Water Allows Fatmata to Provide for Her Family!

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Fatmata Conteh. Since then, she and the Forikolo Community of 93 residents have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"It is much easier because the water well is always functioning, and everyone can fetch enough water."

Before the Well Rehabilitation

Like many women in Sierra Leone, 46-year-old Fatmata is responsible for collecting water to meet her and her family's daily water needs. Before last year’s water intervention, this task stole her time and negatively affected her.

Drinking the water caused severe consequences. Many in the community suffered from waterborne diseases that created health problems, affecting their daily lives. Limited accessibility also meant people wasted time collecting sufficient water to meet their needs. The difficult journey to collect water sapped their physical and emotional energy, creating roadblocks. For Fatmata, it lessened her opportunity to collect enough water for her family's needs and to produce palm oil, the source of her daily income.

"Fetching water was a challenge for me last year because our well was not always functional. It experienced frequent breakdowns, and it was seasonal. Even when it was functional, the demand for water [in] the community increased the population at the well. All this prevented me from fetching the amount of water that [would] serve us at home for the day. Most times, I would go to the stream to fetch water for use at home. This was equally challenging for me," shared Fatmata.

"Even to have enough water to drink, cook, and perform other tasks was a challenge," she continued.

Since the Well Rehabilitation

Your generous gift last year was much more than a simple donation; it was a powerful statement about your commitment to this community and Fatmata’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

Children collect water from the rehabilitated well.

Reliable and clean water lays the groundwork for improved health, education, and economic possibilities, allowing people to thrive. We frequently hear from those we interview that "water is life!"

"I spend less than six minutes to fetch water from the well. This gives me more time to do multiple trips a day. As a result, I now have enough water at home that can even serve us for days," said Fatmata.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Fatmata and the rest of her community. This is just the first chapter of their story as access to clean water continues to improve their lives!

At The Water Project, we value sustainability and want to ensure that people continue to thrive. We commit to monitoring this project to ensure the water is always flowing and safe to consume. We inspect the system hardware, track water availability, conduct sanitary inspections, and collect water quality samples to identify risks. We work with our team on the ground to resolve them.

You gave Fatmata a crucial tool for achieving her dreams: access to clean water. Together, we can excitedly expect that with this precious resource, her enthusiasm and courage will help her fulfill her dreams for her family.

"Now I can use the water to produce enough palm oil. This has even led to an increase in the number of sales I make for the day. The money generated from this has helped me to support my children in their education," said Fatmata.

"I want to embark on local soap making in time. This water well here will help me to do it with less constraint. By so doing, I will be able to make more money to support my children. since I will be selling my harvested produce, palm oil, and soap [at the] local soda shop," Fatmata concluded.