerous kinds of latrines, septic tanks, and water-borne toilets. Sanitation reporting is important because faecal contamination can spread from one household to another, especially in closely populated areas. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES Water quality is defined in terms of the chemical, physical, and biological constituents in water. The word standards is used to refer to legally enforceable threshold values for the water parameters analyzed, while guidelines refer to threshold values that are recommended and do not have any regulatory status. This study employs the world health organization (WHO) and the Ghana standards board (GSB) standards and guidelines in determining the quality of water. Water Quality Requirements for Drinking Water – Ghana Standards The Ghana Standards for drinking water (GS 175-Part 1:1998) indicate the required physical, chemical, microbial and radiological properties of drinking water. The standards are adapted from the World Health Organizations Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, Second Edition, Volume 1, 1993, but also incorporate national standards that are specific to the countrys environment. Physical Requirements The Ghana Standards set the maximum turbidity of drinking water at 5 NTU. Other physical requirements pertain to temperature, odour, taste and colour. Temperature, odour and taste are generally not to be objectionable, while the maximum threshold values for colour are given quantitatively as True Colour Units (TCU) or Hazen units. The Ghana Standards specify 5 TCU or 5 Hazen units for colour after filtration. The requirements for pH values set by the Ghana Standards for drinking water is 6.5 to 8.5 (GS 175-Part1:1998). Microbial Requirements The Ghana Standards specify that E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria and total coliform bacteria should not be detected in a 100ml sample of drinking water (0 CFU/100ml). The Ghana Standards also specify that drinking water should be free of human enteroviruses. WHO Drinking Water Guidelines Physical Requirements Although no health-based guideline is given by WHO (2006) for turbidity in drinking water, it is recommended that the median turbidity should ideally be below 0.1 NTU for effective disinfection. Microbial Requirements Like the Ghana Standards, no E.coli or thermotolerant bacteria should be detected in a 100 ml sample of drinking water. Water Related Diseases Every year, water-related diseases claim the lives of 3.4 million people, the greater part of whom are children (Dufour et. al, 2003). Water-related diseases can be grouped into four categories ( Bradley, 1977) based on the path of transmission: waterborne diseases, water-washed diseases, water-based diseases, insect vector-related diseases. Waterborne diseases are caused by the ingestion of water contaminated by human or animal faeces or urine containing pathogenic bacteria or viruses. These include cholera, typhoid, amoebic and bacillary dysentery and other diarrhoeal diseases. Water washed diseases are caused by poor personal hygiene and skin or eye contact with contaminated water. These include scabies, trachoma and flea, lice and tick-borne diseases. Water-based diseases are caused by parasites found in intermediate organisms living in contaminated water. These include dracunculiasis, schistosomiasis and other helminths. Water related diseases are caused by insect vectors, especially mosquitoes that breed in water. They include dengue, filariasis, malaria, onchocerciasis, trypanosomiasis and yellow fever. The Theory of Social Learning Learning is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that can be attributed to experience (Coon, 1989). According to the social learning theory, behavioural processes are directly acquired by the continually dynamic interplay between the individual and its social environment (Mc Connell, 1982). For example, children learn what to do at home by observing what happens when their siblings talk back to their parents or throw rubbish into the household compound. The learning process occurs through reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement refers to any event that increases chances that a response will occur again (Coon, 1989). Reinforcement and punishment can be learned through education where the person can read about what happens to people as a result of actions they make. The elementary unit of society is the household and this can be defined as a residential group of persons who live under the same roof and eat out of the same pot (Friedman, 1992). Social learning is necessary for the household in acquiring the skills pertinent to the maintenance of health promoting behaviour. Most of our daily activities are learned in the household. Individuals begin to learn behaviour patterns from childhood by observing especially the parents and later on their siblings. The environment is understood as comprising the whole set of natural or biophysical and man-made or socio-cultural systems, in which man and other organisms live, work or interact (Ocran, 1999). The environment is human lifes supporting system from which food, air and shelter are derived to sustain human life. Humans interact with the physical and man-made environment and this interaction creates a complex, finely balanced set of structures and processes, which evolve over the history of a people. These structures and processes determine the culture of the society, their social behaviour, beliefs and superstition about health and diseases. Social relationships seem to protect individuals against behavioural disorders and they facilitate health promoting behaviour (Barlow and Durand, 1995; Ho