Just because we made it to Kipolo Village for our first visit doesn’t mean it’s easy! The roads were good up to an old bridge. We struggled to get our motorbikes over it. Then, the roads changed to dirt filled with huge ruts and holes washed out from heavy rains. Though it’s not very far from our office, it sure took hard work and perseverance to get here.
There are few homes in this rural area, but there are tons of people living under each roof. There are up to 20 people in one household! These houses are made of mud bricks and zinc roofs, with animals wandering in and out. There is a small mosque for prayers throughout the day besides the eight homes.
The people here are friendly and generous even though they have very little. They rely on farming to put food on the table. During our visit we found out it was peak time for harvesting rice.
Water
Everyone relies on a river and the overflowing swamp area for their water. It meets all of their needs, from drinking to cleaning. Though the water might be good for laundry, it’s no good for drinking.
Sanitation
There is only one latrine in Kipolo, owned by the chief. Everyone else is going in the privacy of the vegetation surrounding the village. There are no hand-washing stations, no dish racks, no animals pens, no garbage pits.
“We at Kipolo have a fine river… but our problem is the way the people handle water and food at their homes. There is no cleanliness. Even the dishes, plates and spoons are not clean. This causes us to catch lots of sicknesses and causes deaths within our community,” Mr. Bome Turay told us.
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. Wherever the drill site, we know clean water will be extremely close to everyone in such a small village!
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.
These people have been drinking dirty water from the river and swamps and are suffering the consequences. By drilling this borehole, Kipolo 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 (edited for readability) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Sierra Leone.