The Water Project

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Matindi Rd Samuel Town

Photo of Matindi Rd Samuel Town

Project Snapshot

Country: Sierra Leone

GPS Coordinates:
  Latitude 8.305250
  Longitude -13.076433

Impact:
  Total Served: 300

Status:  Completed (What's This?)

Completion Date (or estimate): 12/22/2011

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Our implementing partner reports from the field (unedited)...

A LWI Sierra Leone team member commented, “Even though there are no jobs for the youth, they were eager to help make casing and do farming. They are all eager to push development in their community and are active with the push towards Christianity in their community.” When the team arrived, community members were suffering from dysentery, typhoid and malaria. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a water committee consisting of four men and two women who assisted the team with the project whenever possible and who are responsible for helping maintain the well after the team leaves the area. Most community members earn a living teaching, working as pastors, petty trading, fishing and tapping palm wine. 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 member and head man, James Harding, with a LWI Sierra Leone contact 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 twenty-seven year old community member and trader, Marine Gordon, who stated,”The distance to the old water source was so far while with the new source it will make things easy. The old was not protected like this new one, so going to the other community sometimes they were allowed and sometimes we have to wait for the other people in their community first. This new well will serve us well with good pure water.”

This community is a catchment community for Peninsula Secondary School. The hygiene training was done with students from the Child Health Club who lives in Samuel Town assisting. It was really great to see them in action. The community was very receptive to what they had to say. The headman and elders have previously attended hygiene training sessions and were also very active in this training. This community is targeted for CLTS. During the hygiene education, the team addressed: Disease transmission, germs, hand washing, proper water saving techniques, healthy and unhealthy communities, how to take proper care of the pump, how to keep the water clean, good and bad hygiene behavior and disease transmission stories.

(NOTE: We are aware of the issues with the photographs being distorted.  We are working to acquire new images)


Project Photos


Recent Project Updates

12/22/2011: Matindi Rd Samuel Town Well Repaired

The well at Matindi Rd Samuel Town in Sierra Leone has been repaired for the community.  We have posted pictures, GPS coordinates and a report from the field.



Sponsors


25 individual donors
Gover-Gallie Wedding
ExchangeBucket
Lift and Walk


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.

Implementer


Living Water International

Living Water International exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water.


Program Summary


Well Rehab - Sierra Leone

LWI's Sierra Leone program launched in the wake of the nation's civil war. The operation trains ex-child soldiers and women who were victimized during the hostilities, equipping them to rehabilitate broken-down wells and educate villagers in basic health and hygiene practices.


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Project Data




A well will be restored for a community in Sierra Leone

Project Type:  Well Rehab

Location:  Western Area Rural, Sierra Leone

Depth:  33.00



ProjectID: 540