Project No. 35/2025 –
Promotion of the Artisanal Initiative “The Friar Valley Water Project”
(Saltpond, Ghana)
The Provincial Custody of St. Anthony of Padua in Ghana, of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, has proposed Developing Self-Sustainability Project No. 35/2025, entitled “The Friar Valley Water Project,” aimed at strengthening and expanding the artisanal production and distribution of bottled water at the Franciscan Valley of Prayer and Silence in Saltpond, Diocese of Cape Coast, Ghana.
The project originated within the Franciscan Valley of Prayer and Silence, located at Afrangua Junction along the road connecting Cape Coast to Accra. The center serves as an important destination for people from all over Ghana and from Côte d’Ivoire as well. They come for counseling, spiritual retreats, days of rest, and other gatherings. The center also hosts meetings of the Franciscan friars, offering hospitality and catering services.
“The Friar Valley Water Project” initially began as a small company created to produce bottled water for visitors to the Franciscan Valley, so they could receive a blessing and take the water home as a memento of their spiritual experience. Thanks to the high quality of the water and the Conventual Franciscan community’s good reputation, demand for the product gradually grew beyond the Franciscan Valley itself. This development led to the company’s official registration with the Registrar General’s Department of Ghana, thus opening the possibility of distributing and marketing the product beyond the confines of the Franciscan Valley.
To support the growth of the business, the project primarily aims to purchase an industrial labeling machine. This is needed to speed up the production process, which is currently being carried out by hand. Introducing this equipment will significantly reduce production time, improve efficiency in bottle preparation, and enable a substantial increase in product distribution.
The project also includes the purchase of a delivery truck for transporting and distributing the water, as well as covering installation costs and the purchase of bottles and labels.
This project is part of the Custody’s broader commitment to promote concrete forms of self-sufficiency and local economic development. The friars will be directly involved in managing the operation and distributing water, thereby also contributing to the support of the local community and the Custody’s educational and pastoral activities.
The project is currently being implemented.
Project Information
- Conventual Franciscan Jurisdiction: Provincial Custody of St. Anthony of Padua in Ghana
- Country: Ghana
- Location: Saltpond (Diocese of Cape Coast)
- Type of Project: Developing Self-Sustainability Project
- Date of Proposal: October 20, 2025
- Direct Project Coordinator:
- Friar Moses Kabenla ARTHUR
- Email: moses.arthur@gmail.com
- Estimated Duration:
- Six months from the receipt of the funds
- Total Project Cost:
- €55.674,51
- Estimated Expenses:
- Purchase of the truck: 260,023.68 GHC[1]
- Purchase of the label maker: 313,600.00 GHC
- Purchase of bottles and labels: 132,296.00 GHC
- Installation: 16,500.007 GHC
- Contributions:
- €10,000.00 from the Bus 28 Association of Abano Terme, Italy
- €10,000.00 from the Provincial Missionary Center of the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua (Northern Italy)
- Contribution Requested:
- €35.674,51
Update
– September 2026
Project No. 35/2025 has been fully funded through two contributions of €18,500.00 each, provided respectively by Caritas Sant’Antonio ETS and “Con il Cuore, nel nome di Francesco,” for a total of €37,000.00. The total amount provided exceeds the amount requested to implement the project; the difference will help cover bank fees and any costs resulting from currency exchange.
Projects Office
[1] The code GHC previously used to indicate the Ghanaian cedi, the official currency of the Republic of Ghana, is now officially recognized by the International Organization for Standardization under the code GHS (Ghanaian Cedi). In October of 2025, the average exchange rate used for the project’s currency conversion was approximately 1 EUR = 12.00 GHC. Amounts in GHC (Ghanaian cedi) use the local number format, with commas for thousands and periods for decimals.
