In February I was able to make my first journey as Director of Program with The Water Project to visit our projects in Lungi and Lokomasama, Sierra Leone.  I had the good fortune of traveling with Michael Ballou, our resident engineer and operations manager on staff at The Water Project. We flew into Lungi Town, located to the North of Tagrin Bay, which flows between quaint and quiet Lungi and the large and sprawling capital of Freetown to the south. The area is marked by rows of Palm trees- vestiges of an oil industry now abandoned, and by numerous fruit and nut trees that continue to flourish in the area.  The thick crown of prolific mango trees serve as a ubiquitous seasonal candy-shop. Cashew trees are not as common, but provide a two-for-one fruit and nut combination within some of the communities. Cotton trees stand as sentinels above the tops of the mangos and palms with roots that resemble flying buttresses and thick branches that stretch toward the sun. Walk down a dirt ribbon road and discover breadfruit trees and guava. A humid coastal heat blankets the day of a dry season leading into a hotter and drier March.

Spencer with our partners in Sierra Leone

The people radiate a strength and resilience of those who have endured some of the most difficult trials that life has to offer- natural disasters, Ebola outbreaks, cholera epidemics, civil wars, and post-colonial political challenges.  Whether purchasing bread or negotiating passage through a road under construction we were often greeted with a slight smile and the words “my friend.” Our implementing partner organization, Mariatu’s Hope is working with communities to install or rehabilitate thirty-five water, sanitation, and hygiene projects this year and they are currently monitoring 124 water points which they have previously implemented.

(more…)