Project Status



Project Type:  Well Rehab

Program: Wells for Burkina Faso

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase: 
Community Managed
Implementing Partner Monitoring Data Unavailable
Initial Installation: Aug 2012

Project Features


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Community Profile

Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...

The people of Fulani village depend on growing grain and tending to animals for their livelihood. In the dry and remote place where desertification occurs, as winds drive sand from the Sahel desert southwards towards Burkina Faso makes these conditions very hard on their livelihood. When the LWI Burkina Faso team arrived community member were utilizing a protected hand dug well to gather water located one kilometer away from the community to meet all of their water needs. Because of this and the community’s practice of open defecation, families were left suffering from dysentery, malaria, diarrhea and other preventable water related illnesses. During the teams’ a water committee consisting of five men and two women assisted the team with the water project. The water committee is also responsible for collecting a monthly well maintenance fee of $2.50 (US) per household to help sustain the community's water source. In keeping with our Strategic Plan launched in January of 2011, LWI's plan is to train communities to maintain water projects for sustainability. If communities slip back into a situation where they must rely on unimproved water sources, our donors' investment is compromised. To help prevent this occurrence, Living Water International engages communities to help in planning, managing and monitoring of the rural water supply. The nearest school is located one kilometer away from the community and now students, teachers and administrative personnel all have access to safe, clean drinking water. Before leaving the community the LWI Burkina Faso team provided community Djibrilo Sisi, with a LWI contact number in case the well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft. In an effort to ensure project sustainability, LWI program staff is also responsible for visiting the well site annually.

The LWI Burkina Faso team had the opportunity to meet with forty-three year old, Animal Husbandry, Harnadou Sisi who stated, "We are very happy that you came to fix our broken down well. Before we had great difficulty, but now there is no problem to get water. We had many problems before but now our problems are over. Thank you very much to all the partners who made this project possible."

During the hygiene education, the LWI Burkina Faso team addresses: Hand washing, how to properly transport and store water, disease transmission and prevention, how to maintain proper care of the pump, as well as signs and symptoms of dehydration and how to make Oral Rehydration Solution. All of these lessons are taught in a participatory method to help community members discover ways to improve their hygiene and sanitation choices, and implement community driven solutions.

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Project Type

Well rehabilitation is one of the most cost effective ways to bring clean, safe water to a community.  Sometimes it involves fixing a broken hand pump, other times it means sealing a hand dug well to prevent it from being contaminated.  These repairs, and often time total replacements, coupled with sanitation and hygiene training make a huge impact in communities.