Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jan 2019

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/06/2024

Project Features


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Mondor is located at the far west of Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, not too far away from the coast. It is a very rural community with most of its vegetation untouched. It can be very quiet, particularly when the majority of people are on their farms or at the coast fishing, and the kids are at school. The buildings are mostly made of mud blocks and arranged in a straight line on opposite sides of the major roads.

Mondor Community depends on one protected hand-dug well, but a drop in the water table means that this well is dry for part of the year.

When this well gets dry, the community is forced to fetch their water from the swamps. The water is disgusting.

They share this source with animals from the nearby wilds, which makes the water very dangerous for human consumption. It is also dangerous because of the snakes that live in the brush and the swamp itself.

Another option around here is packaged water, but it is often too expensive for people to afford on a regular basis. And although packaged water is supposed to be regulated, there are vendors who slip under the radar. Also, the storage of the packaged water by vendors is not always hygienic.

This community needs water for more than seventy-five percent of its domestic activities. That is, safe water is needed for drinking, cooking, bathing etc. If water is not available in the homes, some people begin to experience sicknesses such as headaches, loss of energy, and sore throats.

Also, water scarcity causes dirtier homes. Proper hygiene practices such as frequent handwashing, bathing, cleaning of certain areas with water, are compromised. And this gives rise to the existence of skin diseases in communities.

"It is certain that we have a very poor state of hygiene and that I want to blame partially on the shortage of water in this community and to a larger extent on our very traditional attitude towards sanitation in general," Foday Momoh Kamara said.

"Handwashing, for example, is very uncommon not because of lack of water but because we take it for granted that germs won't kill us."

When people get sick they are not strong enough to go to work, which has a huge impact on households that need to sell today to eat today.

What we can do:

Training

There will be hygiene and sanitation training sessions offered for three days in a row. We will teach about good and bad hygiene, penning in animals, and building good tools like handwashing stations and dish racks. Most importantly, the trainer will emphasize the importance of having and using even basic pit latrines.

Well Rehabilitation

We see that there's been a drop in this area's water table and the well is going dry. We feel it is important to convert this hand-dug well to a borehole at the bottom, thus giving this community a year-round source of safe drinking water.

We will be hand-drilling a borehole down inside this hand-dug well. The community will host our drill team for days at a time, and may also provide labor. Women will volunteer to cook rice for the team and the other community volunteers.

Once this plan is implemented, this community will have access to safe drinking water in both quality and quantity, even through the dry months.

Project Updates


November, 2019: Giving Update: Mondor Community Well

A year ago, your generous donation helped Mondor Community in Sierra Leone access clean water.

There’s an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Mondor. Month after month, their giving supports ongoing sustainability programs that help this community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Read more…




January, 2019: Mondor Community Project Complete

We are excited to share that there is safe, reliable water in Mondor Community, which is already providing clean water to families! People here no longer have to rely on dirty water from the swamp.

Clean Water Restored

The team of three artisans set up their camping gear near the water point and performed the necessary checks on equipment to get them ready for the next day’s operation. The proceeded to rehabilitate the existing well.

A mother gives water from the well to her daughter.

This is how it was done:

Socketing the pipes
Because the sizes of the original sockets are not always appropriate, fire is set to heat pipes that to be used to improvise sockets. The heated pipe fits into the other pipe so that it further opens to create an improvised socket.

Fixing the tripod
Three metal pipes are connected to make a single pod, there are nine of those needed for a tripod. A rope is then passed through a pulley attached to the top end of the tripod. This rope is tied to the bucket auger drill bit to the drilling rod and lowered inside the temporary casing to the bottom of the well.

Finding depth
After the installation of the tripod, the static level and total depth are established. For these levels, the team uses a drop line that has a metal tied to one end. This line is dropped into the well and tied at the frame of the well to indicate the total depth of the well. The tied portion of the line to the watermark is the static level. If you subtract the static level from the total depth, you get the water quantity.

Installation of casing pipes
A 6″ casing pipe is fitted into an iron plank and riveted for a firm grip. A nut is then slacked from the plank and a rope tied to the 6″ socket is pulled to allow the pulley to easily lower the pipe into the well. A strong board is laid on top of the pipe and forcefully hit to let it sit tight at the base of the well.

Lining up the drilling rod
These rods are numbered and connected accordingly. A rope is tied to the end of the last rod which will be pulled and released instantaneously so that the drilling bits will dig a borehole into the soil down the well.

Drilling
The team offered prayers and this was led by an artisan, Raymon and Thaimu. After that, they fixed the sand bit and drilled through sand layer for about fourteen feet, increasing the total depth to seventy-three feet.

Screening
The 4″ casing pipes are laid out to the requisite depth of the well after reaching a total of 84 feet. The casing pipes are the screened, that is, the pipes are given slight slices to make a passage for water. The pipe is then wrapped with empty rice bags all in the bid to help filter any debris.

This screened pipe is slotted into casing pipes and is lowered into the well. About 5 buckets of sand mixed with small stones, called filter packs, is poured in between the two casings. A chain hoist is set up to pull out the temporary casing, leaving the 4′ pipe at the bottom of the well.

Iron rod support
This process requires that the iron rod is cemented to the well lining and attached to the casing to support the weight of the PVC and keep it straight from the bottom of the well to the top of the pump base. They weld a collar into the pump base to help support the casing.

