October, 2019: Giving Update: Tintafor, Fire Force

A year ago, your generous donation helped Tintafor, Fire Force in Sierra Leone access clean water.

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

August, 2018: Fire Force Barracks Community Project Complete

We are excited to share that there is a safe, reliable water point in Tintafor Community, 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.

New Knowledge

We began inviting community members to attend hygiene and sanitation training as soon as our first visit. They heard about the importance of training face to face, and then we followed up by making calls to our contact person on the WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) committee. The morning of training, we went house to house calling people to the venue, under a shady mango tree. We got such an encouraging crowd for the first day, made up of about 80 people.

Our trainer, Zainab, and several of the participants.

Everyone was engaged with what we were teaching and would scramble to be selected when we called for volunteers.

The use of illustrations to tell a story was impactful here. Our story mirrors what happens in most unhygienic households in this region, so everyone understands how they fit into the story. In most settings, diseases are transmitted via domestic animals. The story starts with a fowl feeding on feces, the same fowl returning home, and then coming into contact with the family meal. This family feasted on their meal and all hell broke loose. Each and every member of the family was infected with diarrhea. Every picture we held up depicted a scene in the story for people to follow along. People even laughed at some points, because they knew for sure this was something happening in their own kitchens.

Most adults, not just kids, take handwashing for granted in Sierra Leone. So the presenter started by asking them, "How many of us here eat without washing our hands?"

Almost all the people raised their hands and you can see the honesty in this response. They were surprised to learn that diseases are mostly transmitted via the hands.

This was illustrated by the presenter calling on a few volunteers, asking them to dunk their hands into a container of glitter and then shake hands with other participants. There was a big transfer of glitter from the handshaking, so this really drove the topic home. Participants were eager to jump into our next session to learn how to make their own handwashing station, called a "tippy tap."

Making tippy taps

People also learned about nutrition, other important sanitation facilities like dish racks and clotheslines, oral rehydration solutions, bed nets to prevent malaria and pump care.

"I personally learned a lot from this training. This is my first time to know what a tippy tap is and its importance. I have even made my own because I can see the way it conserves water," shared Mr. Lawrence Conteh.

"I am convinced that if people in this community apply all that we've been taught, we will drive away malaria and cholera in this community."

New Well

We worked with the community to select a spot central to everyone. The first spot the community wanted wasn't good because it had latrines nearby and would flood during heavy rain. We found out the second spot didn't have good water, but third time's the charm! The spot at the extreme end of an empty field could yield safe, clean water.

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. We ordered tanks of water to supply the drilling since the community's source is far too long of a walk.

Day one of drilling started with filling the two pits with water mixed with bentonite. A 4″ carbide tipped bit was fixed to the five-foot-long drill stem. The mud pump was started to supply water to the drill rig and the drilling starts. During drilling, the team, after every five-foot length of drill stem put into the hole, would take material samples. The bags were labeled, 1, 2, 3 etc, and these are to be reviewed later to determine the aquifer locations.

They found red clay for the first 35 feet, sand until 50 feet, and then red clay again. The team drilled until they hit black clay, which would affect the quality of water. The second day of drilling was meant to expand the hole and clear it of mud. This well's total depth is 105 feet, with everything going smoothly.

The team forcefully pumps clean water into the well to clear our any mud and debris from drilling. After, filter pack is added so that the screened pipe will be protected. The temporary drilling casing was hoisted out so that we could fortify the pipes with cement.

The well was bailed by hand for three days before a yield test to verify the water quantity, which ended up being 36.9 liters per minute at a static water level of 55 feet. With these great results, a stainless steel India MkII pump was installed. Water quality tests show that this is clean water fit for drinking!

A celebration is part of every water project. When we arrived in Tintafor, we found several people already fetching water from the well. The crowds stepped back so that leaders from the community could speak words of thanks and encourage their neighbors to take good care of their new water well. Once everyone was done talking, the crowds gathered to sing and dance.

"There is a huge relief in this community ever since this water point has been installed. Our kids do not need to spend half the day searching for water to run back home. Yes, some of us can afford packaged water but that can only be for drinking and not enough for domestic use. In fact, water from this well is safer than the packaged waters around!" exclaimed Mr. Ken Foday.

"So we are now free from diarrhea and cholera because nobody will drink from the swamp water source again. We are very grateful and thankful to the donors and the staff."

Yes, the drill team had challenges. The first spot did not meet the required standards, and they had to move to another location. At the next location, they drilled for more than 70 feet only to learn that the discharge rate at this spot would not have a reliable yield to support the community throughout the year. They had to spend extra days trying to develop the well with the hope that things would improve. But this hope was finally given up, and they had to move to a third drill spot. Here, things went much better. Perseverance indeed leads to success.

Our team demonstrates time and time again that it is not about putting a hole in the ground, but is about providing year-round access to safe drinking water. It is about persevering through the hard times to deliver the highest quality.

June, 2018: Clean Water Coming to Tintafor Community

Dirty water from the swamp is making people in Tintafor 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!