A Year Later: Tholmosor Community

A year ago, generous donors helped restore water to a well in Tholmosor Community, Sierra Leone. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from Omoh Emmanuel with you.

Before last year, school pupils and workers used to wake up very early in the morning to search for water. Thanks to an intervention that restored water to a well, daily life has changed. People now have safe, clean, and accessible water throughout the year.

This water isn't only being used for drinking, but for practicing good personal hygiene and for cleaning the environment. It's a beautiful, clean community and the water well is extremely well-cared for. Yet the community is growing rapidly, with new buildings being raised on every corner. It will be important to monitor population growth in regards to the amount of water available so that the good health and hygiene witnessed here remains.

Isha Wurie, who takes care of the water point and keeps our team up to date on how it's working.

Isha Wurie is the pump caretaker, and says that she and her neighbors have been enjoying "very good, pure, safe and fresh drinking water." Isha has done a wonderful job keeping the water point clean.

Restoration of the well is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project is committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by donors like you, allows us to maintain our relationships with communities by visiting up to 4 times each year to ensure that the water points are safe and reliable.

There are shrubs planted beside the well, and drainage has been dug to keep the area free of puddles.

Zainab Kamara is only in class four, but she is still able to remember life before clean, reliable water. "Going to the swamp was always a painful and stressful thing for me. Carrying water on my head for long distances always gave me pain and made me filthy because by the time I got home my feet and legs were all dirty with mud," said Zainab.

"Now, I have enough time to study and I also go to school on time..."

This is just one of the many ways that we monitor projects and communicate with you. Additionally, you can always check the functionality status and our project map to see how all of our water points are performing, based on our consistent monitoring data.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This functional well in Tholmosor Community is changing many lives.

This is not possible without the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, our local teams, the community, and you. We are excited to stay in touch with this community and support their journey with safe water.

Read more about The Water Promise and how you can help.