St. Ann's Catholic Church
Project Snapshot
Country: Sierra Leone
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude 8.601067
Longitude -13.196267
Impact:
Total Served: 700
Status: Completed (?)
Completion Date (or estimate): 12/30/2010
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When the team arrived the community was utilizing a river as their primary source of water and because of this residents were suffering from Dysentery, Typhoid and Malaria. The community was very hard working and participated in all aspects of the project. The majority of community members sustain a living by farming, teaching, petty trading or fishing. The nearest school is located 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 member Ray Khan with a LWI contact number incase their well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft.
The team had an opportunity to meet with forty year old female community member and petty trader Kadiatu Kamara who sated, "The stream is not safe and secure drinking water for our health. The distance is long. The well has now been sealed up and a new hand pump has been installed which is secure and goof for our health. It is also free from germs and has no bacteria. We are so thankful for this!"
There were forty adults and twelve children who attended the hygiene lessons. During the hygiene education the following principal issues were addressed: Disease transmission, Germs, Hand Washing- proper techniques and water saving methods, Healthy Unhealthy Communities, Diarrhea Doll- causes of diarrhea, Oral Rehydration Solution, Proper care of the pump, Keeping the water clean, Good-bad hygiene behaviors and Disease Transmission Stories. After the education lessons the team distributed forty Oral Rehydration Solution spoons to community families. The new well benefits children at St. Ann's Catholic School and the team also discussed how to construct a native toilet. The community members shared, "We understand the teaching and it helps us to know about our hygiene. This is our first time to receive such training and we promise to put the training into action."
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.