Bailing and Yield testing
The hand bailing system requires two people to bail by hand. A well is bailed for three days. The well is then yield tested by installing an electrical submersible pump to the depth of the well and is pumped for about an hour. They continue pumping for another hour while measuring the amount of water pumped out. They were relieved after the yield test. After passing the yield test, a sanitary seal is placed in the borehole to about three feet from the surface with cement to keep it clean.

Padding
This involves constructing a cement wall around the well and constructing a drainage system for the control of unwanted water around the well area. This process takes three days to complete.

Installation
A quality stainless steel India MKII hand-pump was then installed. The pump’s cylinder is installed to a depth similar to that of the yield test.

Dedication
The dedication is all about handing the water well facility over to the community. A cross-section of the office staff went to organize a ceremony where community members were given final instructions about the benefit of safe drinking water and proper care of the pump.

Although we are currently in the rainy season, this dedication happened under a very favorable atmosphere, with the rain wreaking no havoc. When the team arrived in the community, the headman and many other community people were already at the water point waiting for the team. This is the result of good planning. However, the chief released some other person to make the entire community learn about the team’s arrival for the occasion.

The people came by dancing to the song from the team’s boombox. Men and women, young and old, all came by dancing and giving praises to God for the opportunity. They all converged at the water point with smiles all over their faces. The dancing continued while the team was busy putting their act together.

Fatama Bangura was given the opportunity to make a statement. She thanked the donors and the organization that shared such a wonderful spirit with her community.

"This well has freed us from the grips of the constant threats from cholera and diarrhea during the rainy season," she said.

"Our kids no longer have to spend hours at the swamp only to supply water for home use."

New Knowledge

The team coordinator, Zainab, called her team together to go through the information collected during a visit and interviews in Mondor Community.

On the first morning of hygiene and sanitation training, the last call was made to the headman to alert him that we were on our way. When the team finally arrived in this community, all that was needed was to consult with some community elders, who then sent a community member to make a brief alarm about the team's presence. More than 100 people came to attend the event.

Mondor is a very vegetated community and training can be held everywhere without any hindrance from the sun. And this training was held under very shaded mango trees from across the street of the chief’s compound. The place was spacious and could almost accommodate the whole community. The shades from the mango trees prevented any threats from the heat of the sun. In fact, the gentle breeze under the trees tempted some participants to sleep had the instructors not mastered their topics and aroused the people’s interest in their presentations.

The people were not only there to participate, but they were fully involved in whatever was going on during training.

Topics covered included:

  1. Hand Washing
  2. Tippy Tap
  3. Good and Bad Hygiene
  4. Healthy and Unhealthy community
  5. Animal Houses
  6. Dish Racks and Clotheslines
  7. Food Science
  8. Disease Transmission
  9. Proper care of the pump

"I was very unfortunate not to be around for the first day of training, but what I learned from yesterday and today will help me avoid most of the diseases that plague us in this community," said Hassan Mansaray.

"The lesson from tooth care is what benefit from the most because I normally have issues with my teeth."




January, 2019: Mondor Community Project Underway

Dirty water from the swamp is making people in Monodor Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we are working to build a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the narrative and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with more good news!




Project Photos


Project Type

Hand-dug wells have been an important source of water throughout human history! Now, we have so many different types of water sources, but hand-dug wells still have their place. Hand dug wells are not as deep as borehole wells, and work best in areas where there is a ready supply of water just under the surface of the ground, such as next to a mature sand dam. Our artisans dig down through the layers of the ground and then line the hole with bricks, stone, or concrete, which prevent contamination and collapse. Then, back up at surface level, we install a well platform and a hand pump so people can draw up the water easily.


Giving Update: Mondor Community Well

November, 2019

A year ago, your generous donation helped Mondor Community in Sierra Leone access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Mohamed Suma. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Mondor Community.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Mondor Community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

Life for people in Mondor Community, Sierra Leone has improved in the year since we completed the rehabilitation of their well. They have had access to a safe, reliable source of water throughout the year. There are no longer concerns about the well running dry or having to go to unsafe open sources, like the swamp, to collect water.

“My life has greatly changed in particularly one respect. Lateness is school is no longer a daily occurrence because I no longer go the swamp to fetch water to take [a] bath before going to school," said Mohamed Suma, a 15-year-old student we met at the well.

"We do everything that is water-related now in this community with our well. After school, I come here to fetch water for drinking, bathing, and laundering my uniform.”

There is an improvement in the area of hygiene and sanitation, observed our teams after a recent visit to the community. This shows the willingness of this community to change their sanitation and hygiene practices following the training that was provided alongside the well construction. Walking through the community, we saw households with tippy-tap handwashing stations and dishracks - evidence that the lessons learned are still being put into practice.

These changes are enabled by the implementation of the water project in this community. With water easily available, community members can now worry about other things.

”We want to thank God for this project in our community, it has helped solve a lot of problems in our village," said Alie Bangura, a local chief and caretaker of the well.

"The children were constantly punished for being late to school. The water shortages of the past forced the students to travel long distances to the swamp to get water and make them late for school. Teachers would punish them for being late. But now that is no longer the case. We thank God for this water project, it has helped to remedy the situation. The water is good to drink and very pure."


Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Mondor Community maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of Mondor Community – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.


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1 individual donor(s)