Masanneh Community

Project Status

Project Type: Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 200 Served

Project Phase: In Service - Dec 2024

Functionality Status: Functional

Project Features

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The 200 people of Masanneh Community struggle to access sufficient water. Their well is often dry and overcrowded, so they are often deprived of the water needed to meet their basic needs.

Field Officer Julius Sesay said, "Masanneh is a community with a huge water challenge. The community [has] a protected dug well that has served for over twenty years. It is an old well and [has] lacked maintenance for quite a long time. It is having frequent breakdowns because of the pressure from the community people. The high demand for water from this well during the dry season is also causing pressure on the pump and further resulting in the frequent pump breakdowns."

Without easily accessible water in their community, people must trek down to the local swamp. The water isn't fit for consumption or use, and those who use it risk their health.

"The consumption of swamp water is also exposing the community people to contracting waterborne diseases because it is open to contamination. The contracting of waterborne diseases in this community will delay the tasks of the community people. This will also affect the families and reduce their means of getting a livelihood," continued Julius.

Like most people in this community, trader Isatu Bangura, 22, works hard to make a living. Any time not used to secure her livelihood takes away from her precious resources.

Isatu, seen below, shared her burden, "It is hard for me to fetch enough water [for] my house every day before I could go out to trade. It is difficult for me to get more sales because of the delay in fetching water and doing the morning duties before going out to trade. I have lost customers because they could not see me on time. This is affecting my business because I could not get high sales and profits to support my family."

"It is hard for me to return to my house after trade to prepare food for my family. I cannot prepare food until I have fetched enough water from either the swamp or the well. I use enough water to cook, drink, and bathe at the end of the day. I am worrying because the time of water shortage in this community is drawing nearer. It will be in the dry season starting in March," she continued.

Isatu dreads the upcoming dry season, knowing her family will soon struggle even more than they already do. She worries about providing for their needs. Everyone shares this burden in the community, children and adults alike.

"The school-going children are the first group who rush to the well or swamp to fetch water in the morning before preparing to go to school. It is not easy for them to fetch water from the swamp [and] prepare for school on time because of the long distance (road to the swamp seen below) and the unavailability of enough water from the well. It is about four miles from this community to the Bundulai community, where the children are attending school. It is hard for them to trek to and from school to fetch water before the end of the day," said Julius

15-year-old Zainab K. is seen below at the swamp. She is familiar with the struggle of attempting to juggle the water crisis and her daily tasks. She shared, "It is not easy for me to do all the morning duties before going to school without being late. I would only achieve that when I wake up early in the morning to fetch water. Fetching water is a duty I must do every day except [when] I am sick or travel from this community. I cannot rest until I have finished all my daily duties, which include enough use of water."

"I have more difficult tasks to complete during the weekends when I have no lessons to attend. I even follow my parents to work on the farm during the weekend. It is not easy for me to concentrate on my schoolwork at home because of the multiple domestic duties I must complete. It will be easy for me to do all if I have easy access to water to do them quickly," Zainab concluded.

Without access to clean water, the people in Masanneh are forced to make difficult decisions that impact their health and well-being. The lack of water leaves them with no choice but to prioritize their basic needs over other necessities, leading to a vicious cycle of poverty and desperation. A reliable water source can make all the difference and provide them the opportunity to improve their lives.

Installing a new well will enable adults like Isatu to fully invest in their livelihoods, giving them the resources to better provide for their families. Children like Zainab will have more time to rest and choose to prioritize their studies toward a brighter future.

The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...

At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.

In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.

Water Access for Everyone

This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we're working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!

Training on Health, Hygiene & More

With the community's input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We'll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:

Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
Safe water handling, storage & treatment
Disease prevention and proper handwashing
Income-generation
Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
Operation and maintenance of the water point

Project Updates

December, 2024: Masanneh Community Well Complete!

We are excited to share that your donation provided a safe, reliable well at Masanneh Community. As a result, community members no longer rely on unsafe water to meet their daily needs. We conducted hygiene and sanitation training, which focused on healthy practices such as handwashing and using latrines.

