Rehabilitation Project
Ebola’s Impact
Ebola has been a tragic reality for the people of Sierra Leone over the last two years. Though considered stable at the moment, the country is still very cautious.
Our teams have remained safe and are on the front lines of Ebola prevention through this water, hygiene and sanitation program. Your support acknowledges and celebrates their selfless work and bravery.
The entire team continues to express their gratitude for your support of communities in Sierra Leone, and we can’t wait to celebrate safe water together!
Please enjoy the following report comes straight from the field, edited for clarity and readability:
Welcome to the Community
Dumbuya Road runs through Yatiya Community, home to 674 people from 51 different households. (Editor’s Note: While this many people may have access on any given day, realistically a single water source can only support a population of 350-500 people. This site would make a great location for a second project. To learn more, click here.) It is found sitting upon a beach overlooking the magnificent Atlantic Ocean. The people in this community are deprived of many things, but are always walking around with smiles on their faces. We felt a keen sense of belonging after their warm greetings. Mangos, cucumbers and onions were offered for our enjoyment. These people are predominately from the Susu tribe, who are masters of the sea.
A normal day's beginning syncs with the ocean's tide, since a majority of the community depends on fishing for their daily bread. Fishermen are awake at all hours of the night. When the time is right for fishing, they will go regardless of the hour. Competition between fishermen often results in fights. Whenever a fisherman casts his net first in an area, all the other boats behind him get the leftovers. The fisherman are men and boys ages 10 to 50. They eat, sleep and dream fish.
This community also exhibits great agricultural knowhow, with a large percentage of the area's onions, cucumbers and peppers planted in this community. The community is mostly illiterate.
Prayer in this community is a rarity; there are countless numbers of mosques, but rarely do people go.
Water Situation
Locals fetch their water from an unprotected spring. A small bowl is used to scoop water into larger five-gallon buckets. When scooping, women and children must take care not to disturb the dirt at the bottom. When the bucket is full, it is covered and transported back home. The gathered water is then separated into containers according to use: one for drinking and the other container for domestic chores. The drinking container is kept up off the ground on a table or stool, and is covered throughout the day. However, an entire family will use only one cup for drinking, found sitting atop the lid. When staff asked for a drink of water at one of the households, the mother took the cup, wiped the lip of it with a cloth, and handed it over! We weren't daring enough to drink, but used the water to wash up instead.
Water in this open source is undoubtedly contaminated. The stream is located just downhill from a cemetery, and rain washes dirt and debris into the water. Our staff recounts that this could be the worst water source they have ever visited, and would prefer to drink the milky-white water found in other communities rather than this!
Sanitation Situation
No more than half of these homes have bathing rooms in which people can bathe or brush teeth. A little more than half of households have a pit latrine. They are latrines typical to impoverished areas, with palm leaves weaved together to make walls. A few feet inland on the beach, and you can find a pile of rubbish and feces, since most seaside communities use the beach as a toilet. Staff immediately hit it off with a twenty-year-old fisherman by the name of Mohamed Turay. During our conversation, nature called! I had only two choices: to use the beach that is within view of hundreds of people, or a latrine found back in town, ten minutes away. Of course I opted for the latrine back in town!
The young fisherman seems to be near the end of his career. Hardship and suffering are written all over his face. Even his skin reflects the consequences of dirty water and bad hygiene, with its blotches and discoloration. He looks forward to a new well with great hope. "Thank God! Things are finally turning around! It is time we learn how to read to follow the God of Mariatu's Hope."
Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training
Community members will be trained for three days in hygiene and sanitation. The facilitator will use the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Training) method to teach participants how to make their own hand-washing stations, wash hands, construct proper latrines, and many other topics. By the end of training, each households should have their own hand-washing station.
Plans: New Borehole
The community went through the application process. On receipt of their application, we visited to assess the community's needs. To decide where to locate the well, we measured distance to ensure the location is far from latrines. Upon confirmation from the Ministry of Water Resources, we based our GPS coordinates on the projected location of this well: #5 Dumbuya Road.
The community will play a vital role in the implementaion of management and maintenance of this well. The community drafted a constitution for well usage. A gender-balanced water user committee was formed, voted upon and selected by the greater community.
