Rehabilitation Project
Tintafor is an urban area with noise coming from all corners. The sounds of motorcycles and cars fill the air. On the day of our visit, the sound of an early Saturday morning marching band could be heard a long distance away. It was a cool and sunny early that Saturday morning. The dew was fast disappearing and the mango trees were changing leaves ready to produce the delicious mangoes.
The flat land here is devoid of grass and throws a cloud of dust anytime a vehicle passes by. The buildings range from mud blocks to cement block houses. Animals are left roaming around looking for their daily bread. It is a difficult task given the fact that there are so few green spaces in this community.
This community has always thrived on business. Because of that, people come far and wide to settle here due to the availability of jobs at the nearby airport. The most common livelihood here is trading local and imported commodities. The Tintafor market is not far from here, and that is where people go to do their daily shopping. There you will find fishmongers, people selling vegetables, and various household items.
The swamps that are nearby are used or rented out to gardeners by the landowners of Tintafor Community. Owning a plot of swamp land can produce dividends for the owner because of the rent that is collected and a portion of the produce is also provided.
The water well is located within a short walk from most households in this community. It is clean with a fence that was built by the community members - funded by the water user committee money that was collected monthly. The metal gate that was made was stolen over a year ago and it is yet to be replaced.
But there is another big problem with the well - it does not produce enough water. That is due to the fact that the water table dropped. Each household is allowed just five containers of water per day in an effort to prevent overuse of the water point. There are even points during the year that the well goes entirely dry. The drying has been consistent over the years and is getting worse.
That means that many people have to supplement their water needs by purchasing packaged water from nearby vendors. This is costly to the families due to the money spent buying the water and treating illnesses sometimes caused by consuming water from unregulated vendors. Families who cannot afford the water must turn to extremely contaminated open sources, such as the nearest swamp.
"Not having enough clean water is detrimental to the development of our community," said Sorie Kanu.
Here’s what we’re going to do about it:
Well Rehabilitation
The well marked for this overhaul is dry for a few months every year and needs major work to supply adequate, clean water to the community year round. The pump will be removed, and a hand auger will be lowered inside and powered by a drill team. 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 the bottom of this hand-dug well into a 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, even through the dry months.
Hygiene and Sanitation Training
There will be hygiene and sanitation training sessions offered for three days in a row.
No handwashing stations were observed here. After our visit, the hygiene and sanitation trainer decided it would be best to teach community members how to build a tippy tap (a handwashing station built with a jerrycan, string, and sticks). They will use these tippy taps for handwashing 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.
