Bundulai Movement of Faith Secondary School

Project Status

Project Type: Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 313 Served

Project Phase: In Service - May 2025

Functionality Status: Functional

Project Features

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The 313 students and staff at Bundalai Movement of Faith Secondary School struggle to access sufficient water to meet their daily needs because the dug well on their school campus faces several issues.

"The water source this school uses for drinking is a protected dug well with a hand pump. This well does not have a pump anymore, so the school uses a rubber bucket and rope to fetch some water from the well. This situation is causing this source to be open to contamination. This well does not provide enough water for this school," said Field Officer Alie Kamara.

The labor-intensive way of collecting water is not the only issue, though. It is seasonal and goes dry from March to April. When that happens, students search for water wherever they can find it, which always means leaving the school campus.

Due to the well's unreliability, students spend much of their day looking for and collecting water from other places. Some students collect water on their way to school, making them late for the general assembly in the morning. Most leave in the middle of the day during lunchtime to collect water. However, some students get up and walk out in the middle of class because they can't stand their thirst any longer. During all of these times, they should be in class learning, but water is an essential need, and without it, that is impossible.

When students go in search of water mid-day, they have two community sources they can visit. The first is a hand-dug well with a pump at a nearby primary school, but as you can imagine, it faces the same seasonality challenges, especially with two schools full of thirsty children relying on it. When that source is dry or too overcrowded, students visit a dug well at a local community health post that is further away.

Both of these sources are overburdened by the amount of people relying on them. This leads to long wait times and frequent breakdowns. And sadly, all of that is for water that is questionable in quality since the water is not protected, as evidenced by many cases of waterborne illnesses.

"When I reach the school grounds in the morning, I must go for devotion (general assembly). Sometimes, I was chosen to fetch water in the school, and I must collect the rubber bucket and rush to the pump. But this pump is located at the health facility, and this well is restricted for me not to fetch water. I must go in search of water from other sources, and this situation causes me to spend much time at the water point. I would be late or miss classes, which affected my learning. Sometimes, while teaching is ongoing, I must take excuses from my class teacher and then go out searching for water to drink. This also affected my academic work," said 14-year-old Mohammed B., shown above collecting water from an alternative well in need of rehabilitation.

Students are not the only ones facing the daily water crisis.

"Since I was teaching in this school, there is no water point on the school grounds. Accessing safe, clean water is a big challenge in my school, and I find it difficult to get drinking water. The water source this school gets access to is not safe to drink, and sometimes when this water is fetched, I (have to) drink (it) because it is the only water that is available," said 27-year-old teacher Umaru Kamara (shown below).

"The other source is located far from the school. It is hard for me to get drinking water in the staff room, and after teaching, I must wash my hands to remove the dust chalk. Also, I find it difficult to use the restroom. Sometimes, when there is no water on the school grounds, I must send the school pupils to go fetch water, and this will cause me not to continue teaching because I must wait for them before class resumes. This situation affects me not to complete the topic/session, and it would not be easy for me to complete the academic syllabus," concluded Umaru.

Installing a new well on the school campus will enable students and staff to collect sufficient, clean water for drinking. It will also allow students to stop wandering the community so they can focus on learning and work towards 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

May, 2025: Bundulai Movement of Faith Secondary School Well Complete!

We are excited to share that your donation provided a safe, reliable well at Bundulai Movement of Faith Secondary School. As a result, students and teachers 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.

"I am overjoyed today for this water well we have access to at the school grounds. It has taken years to face water challenges. There is no water well on the school grounds, so this led me to walk long distances to access water. This caused me to miss devotion and teachings, and I was unable to complete the teaching syllabus. In the end, my academic performance was not good. Today, all these things have come to pass. With the new water well, it will impact my learning at school. I will be able to take teachings completely, devotion, and get good grades," exclaimed 18-year-old Abibatu.

Abibatu (left, front) splashing water.

Teacher Umaru Kamara shared, "Having access to safe drinking water at the school creates an impact on the pupils’ lives. When they drink this water, it will contribute to sound health. They will no longer be exposed to water-related illnesses. They will not miss lessons, and they will be able to listen to teachings full-time. This will help them to get good grades. As a teacher, I am proud of seeing my pupils doing well in their academics."

Teacher Umaru Kamara.

After construction was complete, we held a dedication ceremony to officially give responsibility for the well to the water users. The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing.

New School Well

The school 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 23 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 9 meters. Finally, we tested the water flow to ensure the well would provide clean water with minimal effort at the pump.

Yield test.

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.

Pad construction.

Finally, we installed the pump and conducted a water quality test. Due to the high iron in the water, we installed a special filter to improve the water quality. The results showed that the water was fit for drinking!

Pump and filter installation.

School Education

First, our hygiene team trained the teachers, who then participated in training with the student body with us.

Training the teachers, so they can train the students together.

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.

Handwash training.

Field Officer Alie Kamara said of the training experience, "The participants' commitment and enthusiasm for the hygiene training were satisfactory. They were focused and energetic, listening to lessons. They were able to understand the lessons, and they were able to pass on the lessons to the school pupils, and they contributed meaningfully. Teachers paid attention as well as school pupils. This shows how eager they are to learn and that the project will provide a borehole at the school."

Teacher Kamara training students on latrine hygiene.

"It was a great opportunity for me to witness this hygiene training. What I have learned will impact my ideas, especially tippy tap construction. This was my first time to see how to construct it and how to use it. It is easy to afford and durable. I will make sure to wash my hands every time and enforce it in the school for the school pupils to wash their hands all the time."

Thank you for making all of this possible!

March, 2025: Exciting Progress at Bundulai Movement of Faith Secondary School, Thanks to You!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Mohammed and the entire Bundulai Movement of Faith Secondary School. Construction has begun on the well project, bringing them one step closer to having clean, reliable water.

But that's not all—during construction, we’re also providing vital health training. These sessions equip the community with essential hygiene practices, ensuring that the benefits of clean water extend to lasting health improvements.

We’re so grateful for your role in making this possible. Stay tuned for more updates—soon, we’ll be celebrating the arrival of safe water at Bundulai Movement of Faith Secondary School!

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!