Isatu Bangura, a 23-year-old wife, mother and trader was eager to share what this waterpoint means for her family!

"This waterpoint will help me greatly to continue to run the home. This is because food will cook earlier. This alone will make my husband and children to have something to eat before leaving the house. This will help my husband to have [the] energy to work on the farm. My children will also pay more attention in school since they will not go hungry. All this will help the family to achieve the goal of reducing poverty."

Mrs. Isatu Bangura.

Children are just as excited as the adults!

!6-year-old Zainab said, "The new water point will help me to fetch water for my parents, mostly my mum. She will no longer find it difficult to cook because the water will be available for that purpose. The water point will help me to practice good handwashing and to take care of myself during my menstrual period."

Zainab (holding a cup under the water) at the new well.

"The waterpoint will help me to be punctual in school since I will always fetch earlier due to the distance of the well. All this will make me not miss classes because I will always be on time in school. I believe paying attention, taking notes, and reading my notes will help me to pass my exams," Zainab concluded.

After construction was complete, we held a dedication ceremony to officially give responsibility for the well to the water users. Several local dignitaries attended the ceremony, including representatives from the Ministry of Water Resources and the Port Loko District Council. Each official gave a short speech thanking those who contributed to this water project and reminding everyone to care for it. Then, Isatu and Zainab made statements on their community's behalf. The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing.

New Well

The community provided space for the drill team to store their belongings and meals for the duration of their stay. We were ready to begin drilling!

Drilling begins!

We drilled until we reached a final depth of 22 meters. The team did a soil test, bailed the well and flushed it, clearing any debris generated by the drilling process. This well has a static water level of 7 meters. Finally, we tested the water flow to ensure the well would provide clean water with minimal effort at the pump.

Testing the yield.

As the project neared completion, we built a cement platform, walls, and drainage system around the well to seal it from surface-level contaminants. The drainage system helps to redirect spilled water to help avoid standing water at the well, which is unhygienic and a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Installing the handpump.

Finally, we installed the pump and conducted a water quality test. The results showed that water was fit for drinking!

Community Education

Before conducting any hygiene training, we collaborated with the local water user committee to understand the community’s challenges. We identified households without handwashing stations. With this information, community members worked together to improve hygiene and sanitation at home before the training.

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 Hassan Bangura was instrumental in reinforcing each lesson

We scheduled a time when members from each household using the waterpoint could attend a three-day hygiene and sanitation training and dispatched our teams to hold the meeting.

Handwash training.

We taught the participants about proper handwashing, personal and menstrual hygiene, and healthy habits such as using latrines and maintaining a balanced diet. We discussed how disease transmission and water hygiene are crucial to community health. We emphasized the importance of maintaining and caring for the well pump and the cost recovery system.

Facilitator Julius Sesay shared, "Good and bad hygiene was one of the memorable topics of discussion during the training. The facilitator showed various posters to the participants. But there was one poster that showed a woman [who] was breastfeeding her child. This poster made the women to reflect on what they used to do in their daily lives, especially the lactating mothers. Kadiatu Kamara, one of the lactating mothers, looked at the poster for some time, and then she asked for permission to contribute. Based on her statements, she made us understand that she hardly washed her hands whenever she wanted to feed her baby. She would take the baby to the farm and put her inside the farm hut while she was busy working. Immediately, [when] the baby cried, she would address her by feeding the baby. The baby would feel relaxed and soon go to sleep. She never knew that such practices were [a] contributing factor for the baby to experience frequent stooling. It was only during this training that she was able to see and understand."

Isatu participating in the balanced diet lesson.

Isatu shared," This training has helped me to improve on cleanliness, and how to maintain [a] clean environment. I [had] a limited idea before, but since I witnessed this training, I have learned innovative ideas, and when I return home, I will teach my family members and others as well."

Thank you for making all of this possible!

October, 2024: Masanneh Community Well Underway!

The lack of adequate water in the Masanneh 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!

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!