November, 2018: A Year Later: Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to drill a well for Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School in Sierra Leone. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories. Read more...

January, 2018: Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School Project Complete

We are excited to share that there is a new well at Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School, and it’s now providing clean water! Students here no longer have to rely on dirty water from the swamp. Hygiene and sanitation training was also conducted, with a strong focus on healthy practices such as washing hands and using latrines. This water and new knowledge give the school and surrounding community a great foothold in eliminating water and sanitation-related illness. Please enjoy this update detailing all the work that was around Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School and make sure to click on the "See Photos & Video" tab above to find new pictures of the finished project.

Thank You for unlocking potential at this school. You made clean water a reality, and now you have a chance to make sure it keeps flowing. Join our team of monthly donors and help us, our caretakers, and our mechanics maintain this well and hundreds of other projects!

Project Result: New Knowledge

We started organizing hygiene and sanitation training as soon as we met the school teachers. Thanks to their had work, we had a great turnout for the sessions. Since all the students came, we had to meet outside. There were also several teachers and food vendors there.

To get the pupils' attention, we asked them to show us what kind of activities they do with their hands. Most of them brought up that hands are for eating! This first session was on hand-washing, and we advised them to take good care of their hands - especially before eating food and after using the toilet. We introduced the "tippy-tap" as a hand-washing station, and they were taught how to make it.

Students and their teachers working together to make hand-washing stations.

The next day, we started the training with the topic "good and bad hygiene." We showed pictures of bad behaviors like open defecation and an uncovered latrine pit. With those pictures, we were able to enlighten them as to why these are harmful. Several other pictures helped us introduce good practices, including what it takes to keep the environment clean. We also focused on disease transmission, and how they're unaware that so many of the things they do are connected. We brought up hand-washing again, sharing that hand-washing is the cheapest and easiest way to prevent the spread of disease.

The trainer holds up a picture of the environment and has students point out the good and bad things they see.

We taught about malaria, water treatment, parasites, and ORS (oral rehydration solution) the last day.

ORS

We immediately saw that students had set tippy-taps up around school grounds, and that the women who sell food had set up counters to keep their food off the ground. 24-year-old trader Salamatu Dumbuya said, "First of all, I would like to commend Mariatu’s Hope for this good work that they have done for us. We were like sheep on the road leading to destruction. All we knew was to wash our hands with water only. But you have taught us to wash our hands with soap and water. One of the lessons that amazed me was the various hand-washing methods: interlace, interlock, back to palm and palm to palm. It is only you who have taught such hand-washing methods. I have promised to practice these methods always and to teach those around me. Also, there are other lessons that I have learnt from these teachings. They are: Covering foods to keep them from flies, washing hands before cooking and during cooking, disposal of trash in a dust bin and covering a pit latrine after using it."

Salamatu Dumbuya

Project Result: New Well

The school offered the drill team a large classroom to stay in during their work. Parents brought meals to the school to feed them. The team was relieved to find that the rainy weather was finally letting up in time for this project.

The community and students were happy and eager to help. They carried water from the swamp to the site as needed. The drill team used 1,700 gallons of water (6,400 liters) for their mud rotary drill, all carried on people's heads to the drill site.

Two pits were dug for the mud rotary drill, one for water that's pushed down the hole and the other for the material that's pulled back out. The borehole is drilled in sections of five feet, with the team taking a ground sample at those points. Drilling went smoothly all the way to 80 feet!

The cuttings are also used for determining the best aquifer location so that screen can be cut in the pipes. Once the drill is removed from he borehole, the casing can replace it. The connections must be made tight so that pipe parts do not fall down the hole on their own! Filter pack is poured down between the casing and the hole. Bentonite and clay help seal the filter pack, after which a cement well pad can be built.

The team bails the borehole until water runs clean, which often takes up to four days. The well then undergoes a yield test. After 30 minutes of pumping with a submersible, the static water level is measured. An hour later, it is measured again. There was no chance of the static water level, which measures in at 52 feet. The submersible pumped 520 gallons in one hour, which means the yield is 32 liters per minute.

With these good results, the new stainless steel India MkII pump was installed. This pump was installed to a depth of 70 feet.

Students, teachers, parents, and leadership gathered to celebrate the clean water now flowing at Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School. The community chief was there to offer his thanks. The Principal Conteh said, that "the availability of the water well has helped solved the problem of pupils going home early whenever they were sent down to the stream to fetch water. They always escaped during that interval!" Clean water is keeping children in school.

Principal Conteh handing one of his students a cup of clean water pumped from the new borehole.

Joseph Komba the student prefect said, "This is an absolute truth, that water is life. Because without it, life would not have been. I am very pleased with everything that took place. The hygiene training, and our now new and safe drinking water source in our school compound."

August, 2017: Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School Project Underway

Ernest Bai Koroma Secondary School will soon have a new source of safe, clean water thanks to your donation. A new well is being constructed and the teachers and students will receive training in sanitation and hygiene. Imagine the difference these resources will make for this school and the greater community.

We just posted an initial report from our partner in the field including information about the school, maps, and pictures. We’ll keep you posted as the work progresses.

Thank you for caring for the thirsty!