January, 2019: Moniya Community Project Complete
We are excited to share that there is a safe, reliable well in Moniya Community that’s providing clean water! Hygiene and sanitation training was conducted, which focused on healthy practices such as washing hands and using latrines.
Clean Water Restored
Our teams took the existing hand-dug well and transformed it into a borehole by drilling straight into the existing well. The new depth and well type means that this community now has reliable water throughout the year!
The Process:
The first thing the drill team did when they arrived in Modia Community was to contact leadership to find a place to camp.
Here is how we restored clean, reliable water here:
Day 1
1. Raised the tripod
2. Found the original depth
3. Socketed the pipes
4. Installed temporary drill casing
5. Lined up the drill rods
6. Drilled!
Day 2
This day started with prayers. A long sand bit was used to destroy the rock, and they drilled an additional seven feet, making a total of seventy. But it was a really tough day because of the rock. So seven feet drilling was more than enough. That was it for this day.
Day 3
1. Installed screening and filter pack
2. Cemented an iron rod to well lining, and fixed it with an iron collar at the top
3. Bailed the well by hand for three days and flushed it
4. Tested the yield (we got a static water level of 42 feet going at 41 liters per minute – more water than a hand-pump can pull)
5. Built a cement platform, walls, and drainage system
6. Installed a stainless steel India Mk11 pump
7. Water quality test
At exactly 1:45pm, the team arrived here for this wonderful ceremony. The community, having the pre-knowledge, were already at the well. They were in groups and were singing and dancing with joy on their faces.
Upon seeing the dedication team, they formed a circle round the well and the leader of the circle was village headman Pa. Momoh Suma. He was the happiest man by all indication.
Three other women took the lead role after Pa. Suma. Some members of the team joined the dancing as usual and everything started again. More time was allowed for more dancing because the community people had earlier requested this opportunity. This was their way simple way of communicating how happy they were for the well.
After the dancing, Zainab gently invited everyone to gather round the well and declare the ceremony open. After the prayers the headman was granted the opportunity to formally dedicate the well on behalf of the community.
He used the opportunity to express gratitude on behalf of his community to the donors and the organization for love they have shared with them. He promised the team that his community will take the greatest care of the well.
After his short wonderful speech, the kids were also give the chance to have some fun around the well. They pumped and splashed water at each other. They wrestled with each other for a drink. Each wanted to be the first to have a sip of the 'new water' as they referred to it.
After the fun, Zainab delivered a very wonderful speech with respect to pump care. The team after some good singing and dancing, said their final goodbye, and left.
New Knowledge
The team coordinator, Zainab, called her team together to go through the information collected during a visit and interviews in Moniya Community. The community people were very enthusiastic about the project and they tried to be involved at all levels.
On the first morning of hygiene and sanitation training, a final call was made to the headman to alert him that we were on our way. When the team arrived here, people had already flocked to the scene of the training. The boombox was then plugged in to attract more people to the venue. It helped recruit more than 165 people from the community to attend.
The training was held in a very conducive atmosphere. This village is well vegetated with tall trees all over the place. The gentle wind quietly blew from every angle of the village. This supported positive atmospheric condition and it also reflected the participation level. The first day of training was held at the mosque’s compound. But the level of recruitment was more than this venue could accommodate. So the subsequent days of training were moved to under a large mango tree in front of the home of the eldest man in the village whose son started the well.
Zainab and her team taught about:
– tippy tap handwashing stations and handwashing
– differences between a healthy and unhealthy community
– dish racks and clotheslines
– proper care of the pump
– nutrition
– dental hygiene
– latrines
Most of the participants here were very comfortable with the pictorial method of training. The photos made it very simple for them to understand the message. This improved their participation level. They asked very interesting questions and gave brilliant answers to most of the questions from the instructors. Some even crafted stories in their response to certain questions.
"I was personally thrilled by the lesson taught on handwashing," Mr. Santigie Bangura said.
"We as country people do take it for granted. Here you can see an adult eating without washing his or her hands, especially during the mango season. The kids are even worse. Now we know that we have been slowly killing ourselves. This training will help us change our attitude towards handwashing.”
