Sheki Town Well Repair
Project Snapshot
Country: Sierra Leone
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude 8.333217
Longitude -13.064950
Impact:
Total Served: 500
Status: Completed (?)
Completion Date (or estimate): 11/10/2010
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"When the team arrived the community was utilizing a river as their primary source of water. Because of this residents were suffering from Dysentery, Malaria and other preventable water related illnesses. This well is located near the Sierra Leone Islamic Academy Mission. They were very thankful the team cared enough to stop and help them. They worked well alongside the team and contributed materials and labor to the project. The majority of community residents sustain a living by farming, trading produce at local markets and several teach at the nearby school. The nearest school is located less than one kilometer away from the community whose students, teachers and administrative personnel all have access to the new, safe water source. Before leaving the community the team provided community resident Abu Thullar Koroma with a LWI contact phone number in case their well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft.
The LWI Sierra Leone team had an opportunity to meet with Ramatu Bangura a thirty-five year old female community resident and housewife who stated, "The stream is far away and is not pure. This well is sealed up whereas the stream is not. It will help with controlling sickness and the spread of disease."
There were twenty-five adults and nineteen children who attended the hygiene education. They were very thankful for the information presented and especially enjoyed learning how to make Oral Rehydration Solution. In total twenty-five ORS spoons were distribute and during the education the following principal issues were addressed: Disease transmission, Hand Washing- proper techniques and water saving methods, Healthy Unhealthy Communities, Oral Rehydration Solution, Proper care of the pump, Keeping the water clean, Good-bad hygiene behaviors and Disease Transmission Stories.
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.
