Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 417 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Sep 2021

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/21/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

Report Submitted by
Mohamed S. Turay, Reporting Officer

The women and children in Kalangba Junction wake up very early each day to fetch the best quality water. Early in the morning, there is a likely chance of getting water while it is still low in turbidity, or silt, from one of the community's unprotected wells. However, the water they collect is still contaminated. Our staff reported that a close look at some of the water fetched reveals some tadpoles accompanied by a pungent smell of mud and fish.

This community has a lot of unprotected wells, but most of them dry up in the dry season. This forces women and children to more undesirable water sources further from home where the water is still open to contamination from humans and animals. Both their primary and alternate water sources are unprotected hand-dug wells with no casing and no water treatment of any kind available. Large animals are left to roam and defecate around the wells while any water, dirt, garbage, and small animals from the ground's surface fall into the wells and get trapped.

"Not having access to clean and safe water has affected our lives in more ways than one. I was born and raised in this community and have been drinking the same water for the past 60 years," said Headman Morlai Sesay.

"I know the water is not safe for us, but what other choice do we have? We have asked for help over and over from politicians, but we only get a reply during the election, and immediately after they forget about us."

We also met teenager Fatmata while visiting the community. Fatmata shared that getting up very early in the morning to go to another person's yard to fetch water while still sleeping is something she hates doing.

"The adults can be very mean. Sometimes, I am sent away with no water and have to wait hours that I would have already gone to school most times," she said.

The most common livelihood in this community is farming. With one of the largest open markets in the district, selling food items is one of the easiest things. The farmers get the opportunity of selling their product instead of first selling it to a middle man. They save money on transport, and the fruits and vegetables are picked hours before being sold, guaranteeing their freshness.

Many young men here have embarked on motorbike taxi driving as a lucrative source of income, while others use a converted generator as a machine to crack open palm kernel nuts. The high production of palm oil has also brought about job creation for otherwise idle young men and boys.

At the same time, the women and girls focus on gardening. Most gardening here is now reliant on the use of fertilizer, which has its side effects. The byproduct from the fertilizers has increased the contamination of not just the swamps, but also the community's many unprotected water sources.

What we can do:

New Well

We will be drilling is centrally located and will relieve many people of the long journey to fetch water. This project will ease the people here of their water challenges.

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 pushed to open contaminated well for their water. By drilling this borehole, Tholmossor Community will be provided with plenty of accessible clean drinking water.

Training

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

Community members will learn how to make a hands-free handwashing station called the "tippy-tap." We will use these tippy taps for handwashing demonstrations and will also teach about other tools like dish racks and the importance of properly penning in animals. We will highlight the need to keep restrooms clean, among many other topics.

This training will also strengthen a water user committee that will manage and maintain this new well. They will enforce proper behavior and report to us whenever they need our help in solving a serious problem, like a pump breakdown.

Project Updates


September, 2021: Kalangba Junction Well Project Complete!

We are excited to share that there is a safe, reliable borehole well at Kalangba Junction. As a result, the students and community members no longer have to 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.

New Well

The drilling of this new borehole was a success, and clean water is flowing!

"This new well will provide me more water to do all my daily activities before and after my farm work. My children will not be annoyed with me for sending them to the open well to fetch water after they have come from school with empty stomachs. They will also have more time to do other activities, including reading their books," said Ya Kaday Kanu, a 46-year-old mother and farmer.

The dedication ceremony at Kalangba Junction attracted the full participation of the whole community. It started with the beating of drums, singing, and dancing by the women of the community. It was a true celebration with local dignitaries, the village headman, and the community women's representative giving speeches. The community as a whole was full of excitement and zealousness to express their gratitude.

"This new well has given me more time to fetch water and read my books at home, and now that I have enough time to read, I will try my best to perform well in school," said Salaimatu B., age 17.

The Process

The drill team arrived the day before beginning work. They set up camp and unpacked all their tools and supplies to prepare for drilling the next day. The community provided space for the team to store their belongings, along with meals for the duration of their stay. The following day, the work began.

Our team dug two pits next to the drill rig, one for the drill's water supply and another for what the drill pulls out of the borehole. In some cases, we order a private supplier to deliver the water for drilling since water access is already a challenge.

