Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 360 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jul 2017

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/22/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with Mariatu’s Hope of Sierra Leone. Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Welcome to the Community

The Tombo Community was founded by two brothers; the elder brother settled at Tombo Bana and the younger brother settled at Tombo Lol. Bana is a Temne word meaning big and Lol means small. Back in that time, everyone was either a farmer or fisherman. Before the colonial era, whoever was strong enough could claim any piece of land depending on the amount of people they had to fight for it. This being the case, the Temne men were and are still known for marrying as many women as possible. Their energy to reproduce at a fast rate gives them the upper hand in taking over any community in which they reside. There is power in quantity, especially between warring tribes that fight for dominance.

Early in the morning the men, women and children wake up for the day's hustle. It is a hustle to live in most communities in Sierra Leone, but you will always find a handful of people sitting around doing nothing.

The children carry the burden of the house chores, it is an early morning ritual for them to fetch water before doing anything else. Some men without jobs get up at any time they like, depending on handouts. The farming they had relied on is no longer the large scale it used to be, with the population increase and selling of farmland.

Water Situation

There are two protected wells in Tombo Bana. We monitor one of them, and check out the other while we're there. The organization that installed that well does not visit or take responsibility for any maintenance. That well is used on a daily basis, though it hasn't been chlorinated for years.

We've been visiting our well quarterly, which has informed us that is also has its own issues. Half of the year, everything seems to be in order and the community is happily drawing clean water. The other half of the year, we start getting phone calls from leadership in Tombo Bana. When we visit in person, the problem is obvious: the well sits abandoned, and when we try the pump no water comes out. Opening up the well to see water levels revealed that during the dry months of the year, there's no water in there.

Only half of the battle was getting this community clean water, but now the second half is making sure it's dependable. When this well isn't functional, community members must crowd the un-chlorinated well. But what's most unfortunate is that many locals prefer avoiding the crowd and use the swamp for their water needs instead. We met a little boy who told us he uses the swamp when our well is down; he says that he's not worried because the water is clear enough to see the bottom.

Sanitation Situation

The majority of households in Tombo Bana have their own pit latrine, though the only decent one belongs to the chief. He's got his lined with tiles! The rest are made of large plastic bags sown together and wrapped around sticks. Most of the pits are left uncovered, attracting flies and other pests throughout the day. Snakes are also attracted to the warmth, making most community members too scared to use the latrine at night in the dark. The remaining families that don't have pit latrines share them with their neighbor.

Hand-washing is neglected here. No homes have hand-washing stations, and only half of homes have other helpful sanitation tools like dish racks and clotheslines.

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

There will be hygiene and sanitation training sessions offered for three days in a row.

Since no hand-washing stations are here, the hygiene and sanitation trainer decided it would be best to teach community members how to build a tippy tap (a hand-washing station built with a jerrycan, string, and sticks). They will use these tippy taps for hand-washing demonstrations, and will also teach about other tools like dish racks and the importance of properly penning in animals.

These trainings will also strengthen the water user committee that manages and maintains this well. They enforce proper behavior and report to us whenever they need our help solving a serious problem, like a pump breakdown.

Plans: Well Rehabilitation

The well marked for this overhaul is dry for four months every year and needs major work to supply adequate, clean water to the community year round. The pump will be removed, and a man will be lowered inside with a hand auger. This hand auger will allow the team to drill several meters deeper to hit a sufficient water column that will ensure the well supplies water throughout all seasons. As the team drills, casing will be installed, transforming this hand-dug well into a pseudo-borehole. PVC piping will connect this lower system directly to the pump, a construction that we know will also improve the quality of water.

Once this plan is implemented, everyone within the community will have access to safe drinking water in both quality and quantity throughout the entire year.

Project Updates


October, 2018: A Year Later: Tombo Bana Community

A year ago, generous donors helped restore water to a well in Tombo Bana Community, Sierra Leone. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow 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...




Project Photos


Project Type

Hand-dug wells have been an important source of water throughout human history! Now, we have so many different types of water sources, but hand-dug wells still have their place. Hand dug wells are not as deep as borehole wells, and work best in areas where there is a ready supply of water just under the surface of the ground, such as next to a mature sand dam. Our artisans dig down through the layers of the ground and then line the hole with bricks, stone, or concrete, which prevent contamination and collapse. Then, back up at surface level, we install a well platform and a hand pump so people can draw up the water easily.


A Year Later: Tombo Bana Community

October, 2018

“Since this improvement came to our community, I am hardly late for school. As students, we have first priority in the morning to fetch water,” shared Molai.

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Tombo Bana Community.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Tombo Bana Community 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 restore water to a well in Tombo Bana Community, Sierra Leone. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow 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 – we’re excited to share this one from Omoh Emmanuel with you.


There are great improvements in Tombo Bana thanks to the presence of water. People no longer go the swamp or any of the other unprotected water points, since they now know the difference between protected and unprotected water sources. This well provides the reliable, clean drinking water they need.

We spoke with Mr. Dauda Sesay and Molai Bangura to talk about some of the other changes they have noticed over the past year.

Mr. Sesay is the pump caretaker and works to ensure that people follow the rules when fetching water from this well. Mr. Sesay proudly keeps the area clean and is always the first to call us if the well needs maintenance.

"Now, we have clean, safe, and available water in the community compared to previous years when we were all going to the swamps..." confirmed Mr. Sesay.

Restoration of the well is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project is committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by donors like you, allows us to maintain our relationships with communities by visiting up to 4 times each year to ensure that the water points are safe and reliable.

Molai Bangura is 14 years old and attends SLMB Tombo Bana Primary School. He is happy not only to have clean water but to see a few social changes happening. After training sessions, the community realized that they should be doing everything they can to support their schoolgoing children. Children used to have to wait in the back of the line for everything, but now adults allow children to go first. This gives students like Molai the chance to return home and do his chores quickly so that he can move on to his homework.

From left to right: Mr. Dauda Sesay, Molai Bangura, and Omoh Emmanuel

"Since this improvement came to our community, I am hardly late for school. As students, we have first priority in the morning to fetch water," shared Molai.

This is just one of the many ways that we monitor projects and communicate with you. Additionally, you can always check the functionality status and our project map to see how all of our water points are performing, based on our consistent monitoring data.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This functional well in Tombo Bana is changing many lives.

This is not possible without the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, our local teams, the community, and you. We are excited to stay in touch with this community and support their journey with safe water.

Read more about The Water Promise 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 Tombo Bana Community 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 Tombo Bana Community – 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

First Congregational Church of Chatham
Braren Family Foundation
1 individual donor(s)