October, 2018: A Year Later: New London Community

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to restore water to New London Community. 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: New London Community, Magburaka Road Project Complete

New London Community, Sierra Leone now has a well that provides clean water throughout the year, thanks to your donation! Hundreds of people are no longer stranded without enough clean water during the dry months. Hygiene and sanitation training was also conducted, which focused on healthy practices such as washing hands and using latrines. This water and new knowledge give the community a great foothold in eliminating water and sanitation-related illness. Please enjoy this update detailing all of the work that was done in New London, and be sure to check out the tons of new pictures!

Thank You for unlocking potential in this community. 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

Mr. Kanu was our contact person as we prepared the time and place for hygiene and sanitation training. He agreed to hold sessions at his compound on the first day, and at his neighbor Mr. Morlai's home for the last two days. He and his wife did their best to personally visit every household in the community to urge community members to attend.

Despite having to reschedule a couple of times because of the rain, attendance was good. We had 35 to 85 participants throughout, with the heaviest attendance on the first day.

There was a demonstration with the trainer walking around shaking hands with all the participants. Each individual noticed a glittery shine on their hands after the handshakes. This introduced a practical lesson: What are you seeing on your hands? They answer by saying "we are seeing shine-shine on our hands," and that’s when the facilitators bring home the idea that these signify germs. We are always vulnerable to them, and need to keep clean by practicing good personal hygiene. This set us up for a strong transition into how to make hand-washing stations. After making these together, we taught about the importance of hand-washing, when to do it, and how to do it. After these sessions, participants could take their new tippy taps home and set them up outside their latrines.

Participants each building their own hand-washing station.

Diagrams portraying unhealthy practices such as walking barefoot, open defecation, outdoor urination, and eating with unwashed hands were all shown and discussed in groups. What behaviors make a community healthy, and what others are counterproductive?

The final day, we continued these types of discussions. While on the first day we had led people through hand-washing station construction, this third day was similar in that we elaborated on the need for and the viability of building other sanitation facilities like latrines, dish racks, and animal pens. We taught participants what materials to use, proving that even the poorest family can afford to build at least a traditional pit latrine. This day is especially important because of our training on pump management and maintenance.

The trainer using a dish rack example in the community to talk about every household's need for one.

56-year-old Kadie Bangura was grateful she got to attend. "Honestly I thought that hygiene only means to bathe daily. We were just doing what we feel like doing without proper knowledge. ...Through the hygiene training, we have been taught that hygiene includes community hygiene, taking care of our drinking vessels, the dishes, taking care of our toilets and keeping our homes clean and tidy. Surely I don’t want to be selfish by keeping all these knowledge to myself. I am going to share it with those who were not present for the training so that they too will benefit from it," she shared.

Kadie Bangura

Project Result: A Reliable Water Well

We spearheaded a new method of converting the bottom of a hand-dug well into a borehole. When we started this process, the well was at 44 feet deep with two feet of water. At this time of the year, community members were only able to draw one or two containers of water before the well needed rest. In a few more weeks, the well would have been completely dry.

The team set up the tripod and pulley over the well. Depending on the diameter of the well, the team either drills from inside the well or from ground level. The team worked from ground level here in New London, and started by removing the pump and hatch.

First, they installed 6″ PVC casing through the hatch cover down to the bottom of the well. This ensured that the drilling began straight and also kept the hole from collapsing. They connected the bucket auger drill bit to the drilling rod and lowered it into the well, continuing to add more drill rods until they hit the bottom. Each drill rod is 18 feet in length and every time the team empties the bucket auger, they must reverse the process by disconnecting the rods until the drill bit can be emptied. This method is more labor intensive, but working from the top was much safer in this circumstance. There are different drill bits for different conditions, a special bit just for clay, one for sand, one for rocks and one combination bit for all three conditions.

Drilling by hand is hard work!

The team met sand all the way to 73 feet, which is a great sign because it’s both clean and allows water to freely flow through it. By then, there was a huge amount of water.

They lowered 18 feet of casing slotted for screen down to 65 feet, and then dumped seven buckets of filter pack between the two casings. The team could then hoist out the temporary casing.

Pouring filter pack between the two casings

Iron rods were cemented into the well lining and attached to the casing to support the weight of the PVC and keep it straight from bottom to top. The team welded a collar in the pump base to further support the casing.

The well was developed by bailing; two men bailed by hand for four days to ensure proper development. The well could then be tested by installing a submersible pump at 70 feet and using it for one hour. The team measured the discharge, which was 650 gallons. We are excited that the static water level at 53 feet deep remained the same throughout the entire test. Thus, the yield is 40 liters per minute.

With this great success, we could build a new well pad and install the new stainless steel hand-pump. Everyone wanted to gather together as soon as clean water was restored, but it was raining heavily that morning. They agreed to meet at the well later in the afternoon to celebrate clean water with singing and dancing. We brought music, and the children were the first to arrive. Mr. Morlai Kamara stepped forward to give his vote of thanks, saying "Good things are not hard to identify. This new water source has all the qualities of pure drinking water. From the time this well has been rehabilitated and treated, I believed that our frequent cases of stomach pains will no longer exist."

November, 2017: New London Community, Magburaka Road Project Underway

New London will soon have a source of safe and clean water that works year round, thanks to your generous donation. A well that is dry for months at a time is being deepened, and a new pump installed. The community will also receive training in sanitation and hygiene. Imagine the difference these resources will make for this community!

We posted an initial report from our partner in the field including an introduction to the community, maps, and pictures. We’ll keep you updated as the work progresses.

Thank You for caring for the thirsty!