September, 2021: Susu Gospel Primary School Project Complete!

We are excited to share a safe, reliable water point at Susu Gospel Primary School 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.

"Every morning, we (the pupils) walk a long distance to access the swamp water and fetch it before going to our different classes," said Sanu K., a 12-year-old student at the school. "This water point will reduce the time we spent getting water from our school well, and we will not miss our lessons anymore."

"Now that we have this water point rehabilitated for us," Sanu continued, "I can frequently wash my hands properly now, and practice good personal hygiene behavior with no fear of water shortage."

Mahawa Conteh, a teacher at Susu Gospel Primary School, was just as excited about the new source of clean water. "For over three months, the school was without safe and pure drinking water due to the breakdown of our school pump. Today, I am overwhelmed by having the newly rehabilitated water point in our school ground. It is a privilege for our school to have safe and pure drinking water."

"Before, it was difficult for the school to access safe and pure water to drink and clean our school latrines. This water point will help the teachers and pupils to practice better hygiene behavior. The school is grateful to everyone who contributed."

The dedication ceremony was held around the newly rehabilitated water point on the school grounds. The children were arranged to observe physical distance while singing and dancing. The children and teachers played with the water. The invited guests from the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education also drank the water.

Students and teachers alike were so excited to have their pictures taken. Some of the pupils asked to be photographed so that the donors could see their faces.

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 25 meters with water at 17.5 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.

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.

We scheduled a time when members from each household using the water point could attend a multi-day hygiene and sanitation training. In all, we trained 50 people (31 females and 19 males).

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.

"This training is valuable to us," said one of the teachers who attended, Magdalen Ndanema. "This was a real blessing in disguise, as we all know that cleanliness is next to godliness." She expressed that she learned several things: she had misunderstood the causes of typhoid and had not been storing her toothbrush properly.

During the student training, when the facilitator presented the decayed teeth, the pupils burst into laughter. Some of them said that this is how their grandmother's teeth look.

In the community member training, where adults from the area attended, some people who chew cola nut or tobacco looked guilty when shown the demonstration of tooth decay. Some community members even pointed out peers whose teeth resembled the model.

Another valuable topic was parasites and worms, which can be transferred to humans who walk barefoot outdoors. The training participants had previously thought that worms and parasites were spread through eating fish and palm kernel. A few also mentioned that if they see a person with a swelled stomach, they had blamed witches and devils rather than hookworms. At the end of the training, the chairman of the committee promised us on behalf of the community that they will avoid walking barefoot.

Sanu agreed that the training was impactful. "The importance of frequent handwashing is one of the most helpful parts of this training I received. I was so careless about washing hands frequently and using a face mask when in public places."

Plans for the Future

"Now that this water point is rehabilitated for us, we will not walk long distances to fetch water again, it will help us be in class on time and have time to read our lesson notes," Sanu said. "We will help protect our school water point from mishandling by our parents and ourselves. We will make sure that we will always clean the water point environment to avoid the water being contaminated."

Thank you for making all of this possible!

June, 2021: Susu Gospel Primary School Well Project Underway!

A severe clean water shortage at Susa Gospel Primary School drains students’ time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this school 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!