September, 2023: Kirma Community Well Complete!

We are excited to share that there is now a safe, reliable borehole well in the Kirma Community. As a result, community members no longer 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.

"The impact from this water point will help me access reliable, safe water. I had water that was not reliable in my possession. I would walk a long distance to go in search of water that is not safe, reliable, and pure for drinking. The water point will also impact my life because, before this time, I had been struggling with my health because the water I had been drinking was not good. My children will not have to go far distances anymore to fetch water, and they will no longer be late for school," said 24-year-old trader Dora Kamara.

Dora Kamara

"I will do my domestic work quickly because I now [have] access to the water. I will not walk a long distance to fetch water. The other goal I will achieve now that the water well is completed is I will now go to my place of business earlier. I will not have problems with waterborne diseases anymore because I now have reliable, pure, and safe drinking water," she concluded.

"With this new water well, I will not walk a long distance to fetch water. Also, I will do my domestic housework quickly. I will not suffer from waterborne diseases like diarrhea and cholera," shared 17-year-old Aminata S., whom we interviewed at the beginning of this process.

"Some of the plans or goals that the water point will help me to achieve is that I will do my work quickly. I will also go to school early and come to my house [to] launder my uniform very quickly and get dry before the next day. The other goal I will achieve is I will no longer drink water that is not safe," Aminata finished.

Osman Forfanah (brown shirt), Ministry of Water Resources representative.

We held a dedication ceremony to officially hand over the well to the community members. Several local dignitaries attended the ceremony, including representatives from the Port Loko District Council and the Ministry of Water Resources. Each official gave a short speech thanking everyone who contributed to this water project and reminding everyone to take good care of it. Then, Dora and Aminata made statements on their community's behalf. The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing.

New Well

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 and meals for the duration of their stay. The following day, 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 challenging.

Day one of drilling began as the team mixed water with bentonite, an absorbent clay, in the two dug pits. 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!

After putting each five-foot length of drill stem into the hole, the team took material samples. We labeled the bags to review them later and 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 remove dirt 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.

This well has a static water level of 15 meters. With these excellent results, we installed a stainless steel pump. Water quality test results showed that this was clean water fit for drinking!

New Knowledge

Before conducting any hygiene training, we called and visited the local water user committee to understand 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.

We also invited a nurse from the local clinic to help explain some topics and spread awareness about Sierra Leone's free vaccinations for children under five. Nurse Kadiatu was instrumental in reinforcing each lesson.

After this preparatory period, we scheduled a time when members from each household using the water point could attend a three-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, teen pregnancy, worms and parasites, proper dental hygiene, menstrual hygiene, proper care of the well's pump, keeping the water clean, the cost recovery system, the importance of using dish racks and clotheslines, the importance of toilets, keeping latrines clean, balanced diets, the diarrhea doll, and disease transmission and prevention (including COVID-19, Ebola, Hepatitis, HIV and AIDS).

The most memorable topic in the training session was regarding child-birth. Most women deliver their babies at home with what they call Traditional Birth Assistants (TBA), similar to doulas; however, they often don't have formal training. Nurse Kadiatu told a story of a woman who delivered at home alone but had complications that the TBA could not help. The woman went into distress and lost consciousness; they had to rush her to the local hospital, where she could recover. Nurse Kadiatu shared this story to encourage women to have their babies under medical supervision to avoid situations like that. Everyone in the training, especially the women, was struck by the story and left with a better understanding of how to experience safer pregnancies and births.

Conclusion

This project required a substantial collaboration between our staff, our in-country teams, and the community members. 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 their local field officers to assist them.

Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program. We walk with each community, problem-solving together when they face challenges with functionality, seasonality, or water quality. Together, all these components help us strive for enduring access to reliable, clean, and safe water for this community.

With your contribution, one more piece has been added to a large puzzle of water projects. In Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, we're working toward complete coverage. That means reliable, maintained water sources within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. With this in mind, search through our upcoming projects to see which community you can help next!

Thank you for making all of this possible!

August, 2023: Kirma Community Well Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Kirma Community costs people time, energy, and health every single day. Clean water scarcity contributes to community instability and diminishes individuals’ personal progress.

But thanks to your recent generosity, things will soon improve here. We are now working to install a reliable water point and improve hygiene standards. We look forward to sharing inspiring news in the near future!