A Year Later: #8 Alimamy Amara Road

A year ago, generous donors helped build a new well for the community surrounding #8 Alimamy Amara Road in Sierra Leone. Because of these gifts and our monthly donors, partners can 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 our partner, Nanah Mansaray, with you.

Visiting this community, you can see how life has improved over the past years because the new water project has provided safe drinking water and hygiene and sanitation training introduced to the people and their community.

Community member Fatima Saccoh says “now we are not suffering or striving for water any more. We are fetching pure and clean water even going to school without being late because of this water project.”  Before the new well, the community gathered unsafe water from other communities or streams nearby. They would walk far, up and down hills. “Thanks to this project,” says Fatima, “we now use clean and pure to drink and also for sanitary issues. We have some challenges with many other people from other communities coming here to fetch water or use our facilities and toilets, like students who are passing by, but they are using these facilities in the normal way as they have been trained by our staff.”

12-year-old student Aminata Kargbo says the new water project has changed her life as now she gets her housework done on time and goes to school on time because the pump is very close to her. They use the water not only for drinking but for the domestic work like cooking, cleaning and bathing as well. “Now I can get up and do my work on time without going to other communities or streams to fetch water which gives the cause to be late for school usually,” says Aminata. “Now, we have access to clean and fresh water in our community. So because of this project it has helped me to improve completely in my community and school last year.”

The pump is working effectively and they have a good drainage system, but people also need to mobilize themselves to give education time to time on how to continue to use these facilities in their community. We will continue to encourage the Water User Committee to sensitize community members to abide by the rules and work on behavioral change. Our staff will continue to do proper and effective monitoring  of the pump, to purify the water and handle it with care.

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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.