Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 173 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - May 2018

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/12/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

It is a bright, sunny day for our first visit to Kolia. The community is surrounded by vegetation; the same kind of lush green fronds and trees lining the dirt road we took. This green area is dotted with swamps, which makes this area good for farming. There are about 27 different households here, all made of mud blocks lining the main road. The only building of note, beside the homes, is a small mosque.

The days start early before 5:30am prayers. This community is particularly unified because they all share the same Muslim faith. There is no school, clinic, or covered market. Most people depend on farming. There is little food to sell or trade since most of what they use most of what they produce to feed their families.

Water

Getting ready in the morning always begins with fetching water. Children and women are at the swamp with their plastic jerrycans or buckets. The community cleared a lot of the brush away from the pathway and the swamp itself to keep it as clean as possible.

Most often a woman or child will wade into the swamp's water to find what looks like the clearest, cleanest water. However, all of this water is contaminated. Animals come and go as they please, many of them carrying diseases that are deadly to humans. People bathe at the source, as well as bring their laundry or dishes to clean.

The water level in these swamps drops dramatically between the dry months of March and April, forcing the men to come and dig holes to find water.

Sanitation

Fewer than half of households have a pit latrine. Those who don't have their own latrine opt for the bushes. There's isn't a container set aside for hand-washing, either.

"The current hygiene and sanitation in our community is not good. Children die very early because their food has dirt and contaminated water," Mr. Brima Kargbo said

Most families own animals, but only a few have a pen to keep their animals in. These animals are free to roam in and out of the home - even in the kitchen while there's cooking going on!

Here’s what we plan to do about it:

Training

There will be hygiene and sanitation training sessions offered for three days in a row.

The hygiene and sanitation trainer decided it would be best to teach community members the importance of building a latrine, how to build a hand-washing station, and more. They will also teach about other tools like dish racks and the importance of properly penning in animals. Pictures will be used to teach the community how to discern between healthy and unhealthy hygiene and sanitation practices.

These trainings will also result in a water user committee that manages and maintains the new well. They will enforce proper behavior and report to us whenever they need our help solving a serious problem, like a pump breakdown.

Borehole

The community will be meeting together to determine the best location for their new well, and then we’ll confirm the viability of their choice.

Our team will drive over the LS200 mud rotary drill rig and set up camp for a couple of nights. Once the well is drilled to a sufficient water column, it will be cased, developed, and then tested. If these tests are positive, our mechanics will install a new India Mark II pump.

This community has been drinking dirty swamp water and suffering the consequences. By drilling this borehole, Kolia Community will be provided with plenty of safe, clean drinking water.


This project is a part of our shared program with Mariatu’s Hope. Our team is pleased to provide the reports for this project (formatted and edited for readability) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Sierra Leone.

Project Updates


October, 2019: Giving Update: Kolia Village

A year ago, your generous donation helped Kolia Village in Sierra Leone access clean water.

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




May, 2018: Kolia Community Project Complete

We are excited to share that there is a new borehole in Kolia Community, which is already providing clean water to families! People here no longer have to rely on dirty water from the swamp. Hygiene and sanitation training was also conducted, which focused on healthy practices such as washing hands and using latrines.

Knowledge is Power

The headman was greatly influential in gathering his community together for our hygiene and sanitation training. As soon as we started working in Kolia, we let him and his people know the importance of not just clean water, but of a good lifestyle too. Even though they weren't there waiting for us on the first day, they came out in droves once they heard of our arrival. Since it was a bright, sunny day, we met together under a big mango tree in front of the chief's house.

People came with empty gallon containers, for they knew we planned to show them how to construct a tippy tap (handwashing station) with them. After we had constructed these together, we used them to demonstrate how to wash hands and talked about when to do so. Handwashing is one of the simplest ways to prevent sickness!

The second day we discussed daily habits and how they affect health in ways the community never imagined.

It’s important to always use a latrine, pen in animals to keep them out of the kitchen, always cover food and so many other things. The trainer showed how if you don’t go about your daily business the right way, there can be deadly consequences. We also trained on oral rehydration solution (ORS) because we know that even with the greatest effort to prevent diarrhea, it will still be an occasional issue. This ORS will help keep community members, especially children, healthy as they recover from diarrhea.

