Project Status



Project Type:  Well Rehab

Program: Well Rehab - Sierra Leone

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase: 
Community Managed
Implementing Partner Monitoring Data Unavailable
Initial Installation: Dec 2012

Project Features


Click icons to learn about each feature.



Community Profile

Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...

A Sierra Leone team member stated, "During the hygiene training, we had one man named Hassan who decided to explain one of the lessons back to the participants in team, because he wasn't convinced that everyone understood when we taught it in Krio. He did such a good job explaining it that from this point we decided to implement this idea of bringing forth one of the participants to re-teach certain lessons to reinforce the ideas, regardless of whether there is a language barrier or not." When the team arrived, community members were utilizing a river located one kilometer away from the community to meet all of their water needs. Because of this, families were suffering from cholera, dysentery, typhoid, malaria and other respiratory illnesses. The Sierra Leone team was pleased to learn of the community’s use of a covered pit latrine as this will help prevent further spread of disease in the area. During the team’s stay, community members assisted the team with the water project whenever possible and guarded the team’s equipment during the night. Most community members are Muslim and earn a living by farming or by teaching at the nearby school. Before leaving the community, the team provided community member, Mamoud T. Sillah, with a Mariatu's Hope contact number in case their well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft.

The Sierra Leone team had an opportunity to meet with twenty year old community member and petty trader, Sarah Kargbo, who stated, "The distance to the old source is too far, it is not protected, and sometimes it gets dirty. Now with the new well all these problems are over, and it makes life very simple."

During the hygiene education, the team addresses: Hand washing, how to properly transport and store water, disease transmission and prevention, how to maintain proper care of the pump, as well as signs and symptoms of dehydration and how to make Oral Rehydration Solution. All of these lessons are taught in a participatory method to help community members discover ways to improve their hygiene and sanitation choices, and implement community driven solutions.

We're just getting started, check back soon!


Project Photos


Project Type

Well rehabilitation is one of the most cost effective ways to bring clean, safe water to a community.  Sometimes it involves fixing a broken hand pump, other times it means sealing a hand dug well to prevent it from being contaminated.  These repairs, and often time total replacements, coupled with sanitation and hygiene training make a huge impact in communities.


Sponsors

Amber N. Yopp