January, 2022: Bai Bureh Junction Well Rehab Complete!

We are excited to share a safe, reliable water point at Bai Bureh Junction in Sierra Leone is now 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.

"The completion of this water point has helped me to avoid getting up very early," said student Hannah K., 17. "An extra hour or two of sleep translates to paying more attention in the classroom. I can also do other chores around the house before going to school. I remember always skipping my leftover rice with sauce because of not having enough time to heat it up in the morning. Now, I even arrive at school earlier than normal with time to go over my notes and homework."

Hannah pours freshly fetched water from the new well.

"The access to this water point has eliminated the issue with children crossing the street to Mahmoud's well to fetch water," said the village's headman, Dauda Foray, 55. "I have a lot of people in my house, and we use a lot of water throughout the day. My biggest fear has been reduced. No longer will a child cross the busy road to access water at an open water well."

Dauda fills a cup at the new well.

We held a dedication ceremony to officially hand over the well to the community members. The ceremony was attended by several local dignitaries from the Port Loko District Council and the Ministry of Water Resources. Each official gave a short speech thanking everyone who contributed to the rehabilitation of the water project. Then, Hannah and Dauda made statements on their community's behalf.

The ceremony concluded with celebration, singing, and dancing. The community members sang songs in their native language of Susu, thanking the donors for a job well done.

Clean Water Restored

The drill team arrived the day before beginning work. They set up camp and unpacked all of their tools and supplies to prepare for drilling the next day. The community provided space for the team to store their belongings, along with meals for the duration of their stay. The following day, the work began.

First, we raised the tripod, the structure we use to hold and maneuver each of the drilling tools. Next, we measured the well's original depth. We then socketed the pipes and installed a casing.

Finally, we lined up the drill rods and started to drill! We reached a final depth of 21 meters with water at 12 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.

With drilling complete, we installed screening and a filter pack to keep out debris when the water is pumped. We then cemented an iron rod to the well lining and fixed it with an iron collar at the top. Next, we bailed the well by hand for three days and flushed it, clearing any debris generated by the drilling process. Finally, we tested the yield to ensure the well would provide clean water with minimal effort at the pump.

Yield test.

As the project neared completion, we built a cement platform, walls, and drainage system around the well to seal it off from surface-level contaminants. The drainage system helps to redirect runoff and spilled water to help avoid standing water at the well, which can not only be uncomfortable but unhygienic and a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

At last, we installed the stainless steel India Mk11 pump and conducted a water quality test. The test results showed that this is clean water fit for drinking!

New Knowledge

Before conducting any hygiene training, we made repeated phone calls and visits to the local water user committee to better understand the community’s challenges and lack of sanitation facilities. We shared the findings from our discussions with the committee members to help them make the necessary adjustments before the training began. For example, we identified households without handwashing stations or ones that may need to repair their latrines. With this information, community members worked together to improve hygiene and sanitation at home.

After this preparatory period, we scheduled a time when members from each household using the water point could attend a multi-day hygiene and sanitation training. We then dispatched our teams to the agreed-upon location to hold the meeting.

Training topics covered included handwashing and tippy taps, good and bad hygiene habits, disease transmission and prevention, worms and parasites, dental hygiene, proper care of the well's pump, keeping the water clean, the cost recovery system, dish racks and clotheslines, the importance of toilets, keeping latrines clean, balanced diets, the diarrhea doll, and HIV and AIDS.

Dauda learned a new method of constructing handwashing stations, which he said will be very beneficial for the community at large. "The tippy tap will be very useful in this community simply because not everyone can afford to buy the more expensive veronica buckets," he said. "They could be left outside and be installed anywhere around the house, easy to operate and construct. This new knowledge gained will and has created an awareness on proper hygiene and sanitation."

The most memorable topic at Bai Bureh Junction was when facilitators showed posters with examples of good versus bad hygiene practices. One woman volunteered a story about her entire family being stricken with diarrhea. She had seen one of the family chickens jump into the food, but after spending so much time and money on the meal, she thought it was impossible to throw the food out. She said she will no longer dish food out for her family on the ground.

Another topic the community members found interesting was dental hygiene. Many people experienced toothaches but weren't sure why. However, when the facilitators asked about their dental hygiene practices, some people said they had never used a toothbrush or toothpaste but only sticks and fingers to clean their teeth. Facilitators demonstrated how best to take care of teeth to avoid future toothaches.

Elizabeth Hindo, 42, a petty trader, learned that not every method of maintaining proper hygiene needs to be expensive. "As a parent, even though we are struggling to get by, I am still going to put measures in place to protect every member of my family. Tippy-taps are easy to construct and affordable. I am going to make sure my house will have a handwashing station, with the kitchen also getting a hand washing station. The latrine will also have one. All of this is going to be done before venturing into the community to tell them to practice the same."

A training facilitator constructs a tippy-tap for handwashing.

When an issue arises concerning the well, community members are equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact our field officers to assist them. Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our ongoing monitoring and maintenance program.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

December, 2021: Bai Bureh Junction Well Rehabilitation Underway!

A severe clean water shortage in Bai Bureh Junction drains people’s time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the introduction and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation, and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with more good news!