March, 2022: Al Kitab Primary School Borehole Well Complete!
We are excited to share that there is now a safe, reliable borehole well at Al Kitab Primary School. 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.
"It was not easy to fetch water from the stream," explained Mariatu K., 11, recalling what life was like for her before the new well was installed.
"The road to the stream is far and I became tired after fetching water. Because I did not have money to buy food at the school, the traders would not give me water to drink, so I used to go to the nearby houses to look for water. If I could not get water from the nearby houses, I had to stay at the school without water to drink."
Mariatu drinks clean water from the new well.
"I am happy for the water well that we now have at our school," Mariatu said. "I now have water to drink, use the toilet, and wash my hands. This makes me feel very happy and clean."
"I struggled a lot making sure that water is available at the school," said Head Teacher Mohamed Kamara, 45. "Students used to go to the stream to fetch water every school day before morning devotion. It was not an easy task to do. The stream water is not good to drink, but the children would drink it because there was no safe drinking water at the school."
Mohamed Kamara with students.
"Today, I am happy," Mohamed continued. "I will no longer be worried to get safe and adequate water because there is now [a] new well at the school where students and teachers can easily fetch water to use. It is now good that the school has safe and enough water to do everything easily and on time."
We held a dedication ceremony to officially hand over the well to the community members. The ceremony was attended by several local dignitaries, including the section chief, community headman, community elders, the chairman of the school management committee, district councilor, and the Ministry of Water Resouces mapping officer.
The section chief celebrates with students.
Each official gave a short speech thanking everyone who contributed to the rehabilitation of the water project. Then, Mariatu and Mohamed made statements on their community's behalf. The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing.
New Well
The drilling of this new borehole was a success, and clean water is flowing!
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 26 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 static water level of the well is six 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.
On the first two days of training, attendees were made up of the school's teachers and the school management committee members. Then, on the third and fourth days, teachers shared their new knowledge with their students.
The topic that participants asked about most was malaria, which is a constant issue in Mapiterr community. When training facilitators asked participants for the cause of malaria, participants responded that malaria is caused by eating too many oranges or egg yolks or drinking contaminated water.
Facilitators corrected these misconceptions, saying that the disease can only be spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and that some of the best prevention methods are to eradicate any pools of stagnant water where mosquitos breed and to sleep in a mosquito net.
"This knowledge impacts my life because the hygiene and sanitation team taught me and my colleagues how to keep our environment clean," said Head Teacher Mohamed Kamara.
"The new hygiene practices I have learned from the training will help me stay safe," said Mariatu K. "I will continue to always wash my hands after using the toilet with soap and water regularly. I will not cough or sneeze without covering my mouth and nose."
When an issue arises concerning the well, community members are equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact our field officers to assist them. Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our ongoing monitoring and maintenance program.
Thank you for making all of this possible!
Rehabilitation Project
