New Miracle Praise School
Project Snapshot
Country: Sierra Leone
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude 8.318867
Longitude -13.065450
Impact:
Total Served: 500
Status: Completed (?)
Completion Date (or estimate): 06/01/2010
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The school in Monkey Bush had a well at one time. But like thousands of others throughout Sierra Leone, this one was basically useless. So many wells were lost or destroyed in the decades long civil war that ravaged this country. Little chance of finding clean and safe water remains for many, and the students of Miracle Praise certainly didn't expect to find it either.
That's when our partner showed up and offered to fix this well and restore a measure of hope to this school.
The old "well" (the hole in the ground) was actually not too bad. "It doesn’t dry up," according to our implementing partner. The problem was, the pump was gone - broken and abandon. Left open, it rendered this water source unsafe as the open well was easily contaminated.
One of the teachers, 25 year old Saffiatu, told the team that many of the students who drank from the open pit well suffered from diarrhea, a dangerous illness out in the rural countryside.
She went on to say, once the well was repaired, "This closed well with a hand pump is clean and safer than the open well. People were worried about the children falling into the open well. Thank you for helping us!"
The community helped out with the project by providing labor. The old pump was pulled and a new Afridev pump was installed. The top was sealed with concrete and the water disinfected. When the project was complete, the community established a point person to be the caretaker of the well.
This local ownership, involvement and management will help ensure the project lasts a very long time. It's a team effort. We're committed to seeing that these wells last. We work to ensure that our implementing partners intend to stick around and make sure proper follow up and reporting is done.
Access to clean, safe water is a critical first step. And so is proper sanitation and hygiene. So, the entire community participated with the children in a sanitation and hygiene seminar where they learned the basics of keeping the well, their bodies and their homes clean.
This training dramatically improves the outcomes of water projects. Combining clean, safe water with safer hygiene practices can have a dramatic effect on people's health.
When the project was complete, the entire school and community gathered around to celebrate and give thanks. The smiles tell it all.
Access to safe, clean water is just the beginning for these students. Today they are able to spend more time in class, less time in bed sick, and a hope of breaking the cycle of poverty has been born.
Project Photos
Sponsors
Country Details
Sierra Leone
- Population: 9.7 Million
- Lacking clean water: 47%
- Below poverty line: 70%
- Climate: Tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season; winter dry season
- Languages: English, Mende, Temne, Krio
- Ethnic Groups: 20 African ethnic groups 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole (Krio) 10%
- Life Expectancy: 48 years
- Infant Mortality Rate: 155 deaths per 1000 live births
Partner Profile
Living Water International
Nearly 20 years ago, we set out to help the church in North America be the hands and feet of Jesus by serving the poorest of the poor. 600 million people in the world live on less than $2 a day. 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water.
For all practical purposes, these statistics refer to the same people; around the world, communities are trapped in debilitating poverty because they constantly suffer from water-related diseases and parasites, and/or because they spend long stretches of their time carrying water over long distances.
In response to this need, we implement participatory, community-based water solutions in developing countries. Since we started, we’ve completed water projects for 7,000 communities in 26 countries.
It all began in 1990, when a group from Houston, Texas traveled to Kenya and saw the desperate need for clean drinking water. They returned to Houston and founded a 501(c)3 non-profit. The fledgling organization equipped and trained a team of Kenyan drillers, and LWI Kenya began operations the next year under the direction of a national board.
That pattern continues today; we train, consult, and equip local people to implement solutions in their own countries.
Remembering the life-changing nature of that first trip in 1990, we also lead hundreds of volunteers on mission trips each year, working with local communities, under the leadership of nationals, to implement water projects. It’s hard to know which lives are changed more—those “serving” or those “being served.”
Our training programs in shallow well drilling, pump repair, and hygiene education have equipped thousands of volunteers and professionals in the basics of integrated water solutions since 1997.
