Mabendo Community 4

Mabendo Community sits on the edge of a mangrove-lined landscape in Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom—lush, green, and peaceful at first glance, but beneath this quiet beauty lies a persistent hardship: water. For years, the 345 people of Mabendo have depended on three hand-dug wells that we converted into boreholes in 2018. While once reliable, these water points have become seasonal, providing relief only during the rainy months. By November each year, the wells begin to run dry, forcing the entire community of families, farmers, and schoolchildren to rely on unsafe sources: an open well hidden beneath tall trees near the mangrove, and a milky-colored stream surrounded by thick bush.

Fatmata collects water from the community stream.

During the dry season, these become the only functioning water sources, both of which are difficult to access and unsafe for drinking. Their locations are swampy and bushy, known for their abundance of snakes and other wildlife. Water becomes muddy as more people draw from it, and the stream is also used for bathing and washing, further degrading the water quality. Despite these risks, the people of Mabendo have no other choice.

Amid this daily struggle is 17-year-old Fatmata, a secondary school student whose story illustrates the full weight of Mabendo’s water crisis.

 “I feel very burdened fetching water from a far distance," Fatmata declared.

Fatmata walks to find water.

Fatmata lives near the seasonal well—close in the rainy season, but painfully far from the open well and stream that become the community’s lifeline when the dry months arrive. For her, the changing of seasons determines more than water access—it determines how she lives each day.

She explains, “The seasonal nature of the water wells in this community has greatly limited access to water, especially during the dry season when the wells dry up.” When the nearby well empties, she must walk long distances to collect water from other sources, waiting in long queues as the levels drop lower and lower.

“It takes a long time to collect water from these sources, and when many people have already fetched, the water level in the well becomes low. This causes further delays in fetching water," Fatmata lamented.

Every hour she spends on the narrow footpath leading to the swamp or stream is an hour taken from her education. Fetching water before school often leaves her late, exhausted, or absent from school.

She shares, “I spend a lot of time fetching water, which often makes me late for school. With all these tasks combined, I have little or no time left to study and perform well in school.”

Her feelings toward fetching water depend entirely on the source: “I feel good when fetching water from the community wells, but I become very frustrated when they dry up.”

When the only options are the open well or stream, she faces fear, fatigue, and frustration—long distances, bushy surroundings, and difficult, unsafe methods of drawing water. The dry season magnifies everything for her: “The situation worsens… water levels drop and demand increases, often causing me to spend even more time fetching water.”

Fatmata’s experience mirrors that of nearly everyone in Mabendo. Only about a quarter of residents can access water within a 30-minute round trip. Many families fetch water six or more times a day. Farmers lose productive hours. Schoolchildren miss class. And health risks rise with every sip from the unprotected well or contaminated stream.

Fatmata collects water from the unreliable, seasonal well.

The open well, cold and seemingly clean at dawn, quickly becomes murky from constant use, contamination, and the presence of wildlife. The stream—milky and surrounded by swamp—remains completely unprotected. There is no chlorination, no fencing, and no monitoring. Rainfall turns the area into a flood zone, worsening contamination.

For a girl with big dreams, the burden is heavy. “My plan is to complete my education and get a good job so that I can take care of myself and serve others,” she says with determination. “I aspire to become a medical doctor because I believe this will enable me to help many people by preventing deaths and promoting healthy living in my community.”

But the journey to this future is constantly interrupted by the realities at home. After long mornings of household responsibilities—cooking, washing clothes, fetching water—Fatmata sometimes has no strength left to attend school at all. “Sometimes, after completing household chores including fetching water, I become so exhausted that I cannot go to school until I rest and regain my energy.”

This solution would do more than provide water—it would give Fatmata and other students their time, health, and opportunity back. It would free parents to focus on farming and income. It would safeguard children from dangerous environments. Most importantly, it would reduce the community’s dependence on unsafe sources and protect them from waterborne diseases.

Steps Toward a Solution

Returning to a community where we previously implemented a water project is not just a matter of maintenance; it stays true to our commitment to sustainability. Our technical experts collaborated with the local community to identify their current needs and subsequently decided to drill a new borehole after conducting hydrosurveys to determine the optimal location, which will yield a lasting project.

Reinvestment
While the original project provided critical access to safe water, factors such as changing environmental conditions, population growth, and infrastructure wear have put that access at risk. Reinvesting in this community by drilling a new well ensures that progress is not lost and that the community continues to thrive with reliable, clean water. We are committed to supporting lasting, reliable solutions that honor the trust placed in us by the people who depend on this essential resource every day.

