January, 2022: Kasongha OIC Vocational School Well Rehab Complete!

We are excited to share a safe, reliable water point at Kasongha OIC Vocational 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.

Teachers and students celebrate the new water point.

51-year-old training manager and teacher Ibrahim Lukally explained why the new water point meant so much to the school and its students. "A good percentage of these people cannot afford to provide themselves with much-needed water, since [the] majority are coming from [a] poor background. It was a difficult situation for [the school] to depend on other people. The water crisis we have gone through as [an] institution resulted in some of [the] learners to abandon [their] classes."

"The impact of The Water Project and Mariatu’s Hope water source project will have a long positive effect," Ibrahim continued. "I believe our constraints will be forgotten. The learners themselves who are direct beneficiaries are in [a] celebrating mood, because [you have] salvaged this situation. On behalf of the management, staff, and students, I want to thank everyone for providing us [with a] reliable, safe, and pure water source [for] our noble institution and the community at large. This water source will help us achieve all our operations."

"Now, all our activities will be simple because [the] water source project has come to liberate our suffering," said Esther Kanneh, 21, a student at Kasongha. "I do hope that the water source will now turn things round for better. I am happy today that the water source has been dedicated to us and it will help us reduce the contracting of water sicknesses."

We held a dedication ceremony to officially hand over the well to the community members. As Ibrahim noted, the staff and students were in a jubilant mood, singing and dancing.

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, Ibrahim and another student, Foday Turay (23), made statements on their community's behalf.

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 20 meters with water at 16 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.

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 school's conference hall to hold the meeting. Attendance at the school was excellent for both teachers and students.

"The new knowledge learned will help me to protect myself and those around me," said 20-year-old student Mariama Kamara. "I will take all these new ideas to those who were not around during the training, and I strongly believe that all this new knowledge is very beneficial to everybody that attended the training."

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.

"During the training, we learned a lot on how to protect ourselves from the spread of diseases in our environment," said Ibrahim. "We learned the various types of hygiene and sanitation, such as personal environmental and food hygiene. [Without] this training, it would be difficult for some of us to properly take care of ourselves."

"The new hygiene and sanitation steps we will take is continuous cleaning of our school environment and frequent handwashing practice," Mariama added. "Also, we will construct tippy-taps at every corner of the school compound."

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: Kasongha OIC Vocational School Well Rehab Underway!

A severe clean water shortage at Kasongha OIC Vocational 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!