Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Aug 2016

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 01/23/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

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!

Welcome to the Community

The Suctarr Community is home to 593 people from 56 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. To learn more, click here.)

Nothing seems normal about this community, filled with hospital staff and soldiers. Children are constantly crossing a high traffic street filled with buzzing motorcycles to fetch water from the hospital yard. You can often hear the cries of family members visiting the government hospital. The diversity of tribes, military personnel, nurses, lab technicians and pharmacists makes this community an ideal candidate for a new well project. It is always a scary thing for children to enter the hospital grounds to fetch water: Children as young as ten years of age face the danger of being exposed to numerous types of bacteria.

On a typical day, Muslims and Christians wake up at 5:30am for bucket baths and then go to morning prayers. The children also begin their days at 5:30am to prepare for school. They are released from classes at 2:30pm. Once children get back home, they help out with domestic chores.

Water Situation

The only water source for this community is located inside the government hospital. It is a protected, hand-dug well fitted with an India Mark II hand pump. You will seldom find an adult using the pump; children are primarily responsible for fetching water for their families. These little children must stand on a six-inch block just to reach the hand pump. They tote a five-gallon container full of water back home, where it is separated by purpose: drinking or domestic. Water reserved for drinking is kept up on a table and covered.

The water from this well is safe for drinking, but there is a gross overuse of the pump. Children must wait for their turn to fetch water after they cross a dangerous, busy street. Because this is the only water source, there are still hundreds of community members that suffer from a shortage of safe drinking water. Reports of cholera and typhoid are common.

Sanitation Situation

100% of households have pit latrines that are in above average condition for a Sierra Leone community. This is because most community members have professional positions and thus earn enough money for better living quarters. You can find clean porcelain in both the latrines and bathing rooms, and some are even tiled! There is no open defecation here.

Over 75% of households have helpful tools like dish racks and clotheslines for drying belongings.

The members of this community who work at the Lungi Government Hospital have had extensive hygiene training by our organization and other NGOs who supported the hospital during the Ebola epidemic. They are still practicing what they learned!

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

Community members will be trained for three days, three hours a day on hygiene and sanitation. The facilitator will use the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Training) method to teach topics including:

  • How to build a hand-washing station
  • The importance of having a dedicated kitchen
  • Having helpful tools like dish racks, clotheslines and animal pens
  • What makes healthy and unhealthy communities

Plans: New Borehole

We were contacted not only by the community, but also by the hospital, both complaining of the overuse and business at their well. This well, located inside hospital grounds, is intended only for patients during the day, but the community begins lining up outside with their containers before 5pm! They are not allowed inside the compound to fetch water until 6pm, allowing the patients an opportunity to fetch their water first.

Having a new well on the other side of the street will save children from the dangers of both crossing a busy road and entering a hospital treating the ill. The community has chosen #27 Government Hospital Road as the location for this new borehole, across from the busy hospital itself.

We will be using an LS200 drill rig, equipped with 4000psi drilling power. It is safe, mobile, and easy to operate. Once we drill and line the well, construct the well pad and wall it in, we will fit the well with an India Mark II pump.

Project Updates


November, 2017: A Year Later: #27 Government Hospital Road

A year ago, generous donors helped build a new well and latrines for the community surrounding #27 Government Hospital Road in Sierra Leone. Because of these gifts and our monthly donors, partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from partner Nanah Mansaray with you.




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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!


A Year Later: #27 Government Hospital Road

September, 2017

“My life has changed considerably. Now, I can relax in the morning doing my studies and later fetch water in the pump on time and do other works before getting ready for school and now I always go to school on time through the help of this water project.”

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in #27 Government Hospital Road New Well Project.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help #27 Government Hospital Road New Well Project maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

A year ago, generous donors helped build a new well and latrines for the community surrounding #27 Government Hospital Road in Sierra Leone. Because of these gifts and our monthly donors, partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories - we're excited to share this one from partner Nanah Mansaray with you.

This water project has improved the lives of the community surrounding #27 Government Hospital Road. Over the past year, clean water and other sanitation tools such as toilets, drying racks, waste or refuse pits, have been put in place in response to our training at the time of the project. Our team has been coming during and after the construction of these facilities to educate the community on how to go about maintaining the water project and continuing to educate on hygiene and sanitation.

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Nanah spoke with community member Alhaji Kamara who shared: “Before we could not get proper and safe drinking water and children were late for school. But now, we are using clean, pure and safe water and the children and other business people are now leaving on time.”

Isatu Kamara, a child in the community, shared how her life and the life of her classmates have changed since the well was installed: “My life has changed considerably. Before, we used to get up as early as possible to go to the other communities or the stream which is in a far distance to collect water three or four times in the morning before doing my domestic work and later go to school, which I was late. Now,  I can relax in the morning doing my studies and later fetch water in the pump on time and do other works before getting ready for school and now I always go to school on time through the help of this water project.”

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As #27 Government Hospital Road continues to provide water access, our partner will continue to encourage the leadership in the community with their efforts to educate and train the community on hygiene and sanitation.

The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.


Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help #27 Government Hospital Road New Well Project maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of #27 Government Hospital Road New Well Project – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.


Contributors

Project Underwriter - Bill and Kimberly Ackerman
Faith Lutheran Church & School
Village Christian School
David Myers's Fundraising Page
Grace Jester's Campaign for Water