A Year Later: #40 Main Motor Road

A year ago, generous donors helped build a new well for the community surrounding #40 Main Motor Road in Sierra Leone. Because of these gifts and our monthly donors, partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from partner Nanah Mansaray with you.

Life after this project has improved because people have access to safe and pure water to drink and for all their domestic work. The community also improved their hygiene practices due to the WaSH training conducted in their community but still need to work on it.

“People are now using latrine instead of them going down the beach or around the back of their houses to defecate,” says community member Sallieu Bangura. “They also hang their clothes on a rope instead of them laying their clothes on the ground.” But the community still faces some challenges when it comes to hygiene and sanitation. “Some community members do not want to accept the rules and regulations but the water user committee member has implemented a fine to anyone who tries to break the rules and regulation of the pump.”

Sallieu Bangura’s son, 9-year-old Sallieu Bangura, Jr., says his life has changed since the completion of the pump in the community. “We have been wasting a lot of time from fetching water from the stream and we have had serious health problems like diarrhea and vomiting. But, since the time this pump was completed my life has never been the same like before I have access to clean pure and safe water.”

We will continue to work with the water user committee as they try to enforce the rules they have set up around hygiene and sanitation. This is big work in this community. They still need to improve on their sanitation but we will continue to monitor the operations maintenance and chlorination of the pump and work with them on more training.

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The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.