Modia itself is in the far west of Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom and used to be a very rural community. But this community has undergone some urbanization as a result of migration. Most of its trees have been cut down to make way for new homes, and as a result, the community has lost most of its vegetation. It is still considered one of the more rural areas though.
The buildings are of varying types, but most are built of locally produced mud blocks, some with cement plastering and arranged in straight lines on opposite sides of the road.
While men work most of the day to provide a living for their families, women are also expected to bring in money to help the household. Generally, children’s care is largely the women’s responsibility. When children are not in school, they are expected to help with household chores, and many parents will put their children out with items to sell.
In this community, we found traders, fishermen, farmers, and some people with vocational skills.
The average day normally starts at 5:30am when Muslims prepare for prayer. Fetching water is one major daily activity that motivates some early risers in this community. School pupils normally rise early to fetch water for their homes. No matter what group you fall under, most people have left for their various points of livelihood by 8am.
The school kids are expected home around 2:30pm, except for those in exam preparation classes. When children return home from school, they are expected to fetch water, wash their uniforms, help with household chores, go for tutoring, and help cook. After they eat, they need to go fetch more water to wash and then go to bed.
There are about 700 people living in this area. (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 community would be a good candidate for a second project in the future so adequate water is available. To learn more, click here.)
Water Situation
Some private contractors dug a well years ago. They dug the well to the depth that it is, never making sure it would be a good, reliable water source. They got tired of digging so they stuck a bucket of water down inside the well and then connected a hand-pump. They then took pictures to send to whoever their donor was, showing water coming from the pump. They were confronted by the community and then ran away never to return to make the well a good one.
There are other hand-dug wells in the neighboring communities, but access to them is limited for community outsiders. With hand-dug wells in this area of Sierra Leone, diggers often cannot hit the required depth for water to recharge all 365 days a year. Even the water quantity at the swamp gets low during the driest months, and community members have to dig a hole to find water. However, the swamp is always the easiest place for people to find water.
"I do experience loss of energy if I don't have enough clean water in my system. I also have observed that my headaches get bad if I go for long without water, particularly when I spend more time under the sun as a trader," Pa Santigie Kamara told us.
Sanitation Situation
This community has a mixture of good and bad latrines. There are those with average sanitation, and others with bad sanitation. There are still a handful of households sharing sanitation facilities. If they have a guest over, they'll have to send them over to their neighbor's latrine.
Most people have and use clotheslines to dry their clothes up off the ground, but they need more of them. There aren't many dish racks, so containers just sit out on the ground. Most animals are left free to roam, even in and out of homes and kitchens.
"What is helping this community is the visits from the sanitary department. The people know that they will pay fines if they are careless about their sanitation. Yet we still lack dish racks and animal houses, but we have plans to correct that as a community. Most of the homes have latrines, and we have since let everybody know that the holes should be covered. So I consider this project a plus for our hygiene and sanitation in this community," Pa Ibrahim Dumbuya said.
The hygiene team will be able to reinforce the need for more dish racks and animal pens.
What we can do:
Training
There will be hygiene and sanitation training sessions offered for three days in a row.
The hygiene and sanitation trainer decided it would be best to supplement the local leadership's ongoing effort to improve life in Modia. They will come alongside the current program and teach about the importance of dish racks and animal pens for each family. Pictures will be used to teach the community how to discern between healthy and unhealthy hygiene and sanitation practices.
These trainings will also result in a water user committee that manages and maintains the new well. They will enforce proper behavior and report to us whenever they need our help solving a serious problem, like a pump breakdown.
Well Rehabilitation
The hand-dug well that was never finished properly no longer has a hand-pump (the one pictured on this report). It is located at 4 Father Road. Our team plans to finish the job those contractors started years ago. They will do the hard work of drilling a borehole by hand in the bottom of this well, which will not only increase the water quantity but will ensure its quality, too. A new well pad will keep contaminants out, and a new India MkII stainless steel pump will provide easy and safe access to the clean water inside.
This community has been drinking dirty swamp water and suffering the consequences. With our rehabilitating this open well, Modia Community will be provided with plenty of safe, clean drinking water.
This project is a part of our shared program with Mariatu’s Hope. Our team is pleased to provide the reports for this project (edited for clarity) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Sierra Leone.