Day one of drilling began with the team filling the two pits with water mixed with bentonite, an absorbing, swelling clay. Next, the team fixed a four-inch carbide-tipped bit to the five-foot-long drill stem. They started the mud pump to supply water to the drill rig so that drilling could begin! The team took material samples after putting each five-foot length of drill stem into the hole. We labeled the bags so we could review them later to determine the aquifer locations.

On the second day of drilling, the team expanded the hole and cleared it of mud. After reaching a total depth of 28 meters, the team forcefully pumped clean water into the well to clear any mud and debris from the drilling process. We then protected the screened pipe by adding a filter pack. The team hoisted the temporary drilling casing to fortify the pipes with cement.

Next, we bailed the well by hand for three days before conducting a yield test to verify the water quantity. The yield of this well was 19.5 liters per minute, with a static water level of 6 meters. With these excellent results, we installed a stainless steel India MkII pump. Water quality test results showed that this is clean water fit for drinking!

New Knowledge

Before conducting any hygiene training, we made repeated phone calls and visits to the local water user committee to understand better the community's challenges and lack of sanitation facilities. We shared the findings from our discussions with the committee members to help them make the necessary adjustments before the training began. For example, 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.

After this preparatory period, we scheduled a time when members from each household using the water point could attend a multi-day hygiene and sanitation training. We then dispatched our teams to the agreed-upon location to hold the meeting.

Training topics covered included handwashing and tippy taps, good and bad hygiene habits, disease transmission and prevention, worms and parasites, dental hygiene, proper care of the well's pump, keeping the water clean, the cost recovery system, dish racks and clotheslines, the importance of toilets, keeping latrines clean, balanced diets, the diarrhea doll, and HIV and AIDS.

"The knowledge acquired from this training will help me with the skills and ideas on how to prevent myself and my family from getting the disease (COVID-19). At first, I had little or no awareness about the reality of this disease. But through this training, I have learned a lot about the COVID-19 and its guidelines that will help promote the health system in this community," shared Ya Kaday Kanu.

One of the highlights of the training was the community's new understanding of malaria and its causes. They were amazed to learn that only a bite from an infected mosquito can cause malaria and not fruits like oranges and mangoes, as previously believed.

A local teacher, Nabie Sumah, shared his experience with the training, "Indeed, the knowledge from this training is very valuable to me and my fellow community members because through this training I have attained the skills on how to take care of myself, family, and community."

Thank you for making all of this possible!




June, 2021: Kalangba Junction, Next to Alimamy Musa Kamara's House project underway!

Dirty and unreliable water is making people in Kalangba Junction, Sierra Leone sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this 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 news of success!




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!


A Year Later: "The water is clean and safe for drinking."

January, 2023

A year ago, your generous donation helped Kalangba Junction Community in Sierra Leone access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Isatu. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Kalangba Junction 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!

When we first visited the Kalangba Junction Community, people were collecting and drinking dirty water because they had no other options.

"The time this water facility was not completed, we only had open wells as sources of drinking water in the community, and it was very difficult fetching water from there. I was not having enough time to play with my friends in the community because I had to go draw water from the well, and I [was] very tired when I finished fetching," said 15-year-old Isatu B.

Other community members, like 55-year-old Water Committee Chair and farmer Sheku Dumbuya, also found life without reliable water difficult.

"There was a great challenge for me in this community when it comes to having access to clean and safe drinking water. The only source of drinking water we had was open wells in the community, which were not pure for drinking, but that is what was available since my childhood in this community," said Sheku Dumbuya.

But after a new well was installed last year, things changed for community members with access to sufficient clean water.

"I am very happy for having this water facility in my community because it [is] very easy to fetch water from here, and the water is clean and safe for drinking. I now have enough time to play with my friends," said Isatu.

"I am feeling good for having such a blessing in my community after looking for this opportunity over decades, but I thank God it's finally here," Sheka said. "Our women and children are very happy, as you can see for yourself. The water is clean and safe for drinking. I personally want to thank the organization and the donor partners for helping us with clean and safe drinking water in this community."

Isatu and Sheka outside the well.

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 Kalangba Junction 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 Kalangba Junction 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.