Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 138 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Sep 2021

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 01/26/2024

Project Features


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The community near #10 Off Mansaray Street is located between New London and Wasaya. It was a hot morning when our teams visited, and though it continued to get hotter in the afternoon, the atmosphere was favorable for daily activities. Every member of the community was personally engaged in their various tasks.

New London is a newly established community located along Mansaray Street with almost every member engaged in the construction of new homes. Most houses in this community are difficult to locate because some of them are not well-ordered as streets. New London is a plain landscape with a swamp at the extreme end. As a new community, the population is moderate.

The community is not too far from the Catholic Parish. It is sometimes difficult to access commercial vehicles or motorbikes to move people to other places from New London because most of the routes to places in the community are footpaths, and the new residences springing up have not fully reached completion.

Any new and coming community will always face great challenges with access to water. The community is an extension of the New London community, where it used to be considered deep in the woods. A squadron of children, both boys and girls, go out very early in the morning trying to get the best quality water to bring home for use.

The children turn to various unprotected wells to get their water. As a result, the children have to labor to pull buckets of water out of the wells. Further, because the wells are not protected, they are open to contaminants that make the water unsafe for drinking.

It is also dangerous for children to go near the open wells. There is always a chance of injury from pulling up the heavy bucket of water, and the possibility that someone could fall inside the well.

"Having access to safe and clean water at my doorstep will transform our entire family and the community. My children are still too young to be fetching water from far distances, and with our condition, we rely on the children of relatives we raise that rescue us," said George Sankoh.

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 relieve 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, New London 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: New London, #10 Off Mansaray Street Well Project Complete!

We are excited to share that there is a safe, reliable borehole well in New London, off Mansaray Street. As a result, the 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!

"I believe that water is life, and because of that, this water point will positively impact my life and the entire community," said George Sankoh, 47, a local teacher. George was also elected as the Chairperson of the new water user committee.

George and his wife both have disabilities, which is why this well was built to be accessible for all users.

George went on: "Considering our condition, it was exceedingly difficult for us to get access to a water source that is disabled-friendly. Today, it is a privilege for us to get a safe, reliable, and disabled-friendly water point at our doorstep."

The dedication ceremony was held on a beautiful, sunny day. Along with local District Council and Ministry of Water dignitaries, the event was also graced by the Chairman of the local council of Persons with Disability and several other invited community members with disabilities who are excited about the new possibilities this water point will open for them.

George (left) with the Chairman of the local council for Persons with Disability (right).

"This community relied on [an] unprotected well as the main water source," George Sankoh said. "It was extremely difficult for the community to get safe drinking water. Most of us had to buy packet water to drink. I can now apportion that cost to another need of the family. I have been praying for this opportunity [since] long ago. Now that it has happened, I am very grateful."

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 29 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.

Yield test.

The static water level is 11 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.

On the first day, the training was held on George Sankoh's porch, which was a little cramped, but participants were still attentive.

The second day, George found a more suitable venue: an under-construction building. This site, too, was a little small, but we coped!

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 most interesting training topic for this community was the construction of tippy-tap handwashing stations. All participants had been asked to bring a one-gallon container, about which there had been much speculation. Some community members even thought they would walk away with a donation of cooking oil! Instead, they were astounded to learn that they could transform an ordinary container into a tool they could use to better their community's hygiene.

Some participants rushed to the table to construct their tippy taps immediately. The participants promised to help their fellow community members in constructing their own versions. They said they would create many handwashing stations and continue the proper handwashing techniques.

The second most memorable topic was childhood nutrition. This session was very interactive: everyone was whispering to each other when balanced diets and food nutrients were measured. You could see the guilt on their faces as the facilitator explained how children need to be given a balanced diet, because it is necessary for their growth.

A participant explained how he had been depriving his children of eating fish and fruit, because he feared his children would be infested with worms or could get malaria from them. He said he felt so bad for his children and needed to ask for their forgiveness right away. He will now allow them to eat all that their body needs for proper functioning.

Other participants mentioned that they thought children were to eat rice only, and no meat or fish, which they believe would prompt them to steal or get initiated into witchcraft. Some foodstuffs were also forbidden even for adults. For instance, pregnant women in their community are not allowed to eat eggs or plantains for fear that the unborn children might become thieves. They were happy about the training and promised to change for the better.

Baindu Gray, a 57-year-old farmer, shared how the training impacted her: "Through this training, I have attained the skills and knowledge on how to take proper care of food, environment, and family, which is very paramount. I am calling on everyone who has witnessed this training to pass on this message to fellow community members so that all hands will be on deck to work for the development of this community and for our own wellbeing."

"I strongly believe that if we as a community adhere to the advice given to us, we will stay safe and healthy in this community," George Sankoh concluded.

Thank you for making all of this possible!




August, 2021: Lungi, New London, #10 Off Mansaray Street Project Underway!

A severe clean water shortage in New London drains people’s time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the introduction 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!


A Year Later: "I do not know how to express the joy I have within me."

January, 2023

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

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in New London Community 5.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help New London Community 5 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 New London, community members had to travel long distances to collect dirty water or buy it from water vendors, which was expensive. Water access was especially challenging for those in the community who are physically disabled, often having to rely on others to collect water for them.

"Before the commencement of this project, [fetching water] was not easy for me, considering my situation. I had to send my children to the swamp to fetch water, or sometimes, I had to pay other people to help my children because the distance was very long," said 48-year-old teacher and water committee chairman George Sankoh.

George continued: "And as disabled, I needed a lot of water to take care of myself before going to school to teach, but it was not an easy thing for me then. At times I [would] go to school without freshening up myself because the little that my children will fetch will not be enough to take care of everyone living in the house."

But since we installed a new disabled-friendly well last year, things have been different with ready access for all. And for George, life now seems much more bearable, and his joy is overflowing.

"I do not know how to express the joy I have within me for having such an opportunity in my community. It has reduced the burdens on my children because I myself can easily come in [to] the well and fetch water for myself, as you can see for yourself, because the facility is disabled-friendly," said George.

Since George now has the ability to fetch water himself, he is feeling empowered to live more independently.

"It has impacted my life because I [am] no longer late for school as a teacher, and also it has cut down on the expenses I used to do on [the] water and medication on waterborne diseases like cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid to name but [a] few," said George.

But George is not the only one impacted as his whole family is benefitting.

"My wife also is disabled, but she can equally come in here to fetch water conveniently without any hindrance. We [are] very happy as a family and [the] beneficiaries of this water project in our community," concluded George.

George 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 New London Community 5 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 New London Community 5 – 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

Project Sponsor - BlimpsRock
3 individual donor(s)