Well
Abundant water often lies just beneath our feet. Aquifers—natural underground rivers—flow through layers of sediment and rock, offering a constant supply of safe water. A borehole well is drilled deep into the earth to access this naturally filtered and protected water. We penetrate meters, sometimes even hundreds of meters, of soil, silt, rock, and more to reach the water underground. Once found, we construct a platform for the well and attach a hand pump. The community gains a safe, enclosed water source capable of providing approximately five gallons of water per minute. Learn more here!

Once this plan is implemented, the community will once again have access to safe drinking water in quality and quantity.

Community Education & Ownership
Hygiene and sanitation training are integral to our water projects. Safe water and improved hygiene habits foster a healthier future for everyone in the community. Since it has been several years since this community last engaged with training, we will hold a refresher training tailored to the community's specific needs.

Project Updates

July, 2026: Mabendo Community Well Complete!

We are excited to share that your donation provided a safe, reliable well at Mabendo Community. As a result, community members no longer rely on unsafe water to meet their daily needs. We also conducted hygiene and sanitation training, which focused on healthy practices such as handwashing and using latrines.

Mariatu celebrates clean water.

"The completed water will provide safe water for me for drinking, cooking, and washing household utensils," shared 26-year-old mother and trader Mariatu Kamara. "My children need water before going to school. During school hours, they need water to drink and when they need to use [the] restrooms. They need water at home to take care of themselves and to wash their school uniforms. This can make it easy for them to have enough time to study and focus on their lessons. With the above benefits, they will be able to work toward their future hopes and dreams."

Fatmata.

"Reliable water will improve things for me. As a school-going pupil, my academic work will improve and [I will] achieve better grades at the end of the academic year. Reliable water will also improve my health as there will be safe water for drinking and for practicing good hygiene," said 15-year-old Fatmata.

After construction was complete, we held a dedication ceremony to officially give responsibility of the well to the community members. Several local dignitaries attended the ceremony, including representatives from the Ministry of Water Resources and the Port Loko Council District. Each official gave a short speech thanking everyone who contributed to the rehabilitation of the water project and encouraging everyone to take good care of it. Then, Mariatu and Fatmata made statements on their community's behalf. The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing.

Clean Water Restored

The community provided space for the team to store their belongings and meals for the duration of their stay. The following day, the work began!

First, we raised the tripod, the structure we use to hold and maneuver each drilling tool. Next, we measured the hand-dug well's original depth and socketed the pipes to install a casing.

Finally, we started to drill! We reached a final depth of 32 meters with water at 19 meters. The team installed the cylinder as far below the water table as possible so that the community has reliable access throughout the year.

With drilling complete, we installed screening and a filter pack to keep out debris when the water is pumped.

Next, we bailed the well and flushed it, clearing any debris generated by the drilling process. Lastly, we tested the water flow to ensure the well would provide clean water with minimal effort at the pump.

As the project neared completion, we built a new cement platform, walls, and drainage system around the well to seal it off from surface-level contaminants. The drainage system helps to redirect spilled water to help avoid standing water at the well, which is unhygienic and a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

At last, we installed the pump and conducted a water quality test. The results showed that this was clean water fit for drinking!

Community Education

Before conducting any hygiene training, we collaborated with the local water user committee to understand the community’s challenges and lack of sanitation facilities. We identified households without handwashing stations or ones that may need to repair their latrines. With this information, community members worked together to improve hygiene and sanitation at home before the training.

Learning about disease prevention.

We also invited a community health worker from the local clinic to help explain some topics and spread awareness about Sierra Leone's free vaccinations for children under five. Alusine Kamara was instrumental in reinforcing each lesson.

Oral hygiene session.

After this preparatory period, we scheduled a time when members from each household using the water point could attend a three-day hygiene and sanitation training.

We taught about proper handwashing, personal and menstrual hygiene, and healthy habits such as using latrines and maintaining a balanced diet. We discussed how disease transmission and water hygiene are crucial to community health. We emphasized the importance of maintaining and caring for the well pump and the cost recovery system.

Preventing malaria session.

The most memorable session was on malaria prevention. It was discovered that community members were using mosquito nets for fishing, agriculture, and other purposes. Once we explained the importance of using the nets for their intended purpose - to prevent malaria, community members' attitudes shifted, and they agreed it was important.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

June, 2026: Exciting Progress in the Mabendo Community!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Fatmata and the entire Mabendo Community. Construction has begun on the well project, bringing them one step closer to having clean, reliable water.

But that's not all—during construction, we’re also providing vital health training. These sessions equip the community with essential hygiene practices, ensuring that the benefits of clean water extend to lasting health improvements.

We’re so grateful for your role in making this possible. Stay tuned for more updates—soon, we’ll be celebrating the arrival of safe water in the Mabendo Community!