May, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at DEC Menika Primary School
Our teams are working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us in our fight against the virus while maintaining access to clean, reliable water.
We are carrying out awareness and prevention trainings on the virus in every community we serve. Very often, our teams are the first (and only) to bring news and information of the virus to rural schools like DEC Menika Primary School in Sierra Leone
We trained people on the symptoms, transmission routes, and prevention of COVID-19.
With distancing and/or small groups: Due to public gathering concerns, we worked with trusted community leaders to gather a select group of community members who would then relay the information learned to the rest of their family and friends.
We began training communities before the first reported case of COVID-19 in the country and before the government enacted public health guidance related to it. We worked with trusted community leaders and Water User Committees to gather community members for the training. Although community members did not observe social distancing during the training, we sensitized them on its importance and effectiveness in combating the spread of the virus.
We covered essential hygiene lessons:
- Demonstrations on how to build a simple handwashing station
- Proper handwashing technique
- The importance of using soap and clean water for handwashing
- Cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces including at the water point.
We covered COVID-19-specific guidance in line with national and international standards:
- Information on the symptoms and transmission routes of COVID-19
- What social distancing is and how to practice it
- How to cough into an elbow
- Alternative ways to greet people without handshakes, fist bumps, etc.
- How to make and properly wear a facemask.
During training, we installed a new handwashing station with soap near the community’s water point.
Due to the rampant spread of misinformation about COVID-19, we also dedicated time to a question and answer session to help debunk rumors about the disease and provide extra information where needed.
We continue to stay in touch with this community as the pandemic progresses. We want to ensure their water point remains functional and their community stays informed about the virus.
Water access, sanitation, and hygiene are at the crux of disease prevention. You can directly support our work on the frontlines of COVID-19 prevention in all of the communities we serve while maintaining their access to safe, clean, and reliable water.
January, 2020: Lokomasama, Menika, DEC Menika Primary School Project Complete!
We realized a glitch in our system meant that you may not have gotten this update when we first sent it, so we are sharing it again so you can read about the good news you helped make possible!
We are excited to share that there is a safe, reliable water point at DEC Menika Primary School in Sierra Leone that is already providing clean water to students and neighboring community members! We also conducted hygiene and sanitation training, which focused on healthy practices such as handwashing and using latrines.
Clean Water Restored
The rehabilitation of the well was a success!
"I am happy because I see the dangers my students face day to day on their way to the stream or swamp to fetch water. Several children have fallen down on their way to the stream and sustained some serious injuries, and some to the extent of being hospitalized for a bone fracture," shared Abass Kanu, a teacher at the school.
"This water well could not have come at a better time than now."
Here is how we restored clean, reliable water here:
- Raised the tripod
- Found the original depth
- Socketed the pipes
- Installed casing
- Lined up the drill rods
- Drilled!
We reached a final depth of 18.18 meters with the water at 12.6 meters. The hand-drill method allowed the team to install the cylinder far below the aquifer so that the community has great water access throughout the year.
- Installed screening and filter pack
- Cemented an iron rod to the well lining and fixed it with an iron collar at the top
- Bailed the well by hand for 3 days and flushed it
- Tested the yield
- Built a cement platform, walls, and drainage system
- Installed a stainless steel India Mk11 pump
- Conducted a water quality test
The water point was dedicated during the morning hours. The target was to avoid the hot sun but, alas, this time of year there is no avoiding the hot sun! The children were already out of their classroom upon seeing the approaching vehicle. The community women, men, and children came out to grace the occasion with song and dance, too.
We work very closely with the recipients and want to be sure that we have a strong water user committee. For now, when the pump breaks down the school will contact our office and our trained technicians will go to complete the repair. The school and community will participate in our cost recovery system so that when the pump breaks down, they will pay for the price of the part only. This is done so that they can get used to paying for the part to keep their pump running.
The head teacher gives a speech at the dedication
In the years to come, the water user committee will take over the repairs in addition to purchasing the parts. By doing this, it helps ensure the project will be sustainable and the school and community will be able to manage the well properly and keep safe drinking water flowing. For the time being, we will continue to monitor this well quarterly.
New Knowledge
We worked with the local district council representative Paul Dickson Kamara, an individual that has been to several of our hygiene training sessions in his ward, the local chief Pa Adikalie Kamara, the village elders, and school representatives to plan a hygiene and sanitation training for the students and community members.
Students at the training
Before any hygiene training, repeated phone calls and visits were made to the committee to help them understand the challenges and lack of sanitation facilities in the community. The findings from our baseline survey were brought to the attention of the water user committee to help them make the necessary adjustments before the training or drilling could commence. When all the necessary guidelines were met, only then did our team of hygiene trainers go to conduct the training.
Several follow-up calls were made a day before the training to remind the community and try to ensure we would receive the highest turnout of students, community people, teachers and key stakeholders possible. We were in luck as more than 450 students and community members were in attendance for the 3-day training. The training was held at the nearby health center compound that shares a boundary with the school. The health facility has large trees that can provide shade for the school children and community people. The training was held in the morning before the sun started taking its toll on the participants.
Training topics covered included handwashing and tippy taps; good and bad hygiene; disease transmission and prevention; worms and parasites; proper care of teeth; proper care of the pump; keeping the water clean; the cost recovery system; dishracks and clotheslines; the importance of toilets; keeping the latrine clean; balanced diets; diarrhea doll; and HIV and AIDS.
Diarrhea doll demonstration
The goal our organization hopes to achieve with every hygiene lesson is participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation. It simply means that the community or school takes part in showing and identifying depicted scenes on posters and how those scenes relate to their everyday lives. These methods are used to deliver a much-needed message of choosing improved health and hygiene practices.
Handwashing demonstration
It is said that it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. That is why the involvement of school pupils is one of the key tools in achieving our objective. Children have a way of making parents do what has been learned in school. The participation could not have been any better.
"I know the hygiene training has changed my life and I hope and pray that all the people in the community will have learned 1 thing. Keeping our environment clean is vital to living a long and healthy life. The most important thing is accepting what has been taught and putting it into practice," said Head Teacher Hannah Kanu.
"With the training, I have placed handwashing stations at my school and will continue to encourage everyone in the community to do the same."
Thank you for making all of this possible!