Training on how to make an oral rehydration solution.

The final day was all about caring for the water point so that it serves generations to come. After, we took time to review the important takeaways from the three days of training.

"We were really in the dark before this time. Because after using the toilet, we would only wash our hands with water but not use any soap," farmer Abu Kamara admitted. "Now that we have been educated on this, we are surely going to change our ways and by so doing improve our health. Life is not going to look the same for us again in this community."

New Well

We worked with the community to select a spot central to everyone. Two pits were dug next to the drill rig, one for the drill’s water supply and another for what was pulled back up out of the borehole. Community members helped the drill team by ensuring there was always water in supply.

Community members helped so much by equipping the drill team with enough water for the rig.

During drilling, the team brought up ground samples after every five feet. These are always reviewed to determine the best screen locations.

Just like in nearby Sanya, the team hit a rock after 35 feet. This incident is usually frustrating for the drill team, and you see it in their faces. They changed the bit from reamer to runner, which is made specifically for drilling through rocks. And after drilling for about an hour, they finally drilled through!

On day two, analysis of the earth samples was done to determine the aquifer locations. Casing pipes were laid out and screens were positioned properly. The 8" reamer bit was connected and the drilling commenced once again. The team continuously added bentonite to the water and swapped out drill bits as needed.

The casing pipes were installed with great care to ensure that the glued connections were tight so that a connection doesn’t fall down the hole on its own. Filter pack was added to cover the screen area. We determined the water quantity by lowering an electric submersible pump to a target depth. The yield here is about 47 liters per minute.

With these great results, the artisans could come install the well pad. Once the cement dried, the mechanics could bolt the new India MkII stainless steel pump. The yield test and level measurements informed the mechanics of where they should place the pump cylinder.

The villagers were so happy when they saw clean water coming from the pump. They brought out their traditional Bondo Society drums. They sang, beat drums and danced in celebration.

"I am personally happy for this water point for one reason," Mr. Fasineh Kamara said.

"Some of us like to play football in this village. And normally after training, we would need water to bathe, but we usually would cover the long distance to the swamp for this. And some of us would be so tired that we may choose to sleep without bathing at all, which would have some health implications later."

"But now that we have this well right in the center of the village, this difficulty is totally overcome. And we are very grateful to you guys for this!"




March, 2018: Kolia Community Project Underway

Dirty water from the swamp is making people in Kolia Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know your 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

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!


Giving Update: Kolia Village

September, 2019

A year ago, your generous donation helped Kolia Village in Sierra Leone access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for N’baliaya Sillah. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Kolia 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!

"From the time this well was constructed in our community, we have been relived from so many constraints that we have faced over the past few years. Now we have the opportunity for safe drinking water," said Alpha Dumbuya, caretaker of the well for Kolia Village.

The lives of this project's beneficiaries have improved in significant ways in the year since the project was completed. We heard about the impact on the life of 13-year-old N’baliaya Sillah during a recent visit to the well.

"My life has been really changed more than the past years because it’s was very difficult for me in the morning hours to run down to the stream to fetch water for cooking and bathing before going to school," she said.

"But, now it is very easy for me to access clean, pure and safe water for drinking and to do all my chores. I also learned a lot of lessons from the hygiene training conducted by the staff last year."

People here no longer lack knowledge on how to live a healthy life and how to take care of their environment. After the hygiene training, there are some practices that are still in use like dishracks, clotheslines, and tippy taps for handwashing.

The surrounding area of the well is very clean and they are taking good care of the pump. In fact, we have not received any reports of breakdowns or issues since the construction was complete - a sign that the community is ensuring the well will continue to function for a long time.


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 Kolia 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 Kolia 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.


Contributors

Masconomet Middle School
ALVEE DASS TECHNOLOGIES
Stacey Van Berkel Photography Inc.
Sobha
Solomon's Porch Sunday School Class
William S and Blair Y Thompson Family Foundation
21 individual donor(s)